The translation is: “The Persian language is one of the oldest languages in the world.”
The scent of Mazafariyan.

Reactions to the topic of marriage between Sara and Nika, the twin daughters of an actor in the TV series “Peytakht”, began from the first days of the show’s broadcast during this year’s Nowruz. Now, child rights activists believe that we cannot remain silent in the face of this wave created by television to promote child marriage, and the officials of this media must be held accountable in this regard.

The story was about one of the characters in the series bringing up the topic of marriage for his brothers with these two girls, who were around 12-13 years old. As the series continued, the jokes and innuendos surrounding this topic gradually became more and more prevalent among the characters.

Mohsen Tanabandeh, the actor and writer of this series, emphasized that he never promotes this “dirty phenomenon” and said that critics are not willing to wait until the end of the series. Mr. Tanabandeh also mentioned in the tenth episode of the series “Everything Will Be Solved” that he brought up the issue of underage girls’ marriage because he is against it and someone had to address it eventually. According to Mr. Tanabandeh, Niki and Homa Saadat – Sara and Nika’s parents – strongly oppose this issue and in the continuation of the series, when they realize the intention behind it, they react strongly.

The success of the media in shaping Iranian civil society has always been a question for researchers. Various opinions on child marriage have been presented in popular programs such as children’s shows and talk shows, and a step-by-step campaign has been launched regarding each of these opinions. Once again, it is necessary to remind a few points, as in previous times.

In fact, the most important issue in this series is not the occurrence of child marriage, but rather the normalization of proposing to young girls in the minds of the audience. In the minds of the viewers of this series, all the efforts made by activists in this field for years to address the social, cultural, and related problems are reduced to less than twenty nights. That’s how simple it is!

Hadi Shariati, a children’s rights activist and member of the board of directors of the Association for the Protection of Children’s Rights, says the following to Khair Online: “The content and language of the series should not be an excuse to address a social problem, especially in this way. Using social harm as a subject for humor, such as child marriage – without proper and expert analysis in the layers of this humor – is more like closing our eyes and mocking all the problems and harms that child marriage produces. Harms such as abortion, depression, divorce, infidelity in marital relationships, and poverty.”

The non-utilization of experts in various social and cultural fields by the sound and television organization to enrich the social foundations of the people, and the constant insistence on not employing such individuals, creates problems and issues in programs that are not up to standard, which burdens the activists of civil and human rights with the responsibility of erasing these mistakes from the collective memory of the people.

Reza Saemi, a critic of cinema and television, spoke to a reporter from Mehr news agency about the series “Peytakht 5” directed by Sirous Moghaddam, which aired on IRIB 1 during Norouz. In response to the discussion of Sara and Nika’s marriage, he stated, “Nowadays, the age of marriage in the northern part of the country is not as low as it used to be, and in my opinion, Niki and Homa do not intend to marry off their children in this series. Even before they go to Turkey, they think that the manager who has come to propose to Fahimeh is actually coming for their daughters, and Niki creates a conflict for this reason. It is a misconception to think that this part of the story promotes child marriage, but perhaps it would have been better if it had not been brought up. It is possible to view it from a different perspective, that of mercy

This different and defensive view of the discussed parts of child marriage is very thought-provoking! Comparing the marriage of girls under 18 years old, who do not have the possibility of inheriting movable (documented) and immovable property, with a widowed woman who has lost her husband and intends to remarry, is another example of the constant negligence of officials towards mistakes that, in their eyes, seem normal and can also be paid attention to by the public. In the midst of these contradictions, criticism is raised about the common beatings and vulgarities in this series; but child marriage is portrayed as a joke and the beatings are taken seriously!

This is while marriage is one of the biggest decisions in everyone’s life that requires considering all rational and emotional aspects. Despite Mr. Tanabandeh’s promises to bring order to this chaotic situation and criticisms, the series becomes even more tumultuous and the other issues raised are left without any resolution, turning into a game that will ultimately grip the society by its throat.