Shah's of Sunset-thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Aren't Persians/Iranians and Armenians Caucasian?

[Anonymous]

I'm an Iranian and living in Iran. I don't know anything about the show. I'm not going to talk about Iranian Government too. The only thing I want to mention is that Iranian Iran are not what you think they are. Despite a lot of difficulties, They're (most of them) very modern people; maybe more than the ones who are living in the U.S. We have our special lifestyles which is derived from our ancient culture from thousands years ago. Iranians are very peace-loving and successful people. These are a few of them:

Madjid Samii: a distinguished Iranian neurosurgeon and medical scientist. He has been the president of the International Society for Neurosurgery and was elected as the founding president for the Congress of International Neurosurgeons (MASCIN) in 2003. Majid Samii received the "World Physician" award by the north German city of Hanover.

Dr. Hossein Eslambolchi: an innovator, engineer, inventor and author, best known for his prominent role in AT&T. He joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1985, and rose to become, in 2005, both Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer of the company. He became an Officer of the company in 2003, as well as a member of AT&T's governing Executive Committee and became AT&T Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Chief Information Officer, President and CEO of AT&T Labs and President and CEO of AT&T Global Network Operations. He left AT&T soon after its takeover by SBC in 2006. He is currently Chairman and CEO of 2020 Venture Partners LLC, a company he co-founded in 2006.

Pierre Morad Omidyar: an entrepreneur and philanthropist/economist, and the founder/chairman of the eBay auction site. Omidyar and his wife Pam are well-known philanthropists who founded Omidyar Network in 2004 in order to expand their efforts beyond non-profits to include for-profits and public policy.

Minoo Akhtarzand: an Iranian woman and the current governor of Jönköping County, Sweden.

Firouz Naderi: an Iranian scientist and Director for Solar System Exploration at NASA's JPL
Tofy Mussivand: an Iranian physician and engineer and a cardiologist in Canada. He studied Medicine and Engineering at Tehran University and University of Alberta. Tofy Mussivand is known for the invention of Artificial Cardiac Pump.

Sina Tamaddon: was Senior Vice President of Applications for Apple Inc.

Omid R. Kordestani: an Iranian-American businessman who works as Senior Advisor to Office of the CEO and Founders at Google. Kordestani was the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations of Google until he stepped down on April 2009.

Jamshid "Jimmy" Delshad: an Iranian-American politician in the state of California. He became Mayor of Beverly Hills[1] on March 21, 2007 and again on March 16, 2010.

Bijan Pakzad, generally known simply as bijan: was an Iranian designer of menswear and fragrances. His exclusive boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was established in 1976. It has been described as "the most expensive store in the world". Bijan was also known for his automobiles. Most notable in his car collection was a yellow Bentley Azure with black interior, as well as a Black Bentley Azure with yellow interior. He was also known to have a black Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren with a customized paint scheme, a yellow Ferrari 430 Spider, a yellow Rolls Royce Drophead coupe, and a Bugatti Veyron, all of which he was known to park outside of his Rodeo Drive boutique.

Dr Ghassem Asrar, Director of the World Climate Research Programme. Dr Asrar is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, and the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society. He was recently elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)and American Meteorological Society. Dr Asrar has received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Exceptional Performance Award (1997), the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1999), and NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership (2000).

and hundreds more...

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:I'm an Iranian and living in Iran.

This poster really is posting from Iran. I would just like to say "Welcome" to our website. I hope you continue to post here. Our countries could really benefit from dialogue.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm an Iranian and living in Iran.

This poster really is posting from Iran. I would just like to say "Welcome" to our website. I hope you continue to post here. Our countries could really benefit from dialogue.

Thank you, I surely do

[Anonymous]

I watched a portion of the first show. Awful. These "reality" shows don't reflect how wonderful most Americans - of ALL ethnicities - are. They portray this false, awful image of Americans that really hurts our connections with other countries. People from other countries watch these shows, but they don't have the context to understand how aberrant the people in the shows are - they think that these people represent typical Americans.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I watched a portion of the first show. Awful. These "reality" shows don't reflect how wonderful most Americans - of ALL ethnicities - are. They portray this false, awful image of Americans that really hurts our connections with other countries. People from other countries watch these shows, but they don't have the context to understand how aberrant the people in the shows are - they think that these people represent typical Americans.

"Americans - of ALL ethnicities - " Great! and thank you

[Anonymous]

Welcome to the poster from Iran! We have many Iranians living here in DC, one of whom is my husband. You have a lovely culture, modern yet steeped in so much history and tradition. I have found Iranians to be some of the most educated people I've ever met.

Thank you for your post.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the poster from Iran! We have many Iranians living here in DC, one of whom is my husband. You have a lovely culture, modern yet steeped in so much history and tradition. I have found Iranians to be some of the most educated people I've ever met.

Thank you for your post.

Thanks so much. I accidentally found this website but now I'm happy that I'm here.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Aren't Persians/Iranians and Armenians Caucasian?

They are caucasian but not white. Arabs are also caucasian but not white.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Not the same thing, but I've seen East Coast Armenians complain about West Coast Armenians for being like the Shahs of Sunset. Is there a similar divide among the Persian/Iranian diaspora?

I still think the Armenians need to trade Kim Kardashian to another diaspora for an annoying celebrity to be named later.

Armenians hate KK

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:
I'm an Iranian and living in Iran. I don't know anything about the show. I'm not going to talk about Iranian Government too. The only thing I want to mention is that Iranian Iran are not what you think they are. Despite a lot of difficulties, They're (most of them) very modern people; maybe more than the ones who are living in the U.S.

