Going to the movies and watching Iranian films has become more of a social experience to me than an actual cultural and artistic activity. As for Ebrahim Irajzad's adaptation of the spider killings, let me tell you how disappointed I am. You can't just criticize a misogynistic and flawed system by pointing the finger at other women. When will come the time for men to just own up to their charges and shoulder the blame? Unfortunately, this is observed all throughout history. Even Shakespeare portrayed shrews deceiving men to accomplish their goals, and in this case, a mother who whispers conspiracy theories in her son's ears. I admit that Saeed Hana'ei's mom was no saint, but neither was his wife. Nor were all the people close to him. Their gender was simply irrelevant. They all shared the view that prostitutes should be eliminated, even lauded his actions afterwards. What's this cheesy monster-in-law characterization prevalent in films? This is how you attempt at fixing a false narrative? And where did that veteran background of Hana'ei's go? Like that was not at all constructive to the making of a murderer.
Another misleading point in Oktay Baraheni's (Reza Baraheni's son, the scriptwriter) narration was this: Those poor women had no other choice but to sell sex; they had mouths to feed, etc. Ergo killing them was wrong. NO! Even if they had other choices, but picked this line of job, you had no right to kill them. Iranian filmmakers claim to be fighting the corrupt, immoral, and inhuman system, but they eventually end up helping that very corruption by taking the middle ground when it comes to sensitive issues.
