© the eyeranian

Wow! Thank you for confronting me with my racial and cultural insensitivity! Here I thought my refusal to pay $5 for a set of cruddy headphones was merely a symptom of how cheap I am.
Actually I usually bring a book or try to sleep. BTW I also bring my own water and lunch.

Not to stereotype or anything, right?

I understand frustration, anger, etc., but I think you weaken your other messages when you do this. I can't imagine you'd want to read what someone wrote if they also judged a plane load of Iranians(Iranian-Americans/Canadians) in a similar way. But then maybe I've been dense and you really don't want me(non-Iranian) reading your blog. That's too bad, because I've learned some important things from reading the eyeranian.

I learned as a child from watching my teachers and their classes, that people usually rise to expectations. Those teachers who expected more got more and the reverse was also true. You seem to expect so very little from Americans. I guess at least you won't be disappointed. I'm disappointed though. I expected better from the eyeranian.

I agree with you. I bet if you poll a large sample of diverse Americans, a huge majority wouldn't be interested in such things.

Just look at voting patterns or troubled history of race relations in this country as proof of where we are as a nation on this topic. Truth is often hard to swallow and face, but it needs to be said and bravo to those brave enough to try to bring our attention to such issues.

I'm curious what countries do have good histories concerning race relations or how about relations between different religions in one country?

And if you polled a large sample of diverse Iranians or Vietnamese or Peruvians, how interested would they be in a movie about a sport that hasn't been widely played by more than one generation of people in their country. Does it make them racist or bigoted if they aren't interested?

There's a sense of buried and invisible guilt felt by most *White* people (and I use that term lightly, since I don't agree with it) that makes them immediately get defensive and try to justify themselves about race issues, even if no attack was present or imminenet to begin with. Such is the case for "se" trying to defend against the possible "racist or bigoted" label, even though none existed. As I read the original post over and over again, I only see the writer saying that Americans aren't very interested in soccer or movies starring foreigners. That may very well be true and looking at what movies become popular and do well at the box office in USA, he may have a very valid point. So, where do you jump from that to racism or bigotry?

I usually bring my own headphones... I also pack several small bottles of booze! Fuck the airlines...

This movie is hilarious. Really. It has become cult in the UK already! You have to be a Brit and/or Asian to fully appreciate the story. (Asian, in the UK, actually refers to people from India and Pakistan). It is one of my fave movies. The only one I laugh at every time.