Actress Jessica Chastain has some thoughts about how American media has covered the protests against the government of Iran, in that she thinks they really haven’t. And she’s pretty sure she knows why.
Stopping by “The View” on Friday, Chastain spoke on her experience visiting Ukranian refugees, and explained how she strives to use the platform she has to help people. Host Alyssa Farah Griffin then asked Chastain to expound on previous statements she’s made about the coverage of the Iranian protests, which began last year after the death in police custody of Mahsa Amini.
Chastain noted that this was actually the first time in her many recent TV appearances she was asked for her thoughts on Iran, despite having asked herself if she could bring it up. According to the actress, every time she’s asked if she could talk about it, she was told “we’ll get to it” and that never happened.
“And I kept asking myself ‘Why did they not want to talk about it? Why is it not so important in American media?’ And I really believe it’s because it’s a women’s-led revolution, and we’re not used to seeing that,” Chastain said.
The actress also noted that there may be religious motivations and factors at play in this situation as well.
“And I also think that Ukraine is a predominantly Christian country. And it’s easier for American media, and for us to, in some sense, identify with that,” she added. “But I think it’s really important in this world to identify with people who don’t look like us, and don’t believe in the same religions or don’t have the same gender.”