Elimination of "Persia:" Is Canadian Lake Shore another sleazy reality show?
In response to recent Entertainment Feature: "Persia" Ramedani: Proud Iranian Canadian finalist of reality TV show"
When Roxanne (Roxie) Ramedani first heard about a new reality television show being filmed in Toronto she knew she had to audition. Having been extensively involved within the Iranian community, she wanted to make her voice heard as an ambassador of Persian youth - a demographic which is rarely, if ever, represented in the media. Roxie is so proud of her Persian ancestry that she goes by "Persia." She said: "I want to be a Persian Culture Ambassador, I want to change the way the world looks at us, we aren’t terrorists, we’re people, who are JUST as entertaining and fun to watch as the rest of the world. We deserve that recognition."
Third in the audition line, "Persia" filled out papers and confidently waited for the doors to open. Iranian-Canadian producer Maryam Rahimi came outside for a few moments and greeted Persia personally. This had to be a good sign. After the auditions, Persia was selected as one of the top 25 finalists. The Iranian media loved every moment of this, and so did the Persian youth growing-up in Toronto. Roxie was interviewed by Persianeseque Magazine and featured on Iranian.com, Kodoom.com and Torontolife.com.
During the voting process, Persia received support from the Iranian community including well known Iranian rapper, Yas and television and radio personality, Tehran soParvaz.
Persia had planned to cook ghormeh-sabzi, zereshk-polo, and adass-polo for her housemates in the show, but she says that during the wait period, she received numerous phone calls from Lake Shore’s Iranian producer Maryam Rahimi. The two discussed different show concepts. Apparently the calls became more frequent and less positive because Persia was asked to tone down her "Persian-ness" in light of the "political atmosphere." Persia's response was: "With a name like Persia it’s really hard to tone down my Iranian heritage, so why add insult to injury? The show's initial mandate was to represent Canada’s diversity, so why am I being told to mask my identity?"
On November 8, 2010 the top eight cast members were revealed. And despite having over 17,000 youtube views, 900 votes and more support than any other cast member, Persia was not one of cast members.
Persia says: "To be honest I never thought it would turn out this way, I had the right amount of votes, the right amount of exposure and the overwhelming support from my community. I didn’t know I was capable of being ‘Too Persian’… as if it were a bad thing."
Although it was not unexpected to see "Lake Shore" become like other so called "reality" shows - containing more "sexual" content than "cultural" or "educational" - but the initial focus on "diversity" was a refreshing and inspiring thought. The final selection of cast members, however, does not seem to promote "cultural" diversity but only "sex" and "materialism," themes common to other reality shows (see video below). One of the eight cast members even went so far as saying at the end of the promo video, "I’m not racist, you know why? Because I hate everyone equally, especially Jewish people!" With teasers like this, it is hard to imagine the show as anything but shallow and sleazy entertainment.
"I’m not bitter. I just think it really proves a point. Iranians will always be misrepresented or not represented at all in the media but I’m optimistic though, it won’t be the last of me, I promise." Persia says with a smile on her face.