Can you tell us then how is it that a woman could be sentenced to stoning then? How is it that the religious right can govern a country with a population that is supposedly mostly very modern?


We have our special lifestyles which is derived from our ancient culture from thousands years ago.


Please distinguish for us the difference between Persian and Iranian. Iranians as I understand have different ethnic backgrounds.


Iranians are very peace-loving and successful people. These are a few of them:

Madjid Samii: a distinguished Iranian neurosurgeon and medical scientist. He has been the president of the International Society for Neurosurgery and was elected as the founding president for the Congress of International Neurosurgeons (MASCIN) in 2003. Majid Samii received the "World Physician" award by the north German city of Hanover.

Dr. Hossein Eslambolchi: an innovator, engineer, inventor and author, best known for his prominent role in AT&T. He joined AT&T Bell Laboratories in 1985, and rose to become, in 2005, both Chief Technology Officer and Chief Information Officer of the company. He became an Officer of the company in 2003, as well as a member of AT&T's governing Executive Committee and became AT&T Chief Technology Officer, AT&T Chief Information Officer, President and CEO of AT&T Labs and President and CEO of AT&T Global Network Operations. He left AT&T soon after its takeover by SBC in 2006. He is currently Chairman and CEO of 2020 Venture Partners LLC, a company he co-founded in 2006.

Pierre Morad Omidyar: an entrepreneur and philanthropist/economist, and the founder/chairman of the eBay auction site. Omidyar and his wife Pam are well-known philanthropists who founded Omidyar Network in 2004 in order to expand their efforts beyond non-profits to include for-profits and public policy.

Minoo Akhtarzand: an Iranian woman and the current governor of Jönköping County, Sweden.

Firouz Naderi: an Iranian scientist and Director for Solar System Exploration at NASA's JPL
Tofy Mussivand: an Iranian physician and engineer and a cardiologist in Canada. He studied Medicine and Engineering at Tehran University and University of Alberta. Tofy Mussivand is known for the invention of Artificial Cardiac Pump.

Sina Tamaddon: was Senior Vice President of Applications for Apple Inc.

Omid R. Kordestani: an Iranian-American businessman who works as Senior Advisor to Office of the CEO and Founders at Google. Kordestani was the Senior Vice President for Worldwide Sales and Field Operations of Google until he stepped down on April 2009.

Jamshid "Jimmy" Delshad: an Iranian-American politician in the state of California. He became Mayor of Beverly Hills[1] on March 21, 2007 and again on March 16, 2010.

Bijan Pakzad, generally known simply as bijan: was an Iranian designer of menswear and fragrances. His exclusive boutique on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills was established in 1976. It has been described as "the most expensive store in the world". Bijan was also known for his automobiles. Most notable in his car collection was a yellow Bentley Azure with black interior, as well as a Black Bentley Azure with yellow interior. He was also known to have a black Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren with a customized paint scheme, a yellow Ferrari 430 Spider, a yellow Rolls Royce Drophead coupe, and a Bugatti Veyron, all of which he was known to park outside of his Rodeo Drive boutique.

Dr Ghassem Asrar, Director of the World Climate Research Programme. Dr Asrar is an active member of several professional societies, including the American Geophysical Union, the American Meteorological Society, and the Geoscience and Remote Sensing Society. He was recently elected a fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE)and American Meteorological Society. Dr Asrar has received numerous awards and honors, including the NASA Exceptional Performance Award (1997), the NASA Distinguished Service Medal (1999), and NASA Medal for Outstanding Leadership (2000).

and hundreds more...

I don't think anyone on this board doubts the achievements and contributions of Iranians in our society. We know their affluence is predominantly due to their successful accomplishments. But the show itself shows a not-so-nice side to Iranians, the superficiality of the blonde hair dyes, the nose jobs, the materialism of only shopping for high end name brands and putting down those who wear anything less, the intolerance for homosexuality and punishment for it, the treatment of women. My father-in-law is Iranian and his wife, a woman of Welsh descent, confessed to me that living with him has not been easy. He was very controlling and oppressive. There was a huge difference in how he raised his boys versus his daughter. His daughter grew up angry that her father was so strict with her. I've seen the modern Iranians you speak of. The DC-metro is full of them. But not all Iranians are like that right?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Aren't Persians/Iranians and Armenians Caucasian?

They are caucasian but not white. Arabs are also caucasian but not white.

How does this work? So the Kardashians are not white?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Welcome to the poster from Iran! We have many Iranians living here in DC, one of whom is my husband. You have a lovely culture, modern yet steeped in so much history and tradition. I have found Iranians to be some of the most educated people I've ever met.

Thank you for your post.

Thanks so much. I accidentally found this website but now I'm happy that I'm here.

Another welcome from me-an anonymous person in the DC area. Please continue to post here! It's great to have you here!

I agree with Jeff, we can learn so much from eachother. Heck I would love to see in international dialogue section.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I watched a portion of the first show. Awful. These "reality" shows don't reflect how wonderful most Americans - of ALL ethnicities - are. They portray this false, awful image of Americans that really hurts our connections with other countries. People from other countries watch these shows, but they don't have the context to understand how aberrant the people in the shows are - they think that these people represent typical Americans.

Do you think that "Benny Hill" represents typical Brits?

[Anonymous]

If you don't know any Iranians at all then you may assume that the characters on "Sunset" are all false stereotypes. But if you know many affluent Iranians (I mean really affluent Iranians) then you realize that some parts of what they depict on the show are real. The materialism and superficiality are true. The extreme wealth and spending are also true. The lack of religiousness or spirituality and strong affinity to culture, however, are also true. The intolerance for gays is also true. The egocentrism is, sadly, also true.