The Political and Social Functions of the Jahel (Loti, Lumpen, or Kolah Makhmali) in the Iranian Cinema of the Second Pahlavi Era (1950s to 1980s)

Cinema is intertwined with politics. Political systems have tried to control and use cinema for their own advantage. The genre that is called "FilmFarsi" and produced in the years before and after the revolution in 1979 has served a political function.FilmFarsi refers to popular and commercial cinema in the 1950s to 1980s; although, as a cinematic genre, it was also produced after the Islamic revolution and continues today. This genre was often romantic popular melodramas with simplification of characters and situations. FilmFarsi seems to display the modernization of Iranian society and its conflicts and challenges with tradition. Of course, these challenges were often very unpretentious and superficial. Dancing and singing were elements of this genre, to which the critics became culturally sensitivite, and after the revolution, these aspects and traits of films were considered vulgare and trite,  and therefore, these types of films were seized to be produced.In this article, we will deal with the Jahel, Loti, Lumpen and Kolah Makhmali (velvet hats) in popular cinema to explain how and why these characters appeared in the Iranian cinema and how they show the mentality, dreams and aspirations of the people of the time. To address these questions, by using the methodology of discourse analysis, in order to study the narrative structure, grammatical and visual system of the films, we have paid attention to three levels: descriptive analysis, discourse action and social function of the text of films.Our findings show that the character (Jahel, Loti, Lumpen, Kolah Makhmali) has two opposite sides, positive and negative. On the one hand, as a Dervish, he is indifferent to the world and worldly possessions, and on the other hand, like a lumpen, he seeks benefits and wealth in any way possible. Little by little, from the 1950s to the 1970s, the positive image of this charcter in the Iranian cinema decreased and his negative and rebellious images persisted in the public cultrue.Jahel in the cinema became a symbol of male authority and protection of traditions, especially in the face of strangers. They were the sign of the tradition who maintained religious customs, although they were flexible and could connect these traditions with modernity. The discursive function of FilmFarsi, especially films centered on the Jahel, was the narration of coexistence and the connection of traditional and modern aspects; A narrative that was of interest to Pahlavi II cultural institutions; Because in that time the conflict between traditional and modern forces was becoming radicalized and the concern about the gap in values was causing the society to face a crisis.Also, Jahel character (or Lumpen, Kolahmakhmali) in popular cinema was able to building fantasy world, by simplification social phenomena such as social rupture (between traditional and modern), cultural distance (between elite and ordinary), class gap, and Conflict of interest (minority and majority), to make people's dreams and aspirations come true. By constructing these falsified facts, they reproduce the hegemonic political system and establish social order.