Persian/Iranian/Afghan representation in media (Or the none existent one.)

I'm going to get to the point; The Persian representation in media is none-existent. 

As a Persian immigrant who moved to Canada, I really need to talk about this. There is no representation about my culture in any media I consume, whether it be books, movies, shows, games, websites or even fanfictions. Some might say I'm just being sensitive and that there is bigger problems, which there is. I can't lie, there is bigger problems. But I'm still going to talk about this subject because I can't manifest it forever.

Lets list of the amount of representation of Persian culture I have seen and how good their representation is;

Princess Jasmine. She is just just a mix of the middle east. We don't actually know where she is from. Hinting at the fact that the middle east is basically all the same.. Bad rep. 2/10 because I like her design.

The magical carpet from Aladdin. Yes, it is actually supposed to be somehow a show of representation for Persian culture. I must say, a bit creative. Because rugs and carpets are a big part of our culture, given the fact I was named after a carpet pattern.. But anyway, I must give something to the creativity of it. But again, didn't really like it. 3/10. 

Prince of Persia. Hated it. ass. They couldn't even be fucking bothered to at the very least NOT misspell the characters names. His name is Dastan, you say the A's like you say Car. It's really not that fucking hard. Couldn't they AT LEAST cast some Persian actors? I swear it's not that hard bud! 1/10 ONLY because of the production value.

Persepolis. I LOVED IT! Best representation I have ever seen. Can't even put into words how much I loved the MC and the story line and the relatableness of it all.. 10/10

Nilou and Kaveh from Genshin impact. Meh, not bad! Fun fact, Kaveh is also based on Kurdish culture, I liked it. Not bad. It could have been better though.. 6/10.

Yup. That's it guys. Nothing else really. Thee are the only representation we Persians have.

Now, let me talk about my personal experience.

Well, being a young immigrant girl, when I first came to Canada, I was excited. As any other person would be. I wanted to share my culture and my roots to people. The thing was, whenever I talked about where I was from, people had 3 reactions and no in-between.

"Oh, Iran? Nice!"

"Oh... Iran.. Are you a t3rr0r1st?"

"What's Iran? You mean Iraq?"

The 3rd option was always the most answered part. The least answered part was the 1st one.
Yes, people didn't know what Iran was. They didn't even know it existed.
And whenever the 2nd option came around, it showed how westerners viewed my country. Like I was a bad person. Like it's MY fault my country is bad.

It threw me off. I began disliking myself.

I got better eventually though, because I am a VERY chronically online kid. And guess what? People online got curious about my culture! I ranted and all that. It was fun for people to finally not seeing me in this cold view.

And, during those times, Sumeru came out and I found out Nilou was a representation of Persian culture. I played the game because I finally had a character to represent me.

Then, during 2024, I saw the book of Persepolis. I read the book, and then the film. And I became obsessed. I finally had something I could relate to.

Of course, there were some other Iranian people at my school. I became friends with them, even if they were much younger. 

Because I had people to talk to.

Now I don't really bother talking to the Iranian people at my school. I just look at them from afar and pretend I'm going to be friends with them. I'm not going to. I'm too scared.

Anyway.

i just needed to rant about this. Bye.