Tataloo sounds the alarm and warns from the underground of society.
Tataloo was born, grew up, and emerged from the underground before becoming a singer. His underground background can be seen as a symbolic representation of the concentrated impact of social damages on an individual’s character.
Many people grew up in poor neighborhoods, where some continued their lives without anyone asking about their fate, whether good or bad. However, some of the locals, despite any rewards they had, tried to uplift themselves at least a little culturally and socially. Here, we are talking about those who have remained in the lower echelons of society, and their efforts to rise up only bring the strong and disturbing scent of the essence of black hole infections to the surface of the city, tickling the noses of sophisticated people on the ground.
One of the things that the smartphone generation is saying is that sometimes they earn up to 15 million tomans per day. Rent collectors and similar occupations can also be found abundantly among the same vulnerable layers of society, whose income in one week is sometimes equal to the six-month salary of an average employee or even more. However, they still belong to the same underground class.
They make so much money, but none of them ever become wealthy. If they were to abandon activities that generate such high income, they would not have enough money to buy a few loaves of bread the following month. It’s as if a cultural rope ties them to poverty in the underground, and economically, it does not allow them to rise up. Even if they become rich, their social and cultural status probably won’t change.
Analyzing this group is extensive and has its own complexities, but almost everyone agrees that if these same individuals were born and raised in another social class within the building of society, the likelihood of finding such personalities would decrease by one thousandth.
Amirhossein Maghsoudlou, also known as Tatlo, is one of the children who was born in the basement of society and is still underground. The story of Amirhosseini, who turned into Tatlo, is the story of the unsuccessful attempts of an underground child to rise from his floor and reach the surface.
He tried to become a singer for his fellow youth in the middle class up to a point, and even sang songs for the Green Party candidates during the turbulent year of 88. But my disappointment from this effort and his relationship with the middle class turned into a struggle and a hindrance.
Amirhossein Maghsoudlou wanted to be born again, this time in the middle class. But when he realized that such an opportunity was not available to him, he used all the tricks he had learned in the basement to provoke and annoy the middle class and through this, he achieved some success.
Now he had become a joker, unsuccessful in capturing the attention of his middle-class peers, but he managed to gather a group of young people from future decades and thus Tatlo was born.
Tataloo’s attack on middle-class values, ranging from personal freedoms to symbols like Mohammad Reza Shajarian, was by no means justifiable, but it was unjust and unfair. He would say whatever he wanted, right or wrong, with a provocative and often offensive tone, turning himself into an undisputed master of provoking the middle class.
Ironically, this personal style actually helped his fame. The more the middle class resisted him, the more famous he became. He was a phenomenon that shed new light on the subject of fame, especially in the age of social networks.
Tataloo’s character was essentially rooted in teasing and mocking the classes that did not accept him. In every encounter with this underground guy, he would grab his handkerchief and pass by, when almost all Persian songs, if not cheerful, had a melancholic or broken-hearted theme, Tataloo’s theme was rebellion. But ultimately, he has won the argument. This constant teasing was also reminiscent of the final dialogue in the movie Papillon, where Steve McQueen, when he finally manages to escape from the prison and jumps into the sea, shouts, ‘Hey, you bastards, I’m still alive!’
Tataloo used to address the same cry to those who saw themselves as his jailers underground, the same mediocre people who didn’t let him rise and become like them, from Mrs. Vaziri in his songs to Master Shajarian in his controversial interviews, he regularly addressed any character from the middle class that he felt didn’t want someone like Tataloo or Moghadamloo to exist, shouting with different tones, ‘Oh, this crazy whirlwind has also fallen into the trap of politics and is not helping me.’
Tataloo made efforts to whiten himself, and some political factions thought they could use him as a symbol of their own laxity on one hand, and a symbol of openness in repentance for everyone on the other hand. After the presidential elections in 2017, Amir Tataloo and Sasy Mankan became symbols and masses for the two main political factions in the country.
Tataloo’s story was completely clear, but the opposing faction, which was advancing its agenda with Sasy, as usual, behaved ambiguously. Although they had the largest share in government positions in the years after the revolution, they tried to portray themselves as independent of the ruling power.
