Movies like Frankenweenie and Holland, and even American Pie, make it so much easier to explain why the Midwest can be a haunting place.

These films clearly show—and confirm—that there are major flaws in the Midwestern society, and in America as a whole.

Even that woman’s voice, the way she speaks, the way she emphasizes things—everything shows how much they tried to make the film accurate. Yes, it looks scary. But the bigger fear is that strangers really get this feeling when they live there.

The locals are trapped in a kind of cycle—a routine they can’t break out of. But outsiders see it, and they understand. And when they talk about it or try to escape, others think they’re crazy, hysterical, or paranoid. But the truth is, the more sensitive you are and the more intelligent you are, the more you realize how frightening the Midwest is—especially those upper states.

I used to talk about Iran’s problems, for ordinary people, who lack support. And people would mock me, and call me too much.

And now they understand. Out and in, no matter where they live, they do realize what it meant to be an ordinary Iranian.

The scariest part is, as long as they haven’t lived that situation, those movies seem superficial, absurd, or, I don’t know, unreal; maybe sci-fi, even. “How can a country survive, and become leader in everything, if these movies are its perfect examples?!”

But to those people who have lived through it, damn!

“Ladies, gentlemen. I think the confusion here is that you are all very ignorant. Is that right word, ignorant? I mean stupid, primitive, unenlightened. You do not understand science, so you are afraid of it.”

Then, Mr. Rzykruski quits, or kind off force quits, or gets fired; and leaves, forever.

It’s not just that. It’s everything that happens. It seems far from reality, I know. But sentence by sentence, word by word, scene by scene, those movies have pictured everything.