There’s a new crackdown on toys in Iran and this time the target is the U.S. television show, “The Simpsons.” It puts Homer, Bart, and the others off the animated show on the same path as Barbie. According to Mohammad Hossein Farjoo, who is in charge of the Iranian agency that determines what toys will be allowed to be sold in Iran, said that Iran wants no part of promoting the show. Farjoo said that there are some episodes of the show have been banned in America and Europe, but he didn’t say which episodes he was referring to. He was speaking to the Sharq newspaper.
Toys like Barbie dolls are sold throughout Tehran, although they are generally kept behind the counter and not displayed on the store shelves. Merchants in Tehran say that the banned items are becoming more and more difficult to get ahold of, though. Iran’s economy is suffering over sanctions imposed by the west, but there is still a demand for toys and dolls like Barbie and “The Simpsons.”
Barbie dolls have been banned for some time in Iran; however the ban has been more strictly enforced in the past month. The revealing clothing and the full figured body are particularly offensive to the leaders in Iran. Farjoo said that any doll that has full adult figures will be banned in the country because they promote a Western culture that the country wants no part of.
It’s not clear how the dolls from the “The Simpsons” offended Iran leaders. Obviously, the dolls are not what you would call anatomically correct. Farjoo said that the family is too self-centered and irreligious to be considered for “family values.”
The show is not seen on Iran’s local television, but those who get foreign chancels via satellite would be able to see the cartoon.
