Let's talk about the true story behind the movie 'The Terminal' it's not nearly as romantic IRL! Mehran Karimi Nasseri was trying to get to the UK from Iran when some paperwork needed to be filled out in France... and he just, didn't do it. For 18 years. If you're like anyone else in the world, you hate being at the airport overnight - so this is actually a tragedy of mental illness and less of a bureaucratic nightmare.
Let's talk about the true story behind the movie 'The Terminal' it's not nearly as romantic IRL! Mehran Karimi Nasseri was trying to get to the UK from Iran when some paperwork needed to be filled out in France... and he just, didn't do it. For 18 years. If you're like anyone else in the world, you hate being at the airport overnight - so this is actually a tragedy of mental illness and less of a bureaucratic nightmare.
Hi Friends! Our transcripts aren't perfect, but I wanted to make sure you had something - if you'd like an edited transcript, I'd be happy to prioritize one for you - please email doomedtofailpod@gmail.com - Thanks! - Taylor
Ira Glass wishes everyone a happy Father's Day
>> Taylor: In the matter of the people of State of California vs. Orenthal James Simpson, case number BA097.
>> Farz: And so, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country. Happy Father's Day. Father's Day for one, not for you, but whatever. Everybody has good Father's Day, hopefully.
>> Taylor: Yeah, he's doing good. I bought him a new ember. You know those. Those cups that stay hot?
>> Farz: Oh, yeah.
>> Taylor: He had one that he had for a long time, and it was getting kind of old, so I bought him a new one, and I made him breakfast.
>> Farz: So would you make.
>> Taylor: I make this really good German pancake. Like, you put it in the oven, and then it, like, like, puffs up really big, and it's just, like, a delicious, like, pie. Like a breakfast, actually.
>> Farz: I didn't know there was a special pancake for Germans.
>> Taylor: It's wonderful. I'll send you a photo of it.
>> Farz: Sounds great.
>> Taylor: It's really good.
>> Farz: Awesome.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: So he had a good Father's Day. Yeah, very fun. And like, I just told Taylor, I am chock full of fried chicken from our Father's Day lunch, which was great and very filling and exhausting to digest. So this is the speed I'm going to be at today.
>> Taylor: I like it. I feel like. I don't know, people, like, when podcasters talk, you know, really slow and intentional. So we could. We could always do that.
>> Farz: Hello, I'm Ira Glass, and today on.
>> Taylor: This American Life, we're gonna get sued by our Glass. Hi. Actually, welcome to Doomed to Fail. We bring you history's most notorious disasters and epic failures twice a week. I'm Taylor, joined by Fars.
>> Farz: Yes, I'm here, and I believe I'm gonna be telling us a story first today.
>> Taylor: Sure.
>> Farz: Unless you don't want.
>> Taylor: No, no.
>> Farz: You good?
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Okay. All right, well, we'll do whatever.
>> Taylor: Wait. I have a funny story to tell you.
>> Farz: Tell me.
>> Taylor: Yesterday, we went to a event. Someone is running for Congress, and I ran into someone that you and I know who ran for Congress in my district.
>> Farz: I know exactly. That is.
>> Taylor: And he was, like, asked me a question. He was like, oh, I'm so. He's like, oh, I can't remember his name. Who is that? Like, that person we used to work with, that, like, handsome Iranian guy. I go, I don't know. And Juan goes, fars. And I was like, oh, yes, Fars. And it was so funny. And Juan was like, were you thrown off by the word handsome? And I was like, I guess I was Just like, doesn't ring a bell. I'm like, oh, you mean my best friend that I talk to every single freaking day? Yes, Fars.
>> Farz: Thank you, Juan. And this person who we both know, I.
>> Taylor: We laughed really hard. I was like, oh, yeah, Fars.
>> Farz: Is he running again?
>> Taylor: No, but someone new is, so.
>> Farz: Got it. So he's supporting.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Passing the baton to someone else.
>> Farz: Fun.
