A Study of Offside: Clashes between Feminine Desire and Social Imposition

Abstract

There are some constructed stereotypical notions about the Middle-Eastern countries and it has always been a tendency of the West to project the Middle East in terms of negative archetypes. But each of these Middle Eastern counties has been enriched by their own culture and art. And the cinema of Iran has validated this fact. In the age of Transnational cinema Iranian film has been able to secure a place in the global precincts not only because of the content of the film but also because of the unique cinematography, acting techniques and the acting skills of the actors. One of the pioneer figures in the realm of Iranian cinema is Jafar Panahi. As a Post-Revolutionary realist filmmaker, Panahi has brought to the fore the images of the Iranian society by using his unique skill of cinematography. Each of his films has a deeper meaning hidden under the veneer of its superficial presentation. And Offside, one of his much acclaimed films, does not fail to bear this characteristic. Under the garb of a comedy, Offside highlights how gender discrimination is still at work in Iran. It is this gender discrimination which leads to the banality of women in watching football sitting in the same stadium with men. The study proposes to explore in detail how Panahi has used his artwork as a tool to raise questions against the prejudiced norms that separate women from men.

Keywords

• Offside
• Jafar Panahi
• marginalization
• imposition
• resistance