پژوهشهای راهبردی مسائل اجتماعی ایران (Mar 2021)
Life Suspension: Representation of Marital Infidelity in the Films of the 1380s and 1390s of Iranian Cinema
Abstract
IntroductionCinema as one of the main arts of our world has reflected on many social issues in recent decades. Infidelity as a social phenomenon includes behaviours outside the marital relations by married couples. Infidelity is a sensitive phenomenon for a person and society and can lead to several problems for couples and family members. Consequently, social actors and thinkers have reflected on this in different ways. One way to look at a social issue such as infidelity is to investigate cultural products such as novels and movies. Cinema is one of the most important visual arts which can have a great impact on the viewer and be a suitable platform for understanding social issues. Many movies address the causes and consequences of infidelity. Infidelity is among the issues addressed in cinema in recent decades and many narratives of it have been represented in the Iranian and world cinema. We studied how this notion is represented in the last two decades. The aim of this qualitative research was to investigate how marital infidelity is represented in cinema films. The research question is: How are the contexts, consequences, and couple reactions about infidelity narrated? Materials and MethodsThis research has been conducted with a qualitative approach and its implementation method is close to narrative analysis among various qualitative research methods. The data were gathered through watching the selected films and especially the dialogues. Accordingly, the data collection method was observation-documentary. After reviewing more than 50 films related to the issue, 14 films were selected by the purposeful sampling method with a focus on the films focusing on infidelity produced from 2001 to 2020 in the Iranian cinema. The selected films were: Yalda Night, Santouri, Chaharshanbeh Soori, Saadat Abad, Private Life, Wooden Bridge, I am his Wife, Mr. Mahmoudi and Banoo cohabitation, Snow on the Pines, Love Period, Ice Age, Anger and Commotion, We are Not Used to, and Smoky under the Roof. For data analysis, the thematic analysis method was used in order to code and represent the data.. The goal of thematic analysis was to report on the content and meaning of patterns in the data. Discussion of Results and ConclusionsThe main constructed themes from the films included sexual and emotional infidelity, marital dissatisfaction, social context, personal anomy, infidelity as vengeance, imperative acceptance, self-disorganization, and disruption of family relations. The final theme showed infidelity as life suspension implying infidelity as a result and cause of this suspension. It became clear that marital infidelity represents a kind of suspension in life. According to the findings, infidelity is represented in Iranian cinema as a suspension. All the dialogues and scenes show a suspended and undecided life. The narrative of this uncertainty is not common to all films, but they have major commonalities.The most important reason for marital infidelity reflected by the movies is marital dissatisfaction. It is the main factor that directly causes marital infidelity and has negative relationship outcomes. In this way, the greater the satisfaction of married life is, the less the possibility of committing infidelity will be. We examined the reasons for infidelity at three levels of societal, personal, and interpersonal harm. Finally, we came to the conclusion that social and personal harms affect marital dissatisfaction as well as infidelity. Moving away from traditional and patriarchal thinking, addiction, rethinking sexual and emotional issues, fluidity in relationships, irresponsibility and secrecy, dissatisfaction in married life are among factors contributing to marital infidelity.
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