>> Taylor: So, yeah.
>> Farz: Well, sir, I know your name, but I'm not going to say it here. Thank you for the compliment. So cool.
I'm going to cover the true story behind the inspiration of a 2004 movie
Well, I'll go ahead and dive in. I'm going to have a relatively quick one which matches my general tone and tenor and demeanor for the day. My hourglass vibe. Please don't Sue. I have nothing to give. Sue. I'm going to cover the true story behind the inspiration of a Steven Spielberg movie from 2004 that included Tom Hanks. Do you know what movie that could be?
>> Taylor: Dunkirk.
>> Farz: You're right. It's Dunkirk. That 2004 hit, Dunkirk.
>> Taylor: I don't know. Tell me. And I'm going to be like, oh, I know.
>> Farz: Is a lighthearted rom com kind of a thing called the Terminal.
>> Taylor: Oh, yeah, There you go.
>> Farz: So real quick is a little bit of a background thing, because it's also prone to the fact that nothing about that movie was actually real, despite the fact they bought the rights for it. The story. Yeah, pretty much nothing is accurate in terms of what actually happened, which I can get into here in a moment. So in that movie, Tom Hanks is a character. He is traveling from his fictional home country of Krakosha, not a real country, to New York. And while in the air, his government is overthrown in a coup. That's also not the reason behind what ended up happening here. The US No Longer recognized his papers, and there was no home country to fly back to, so he just stayed in limbo at JFK airport. That's the story, the crux of the story. Later on, he ends up making friends with airport workers. He builds this, like, makeshift home for himself. He established a relationship with Catherine Zeta Jones, which definitely did not happen here. and all that kind of turns out to be this, like, lighthearted thing because his father just passed and he was a huge fan of jazz, and he wanted to get the last signature of his 57 jazz musician collection for his father. And that was. The entire thing was very heartwarming thing and all that. Like, it was. It was a great. It was a really good movie. It was really good. Like, you'd enjoy it if you watched it again.
In 1977, Iran was on the cusp of a religious revolution
But the Real story is not so heartwarming. It is based on the true story of a guy named Mehran Nasari who, who lived at Charles de Gaulle Airport for 18 years.
>> Taylor: That doesn't even make sense.
>> Farz: Doesn't even make sense. We're gonna get into what happened now. I'm gonna start by saying that mostly what I concluded is that this was either an incredibly stubborn or a severely mentally ill man, or both. So first things first. He was an Iranian. He was an Iranian national in the year 1977. In 1977, Iran was on the cusp of a religious revolution. The monarch back then was a guy named Reza Pahlavi. And he was more of like a Western style leader. Like if you look up pictures of pre revolutionary Ron, like people look like they could be in Europe or the us.
>> Taylor: Yeah, I've seen them.
>> Farz: Further validation of why it is awesome that they're being bombed into oblivion right now. As a resident Iranian spokesperson here. so yeah, anyways, this king, this Shah, he was focused on expanding economic opportunities, women's rights, modernizing the country and turning into like a regional Western aligned power. And people hated him for it. Mainly crazy a****** religious people hated him for it. And, but I mean I, I will say, like it wasn't all gravy there. Like the Shah was also pretty out there when it came to oppressing people that didn't. That like spoke out in favor of like the revolution essentially.
Mehron claims he was forced out of Iran due to anti-Shah protests
So this is where we'll start Mehron's story because in 1977 he claims that he was being forced out of Iran by the secret police due to his anti shah protesting. It isn't explicitly stated, but given what would come next in the revolution, it can kind of be assumed that he was a religious sellot who preferred the rise of Khomeini, which is who we can thank for what's going on in Iran right now. So like his argument is, I gotta get out of this country, I'm being oppressed, the Shah's gonna kill me. But also like, if that's happening, it's because you were supporting this other regime, which is bad. So when he was 28 years old, he had studied in the UK in West Yorkshire. So in 1977 when this threat of expulsion presented itself, he decided to seek refuge refugee status in Europe, specifically between the countries of UK and France. So he would freely travel between those two countries under his refugee visas. During one of those trips between the countries, while he was on his way to Britain, he claims his documents have been lost or stolen. We don't know for sure what happened. Some people think that he deliberately lost his documents.
