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Caleb Tracy

Dr. Chipman

Multicultural Theatre

February 17, 2014

“Getting In” On the “Inside Joke:”

A Look at the Cultural References in Call Me Mehdi

No one likes a joke that they don’t understand. It either makes you upset that

you don’t get it, or you try to understand it by getting the facts behind it. I have

decided to do just that with the jokes presented in the play “Call Me Mehdi,” by

Torange Yeghiazarian. There are many references to Islamic culture in this play and

other issues surrounding it. I, being a typical, American-cultured person, don’t quite

understand them or have heard about the issues. Through this short essay I wish to

gather some background information on a few things. Then I will find their

significance within the play. Those points of reference are the author’s cultural

background, the references to the Rashti, and finish with the plays “title reference,”

the joke in reference to Imam Zaman.

Torange Yeghiazarian is a native Iranian she founded the Golden Thread

Theatre Productions. She directs, acts, and writes. She is an advocate for the Mid-

Eastern culture to be well represented in America. Yeghiazarian has many programs

where she tries to engage those of us in this culture in plays about the Middle East.

This characteristic of hers is well highlighted in her writing. The story line of Call Me

Mehdi is all around the misunderstanding of Islamic culture between and American

husband and his Mid-Eastern wife. With that as a basis for her writing we get what

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she is all about in her work. With that understood we can look into the next few

points.

The references to the Rashti in the play got me curious. What exactly are

they? Why would, as the joke in the play says, a Rashti man come home to his wife

dancing around naked? Ziba says it’s because they are “too liberal.” What does “too

liberal” actually mean? In the context of the cultural aspect the belief of the people of

city of Rasht, or Rashtis. The people of Rasht played a big role in start and

radicalization of what was called the “Constitutional Revolution.” The beliefs of the

group of people that were radicals, represented a pro-modern and social democratic

system for the reformation of Muslim rituals and traditions. This would mean that

they would have not supported the strict rules of women being forced to wear the

highly conservative “abaya” dress. The joke tells of the man of this decent of beliefs

coming home to his wife completely naked. The fact that it is a typical characteristic

that would only be accepted to that man and not many others of the culture is the

comical aspect of the context in the joke. That understood I can see what she meant

by liberal and why the joke is funny.

The next issue is the matter surrounding the context of the “title joke” the

“Call me Mehdi” one. The play has a woman calling out to “Imam Zaman.” The first

question is, who is Imam Zaman? Well to call him that will find you hardly anything

in your search. He is actually called Imam Mehdi. The whole joke is in the name.

“Call me Medhi.” There is a definition for Mehdi in the Islamic culture. ˆt is a part of

their religion. “Medhi” is a name for the future prophet that will come to earth to re-

instate Islam and lead the worthy Muslims to paradise. The Sunnis view the Mahdi

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as the heir of Mohammad. The Mahdi is expected to arrive to rule the world and to

reestablish righteousness. He is a holy person that has divine intentions. He is a

“holy savior.” This brings me to the context of the joke. You will find yourself

laughing if you understand the irony of the story. The woman he has chosen to come

back for and save is beautiful and well endowed with very large breasts. He was

meant to come back and save the religion of Islam. Not a sexy woman. Thus, in that

context, I see why the joke is funny. The way Ziba describes it in the show only

comes touches on why it’s funny. Knowing more of the background to the joke gives

me more insight.

There are definitely no major issues here. The points I make are the ones that

bring up my final discussion topic; the jokes from other cultures. All of this research

on the references led me to develop more searches on the subject. There are a lot of

jokes in the Mid-Eastern culture. They all stem-out to be about the politics, which is

woven into the culture. I found many cartoons that are from their culture and

websites devoted to their jokes. I reflected these final 10 points:

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Work Cited

http://www.goldenthread.org/torange.htm

http://www.iranchamber.com/cities/rasht/rasht.php

http://www.shia.org/mehdi.html