Iran, please stay in the minivan. You are embarrassing Lars von Trier. In a bizarre twist to the whole Lars von Trier Hitler controversy, Iranian Vice Minister of Culture Javad Shamaqdari apperently sent a letter to the Cannes film festival accusing them of “fascist behavior” after they declared von Trier a persona non grata. Yes, that Iran. Von Trier has been dealing with the fall-out following his disastrous “Final Solution” cracks at the press conferences for his film Melancholia last week. Don’t they know Lars von Trier is a big boy, and can handle himself? Seriously, Iran is just like our mom, if our mom had crushed a people’s revolution back in 2009. Not that we’d put it past her.
And just like you had to prove yourself on the playground after your mom yelled at the neighbor kid in front of all your friends, Lars von Trier apologized for his offensive remarks…while simultaneously defending them. “In my opinion, freedom of speech, in all its shapes, is part of the basic human rights,” von Trier said in a statement. “However, my comments during the festival’s press conference were unintelligent, ambiguous and needlessly hurtful. My intended point was that the potential for extreme cruelty, or the opposite, lies within every human being, whatever nationality, ethnicity, rank or religion.” You see, Iran, sometimes you have to let directors leave the nest. Though we guess as long as you are aren’t actively oppressing them yourselves, we should see that as a huge step forward.
[Photo: Getty Images]