>> Taylor: Right.
>> Farz: So when he arrived in London, he was without paperwork. And you know, this wasn't some crazy insurmountable situation that a normal person couldn't easily overcome. Like people lose their passports all the time. Like it's not like the craziest ordeal.
>> Taylor: Totally. I don't really. I know like someone at my last job one time had to flew to New York and lost her ID and then like got on a plane home. Like there's ways to do it.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: You know.
>> Farz: Well, it's probably a lot easier today since everything is digital anyways. Back then it was probably a little bit harder, but it wasn't insurmountable. It wasn't 18 years insurmountable.
>> Taylor: Nothing is 18 years insurmountable.
>> Farz: So he's in Britain and Britain's like, you don't have documentation here. The last place you have documentation for is France. You and you, you even lost that stuff. So what we're going to do is we're going to show you a France or France's problem.
>> Taylor: That's what I would do.
>> Farz: Yeah. And France is like, what do we do with this guy? He doesn't have legal documentation to enter our country, but we can't just ping pong him between countries endlessly. So a French human rights lawyer decided to advocate on his behalf. And through support and cooperation from the United Nations High Commission on Refugees, they were able to get the approval of Belgium from Mehron to get legal residency in their country. All he had to do was board a flight, go to Belgium, talk to some immigration official and agree to some supervision by a Belgian social worker.
>> Taylor: Also a really short flight.
>> Farz: Yeah. And, and he wouldn't even agree to do doing that. He would claim that he wants to be in Britain and even started referring to himself as Sir Alfred and demanded others refer to him as such. As one like, I think he's like sick in the head.
>> Taylor: Yeah, that's, that's really weird.
>> Farz: But also I, there's also a phenomenon where like when your country like I, I can see him trying to distance himself from his like identity in a way because at that point he thinks that Iran's like nuts. And it's so funny. It's like, because then it turned nuts and he's like, whatever. It doesn't, right.
>> Taylor: Like it doesn't matter. He, what he wanted to happen happened.
>> Farz: I know, I know. Like, so he stayed in France at Terminal 1 in Charles de Gaulle building, kind of a Makeshift. Makeshift cubicle for himself using chairs in his luggage. He'd walk around, smoke his pipe, have meals given to him by strangers. He would read, write in his journal and just kind of meander around the terminal. He was just a permanent resident there essentially in 18 years later, in 2006, he suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the airport hospital and was there for a while under the care of like this French sect of the Catholic Church. Like, I guess like this. I don't. I don't know how all this works. Like some Catholic D or something had set up, like, I don't know, a headquarters or something near, near the hospital and they were going to like, take it indigence of people that like, needed help. And he was basically taken away from that situation and he was basically given the services that like a homeless person would receive. And we don't know much about his activities during this time. I mean, it's a pretty substantial period of time. It ends up being somewhere around 14 years from his heart attack until he surfaces again. The church that was caring for him was like, pretty secretive about it, which also makes me think that he had mental health problems that they identified and didn't want him to be out in front of everyone. And generally speaking, they would. They would talk about how frail he was and that he was basically suffering constantly from mental exhaustion.
>> Taylor: He also, like, he's not been outside for 18 years. Like, he didn't leave at all. He couldn't leave, right?
>> Farz: So, yeah, he was outside.
>> Taylor: That's kind of. That's not good for you.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah.
>> Taylor: Vitamin D pills. Like, he didn't go to a doctor, obviously. Like, he didn't. Like. I mean, I feel like something is, is. Is. Is wrong because being at an airport in the middle of the night is the worst place in the entire. Worst place to be.
>> Farz: So vacuum cleaners go off and so.