For example, instead of giving money to cinema through institutions like Farabi to make their desired films, some individuals resorted to embezzlement from banks, financial institutions, and pension funds to escape government control. These individuals then invested their illicit money in private cinema and home entertainment networks. If someone saw these same individuals with their purchased celebrities in the election campaign of a certain presidential candidate, they would probably have to accept that this behavior was personal, non-official, and voluntary, and it does not reflect government involvement.
The act of giving importance to Sasy Mankan over Tataloo was done in the same ambiguous manner by a political faction, similar to the deceptive wheat sellers of governments that claimed independence from the government. Sasy Mankan’s explicit songs received significant attention for several consecutive years for the sole reason that videos from elementary schools were broadcasted, showing children singing along to these songs. Interestingly, the cameraman of all these videos was the class teacher, leading us to believe that everything was done in the private sector, and the Ministry of Education deliberately left the doors slightly open for this phenomenon to enter the room on its own.
There is an Iranian proverb with the same theme, which says that the snake tells the bee to sting it, and I will show myself. The issue of giving importance to Sasy Mankan through school videos and its relation to the government of that time is an example of the same proverb. The point here is that no matter what Sasy Mankan did, he was ultimately criticized and did not become a target of public hatred among the middle class because the ones who gave him importance were from another political faction.
Nevertheless, Tatlo was much more successful in attracting audiences than Sasi, and his relationship with the political current he claimed to be associated with did not remain unchallenged. His crazy and erratic behavior towards the average people turned Tatlo from a talented artist into a complete lunatic. One day, he would insult the third Imam of Shiites, and the next day he would make a mistake and release a video in which a local eulogist claimed that Amirhossein Maqsoudloo had funded a religious gathering.
One day, he would talk about how women should not go to work and should not please men, and the next day he would post an Instagram announcement accepting girls under 20 years old to join his shrine. The more the public criticized Tatlo’s actions, the more provocative responses he would give.
For example, when they attacked him for his audacity and immorality, he would respond by saying that if the girls were virgins and had their parents’ consent to join his shrine, then there would be no problem. He had become a monster, and those who were trying to resist him were not just from the middle class, but anyone from any social class who adhered to ethics and norms would be targeted.
Now, Tataloo had turned into a dangerous infection. He would hold concerts and in the middle of them, he would say, ‘Wait a few minutes for me to go get some drugs and come back.’ During the same concert, he would insult his fans and enjoy the whistles and applause of the foolish people who were insulted. This not only irritated sane and normal people but also disturbed the entire society, not just the middle-class individuals of various political affiliations.
Finally, Tataloo’s shrine was successful. He could have multiple sexual relationships in Turkey without anyone smelling a rat or getting sensitive about it. But he deliberately made announcements and even pretended to do more than he actually did to provoke envy and be seen.
Tataloo was the voice of the depths and for a long time, he used it to his advantage to break the invisible barrier of being ignored by the middle-class and provoke envy. But he continued this method to such an extent that his actions fell into absurdity and he got lost in the density. He has now reached a point and done things that no sane person can defend, and ultimately, it can be considered the defense of an irrational and illogical crowd to fill a concert hall, nothing more.
But let’s review up to this point that this underground boy has passed by several of us average people on the path he has taken so far. Each of us had the opportunity to prevent him from falling into the trap of becoming a monster, from the Green Headquarters in 88 to meeting with the Judge of Judges in 96, and after that, attending the celebration of Fars News Agency.
He followed us everywhere, from being on a navy ship and singing for nuclear energy, to singing in solidarity with the protesters in 1401, from football fields to cinematic scenes, from cafes to mourning ceremonies. He ran after us so that we would accept him, ran after our religion, ran after our intellectuals. He took pictures with our clerics, became roommates with our actors, and in short, did whatever it took to be accepted. But we, who were constantly engaged in various political and social struggles and throwing arrows at each other, were allies and supporters of this underground child.
Sometimes, if it served our purpose, we tried to take advantage of him, like in the years 88 and 96. But ultimately, we returned to our previous settings and distanced ourselves, pressing the handkerchief on our noses until we couldn’t smell his underground scent anymore.
Tataloo was not a justice seeker, but he was born out of injustice. Perhaps this filthy monster wouldn’t have become what he is today if someone had thought a little more about him instead of themselves. The monster should be punished, but we have never seen in history that those who could have prevented the birth of a monster and failed to do so were punished. This is one of the tragic aspects of human life.
Persian
مشاهده این مقاله به زبان فارسی
