Since everyone is talking about Iran, I thought this was an interesting article. I wouldn't be surprised if many young people around the world like American culture and try to copycat it. I can also see why in an interview with a Muslim comedian living here, he told the reporter that every time he goes to Iran to visit, his cousins ask him how they can come live in America too. I imagine the young people don't want to live under those hardliners, and who could blame them.
For trendy Iran youths, 'Death to USA' is so 1979
In the coffeehouses, some even regard the storming of the embassy and taking of hostages as rash acts that set off decades of self-inflicted economic hardship.
By Ramin Mostaghim and Patrick J. McDonnell
November 24, 2013, 5:30 a.m.
TEHRAN As world powers in Geneva negotiate the future of Iran's nuclear development program, Islamist hard-liners here continue to warn of a deceitful, perfidious West scheming to enfeeble the Islamic Republic.
Yet in the trendy, smoke-filled cafes of this busy capital city, ritualistic denunciations of the United States are as passe as instant coffee among the mostly young, jeans-clad set.
"In art, in fashion, in cinema and in our daily lifestyle, we copycat American culture," said Sarah, proprietor of a cozy cafe in the basement of a high-rise in northwest Tehran. "There is a big difference between the approved culture and the reality of urban lifestyles in big cities like Tehran."
Just as Western perceptions of Iran are far from monolithic, the view here is diverse, especially among those born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, roughly half the population. The passage of time, the growth of mass media, satellite television and the Internet, the relative ease of travel
To continue read, go to:
For trendy Iran youths, 'Death to USA' is so 1979 - latimes.com
For trendy Iran youths, 'Death to USA' is so 1979
In the coffeehouses, some even regard the storming of the embassy and taking of hostages as rash acts that set off decades of self-inflicted economic hardship.
By Ramin Mostaghim and Patrick J. McDonnell
November 24, 2013, 5:30 a.m.
TEHRAN As world powers in Geneva negotiate the future of Iran's nuclear development program, Islamist hard-liners here continue to warn of a deceitful, perfidious West scheming to enfeeble the Islamic Republic.
Yet in the trendy, smoke-filled cafes of this busy capital city, ritualistic denunciations of the United States are as passe as instant coffee among the mostly young, jeans-clad set.
"In art, in fashion, in cinema and in our daily lifestyle, we copycat American culture," said Sarah, proprietor of a cozy cafe in the basement of a high-rise in northwest Tehran. "There is a big difference between the approved culture and the reality of urban lifestyles in big cities like Tehran."
Just as Western perceptions of Iran are far from monolithic, the view here is diverse, especially among those born after the 1979 Islamic Revolution, roughly half the population. The passage of time, the growth of mass media, satellite television and the Internet, the relative ease of travel
To continue read, go to:
For trendy Iran youths, 'Death to USA' is so 1979 - latimes.com
