Who is behind the humorous romance page? / People consult us to marry students
Family group: In recent years, many students and clerics have entered cyberspace and tried to communicate with people and their audiences outside the mosque and pulpit on social media and talk about different topics of the day, and each of them found their own style and context. Meanwhile, one humor and animation page on Instagram became different from the others. A page owned by a young student who chose a different expression for communication than his other classmates. A page with humorous content that aims to introduce social and life-seeking topics to its audience in a new way. In the same way, we talked to “Mostafa Maboudi”, a student of level 2 of the seminary and the owner of the romance page.
How did the idea for the “Religious Romance” page come to you?
First, I did this on my personal page and posted a series of religious love posts. Then I decided to separate the page. I started the “Religious Romance” page with the help of a friend and, like all other romance pages, uploaded photos, videos, and podcasts. Because it was repetitive, it did not work well, and with my friend’s opinion, we decided to move the work in another format. We designed two characters and learned how to make animations. We even made animations for the others.
We have at least one office and now we have opened a cultural magazine in Karaj that produces content.
Were you not afraid to try to make fun of the atmosphere?
Fear not. Of course, since I was a student and I was familiar with this space, I was not afraid at all. If the criticism is polite and there is no insult in it, I think there is no problem, whether it is made for a demanding atmosphere or any other issue.
As for the jokes, well, cyberspace requires one to make jokes to attract the audience. I do not think the jokes of the clips are disgusting. In fact, we try not to burn skewers or kebabs, that is, we try not to hit anyone. However, when a content is in our mind, in order to be created and delivered to the audience, it may change by about 20 to 30% and the audience will make a different impression.
What reactions have you received from clerics and scholars so far?
Many followers are students. We also had negative feedback. For example, when we brought a tent character, they said you want to destroy the tent. They said that with this animation and satire, you want to hit the tent and make fun of the hijab.
But thank God we have not had any feedback that goes back to the clergy and seeker community. I mean, no one said you were going to make fun of the clergy or the seminary, but we had negative feedback in general, which I think is normal.
What about positive feedback?
Maboudi: Thank God the positive feedback has been enough to encourage us. For example, we have often received the message that with the same animations and content that we have produced, the treatment of many tents with mantuas, or vice versa, has become more intimate and less confrontational; Or they have said that their relationship with families who have different coverage has improved.
Which romance posts went viral the most?
Our most recent posts, such as the Arbaeen post or the Guidance patrol post, became more popular, and the characters were so liked that they were copied.
How similar is page space to real life questing? Do people have the wrong attitude towards life? Do young students today have such a happy life?
At first, we were faced with a closed space on the part of the people that they thought was life-seeking. That the clergy live cold and dry lives. This idea was created because of films made of life-seeking. We also wanted to change these misconceptions. The general public thinks that a student does not go out with his family, or that his family is very limited, or that his treatment of family members is inappropriate and harsh. We saw this space among the people. Or, for example, those who had student suitors often asked us how the students behave? Are they taking us too hard? From this feedback, we noticed that some people do not have the right image. Of course, it is much better now than before, although some still think that students have a dry life and have limited themselves, they can not go anywhere, they can not do anything, and … of course, some of this is due to the dignity of seeking. For example, a student may not go to a wedding that is invited and wear ordinary clothes. Because in my opinion, the clothes of the clergy have a deterrent and respect that a person wearing it should not go anywhere and do anything.
In short, we had such feedback, and we mostly tried to change this view and say that students can also go to cafes and cinemas. Not that they want to be intellectual, but they are like ordinary people in society. Some people have gone to university to study and others have chosen the field. That’s the only difference. Ordinary people do not have many of the differences that tradition has.
Did you want to correct this idea in your mind?
Yes, we tried to deal with it to some extent. But because we got into some things that are not customary, we got negative feedback from our student friends. For example, it is said that going to a certain place and doing such and such a thing is not in the dignity of a student or a student’s spouse. [البته گاهی درست میگویند]
For example, what is not in the dignity of a student’s spouse?
For example, blogging and wearing hijab are not in the dignity of a student’s spouse. We tried to create a work for this phenomenon that was not successful and we had to remove it. We decided to make another clip about this later, which unfortunately we have not succeeded in yet. For this issue, we need to think more, is it at all in the dignity of a student spouse to enter cyberspace and want to work? If so, what is appropriate and what is not? We also have some of these concerns that we want to address.
Where would you like this page to go and what other cultural work can you do with it that you have not been able to do yet?
In fact, what I always thought was not yet realized. I would like to have a collection and work in the same way of life-seeking and these. Then it has different aspects, for example, we start the child and adolescent part, we start the family part. Have a student or family board. I like to create a spiritual and usable space.
It has not been achieved yet, but thank God it has not gone bad. That is, we have done as much as we could. I was a little alone and to find friends like myself who were demanding and to understand each other, it was a little hard and slow. But so far we have been able to get an office and put a shop in it that pays for the office, or go to animation and learn more, so far thank God it was good. But our horizon is to have more things and to be able to do better.
Do you think there is a big gap between the student community and ordinary people? Or is it not the way it is encouraged?
I think these filters that religious people go to special schools and go to special places for fun, etc., ultimately apply to Tehran and Karaj. But in Qom or many other cities this may not be the case. But in Karaj and Tehran, compared to other cities, the gap between the people and the clergy is greater.
This is because the seminary does not allow students to go anywhere among the people. This is one of the criticisms I have of the constituency. It’s a little bit because of the media propaganda and the misconceptions of the people that no one has fought. These have widened the gap and I think it is widening day by day.
Some people come to terms with this space and fix it, but they make it worse. Therefore, this distance is constantly increasing. Because in the field of media education, we do not have that. Therefore, students who enter this field may have good intentions, but they can not do the right thing.
I’m not saying I do very well myself, my work is definitely flawed. I mean, because they are not trained, those who come to enter this space may not be able to get a corner of the work and fix it.
Where do you find topics? How do you look at the subject matter and angle?
We try to choose the things that people are most involved with. Then we write the topics on the board we have, prioritize them, and choose one to work on.
But do you agree that in recent years, the presence of clerics in cyberspace such as Instagram and Twitter has increased exponentially?
Yes. I remember before I launched my personal page, the constituency opposed me. They said you should not enter this space, you should not do some things. The student should study and should not pursue such things. This is a waste of time. At that time, I was in my second or third year. That was the case.
But now even the seminary itself agrees that students should come in and, if they can, work and do what they can. I’m not saying he is a supporter, but at least he does not object until he reaches the point of loss.
So the students saw that this space was suitable for work and entered. Because in the mosque, 20-30 people may sit at their feet, but in this space, with one page, they can interact with thousands of people. Therefore, the students also turned to this direction. Well, it has its drawbacks and pests.
What pests?
For example, the pests that many bloggers are involved with. Students who have set foot on this path may also suffer from these pests. That they are just looking to attract the audience and not look for good content or just looking for content that is pervasive and has no educational aspect or specific aspect.
Why are people sensitive to the lifestyle of the students? For example, a student who rides a motorcycle is strange to them and they take pictures, or a student who eats pizza or has an Instagram page?
This is a problem, but it cannot be said that it is the people’s fault. Maybe because they rarely saw a cleric with his wife go to a hypermarket to shop. They interact less with people. That’s why people find it so strange to see such a thing. They think that only this cleric is doing this and the rest of them are not doing this. They think the rest of the clergy just go to the pulpit and one buys for them, or sends their wives to buy, or someone else does their work for them. People have not interacted with them, that these things are normal for them, that a student, as a citizen, has his daily life in society. Many of these things are normal.
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