At college, I had lost my one pleasure in life, discussing the injustices of the Islamic Republic, because such discussions could result in my persecution. I liked films about high school and college life. That was the worst part of my lonely life, because I could contrast it with the one the Islamic Republic had robbed me of. Since the Green Movement, the Islamic Republic has forced Iranians to confront this painful reality: Tyrants don’t reform peacefully. The Islamic Republic promised economic leveling, the rule of Islam, and anti-Americanism and anti-Zionism.