>> Taylor: Everything closes and you're like, what am I going to do?
>> Farz: Yeah. And also if you look at pictures of him, like, he doesn't look like he's all there. So, like, he probably was severely mentally ill. It's worth noting that during this time, or like shortly before this time is when Steven Spielberg, through his company DreamWorks, paid him somewhere around $300,000 for the rights to his. His story. So he wasn't like, actually. Yeah, so he wasn't like, actually destitute. He just like, lived the life of somebody that was actually super destitute. I mean, realistically probably gave all that money to the church. For all I know. He would return to the airport in 2022 on his own volition and continue to live in the terminal for a few months. When in November 2022, he died of a heart attack in the terminal at Charles de Gaulle. But, like, we're not counting that towards 18 years. Like, the 18 years, like, continuous that he lived there was like one solid stretch of 18 years of living there.
There's two other stories of people who spent even more time in airports
>> Taylor: And then how long is he then? He wasn't there for how long?
>> Farz: He wasn't there for around 15 years, give or take 15.
>> Taylor: We don't really know where.
>> Farz: We don't really know where. Yeah, he kind of went into obscurity. The assumptions were that the church kind of put him up in places and just had people do a Meals on wheels kind of a situation for him and take him food and, like, it sounds like he couldn't take care of himself. Yeah, so. And then the movie comes out, and according to, like, some things I read, like, he probably didn't see it because he didn't have the means to be able to see it.
>> Taylor: Right.
>> Farz: And also they didn't reference him at all. So I don't know why they spent all this money on his story. Because even. Even in the. In the movie, I think he lived at the airport for like, six, seven months before he's, like, released. And, like, Stanley Tucci is like, this evil immigration guy who, like, keeps him there. And, like, it's like a whole. It's a whole deal. There's like a love story and it's like, dude, you look at, like, nobody's.
>> Taylor: Yeah, he definitely didn't fall in love.
>> Farz: He didn't fall in love with Captain Zeta Jones, that's for sure. So. And actually, he's not even the longest person to have spent that much time inside of an airport. There's two other stories that I didn't get a chance to dig further into, which I might do as a quick follow up to the story, mostly because they weren't that well publicized. And also it had to do with, like, people in between countries that, like, their names you wouldn't recognize today. Like, yeah, there was things that went on that were probably, like, super nuanced and detailed and probably not very legal. Like, some. Some of it just basically had to do with people just being s***** to people. But yeah, there's two other stories of people who spent even more time in airports living in them than this guy did. Which, yeah, might be a fun little bonus episode.
>> Taylor: So that is wild. I. My dad had, like, a girlfriend a while ago that was, like, from a Part of the former Soviet Union. And she had problems because, like, by the time she went to, like, renew her papers, her country was gone. It was, like, similar, you know, like, it was not. Wasn't like. Like, it was like, there's no way to get anything because there's no country.
>> Farz: Yeah, yeah. It's, again, it's not insane for stuff like that to happen. It's insane for it to happen and then for you to refuse every version of help that is thrown your way. Yeah, that's what made this feel different because, yeah, he could have gone to Belgium. He could have actually on citizenship in France. And he was like. One reason they said that he refused to sign his paperwork is. Is that because they wouldn't refer to him as Sir Alfred. Like, we're not going to put this fake name on here.
>> Taylor: It's not the paperwork you're signing anyway.
>> Farz: Yeah. You know, so. So, yeah, I think this guy, I'm gonna chalk him up as, like, mentally ill, mostly.
>> Taylor: Yeah, that makes sense.
>> Farz: But that's a quick one. Quick one, but fits the mood for the kind of day it is.
>> Taylor: Yeah. Interesting, Interesting. I could not have been more wrong about Dunkirk. It was made in 2017 by Christopher Nolan.
>> Farz: Yeah. You know what's funny is when you said Dunkirk and I was going to make fun of you for saying Dunkirk, I was going to call him Ed Nolan, and then I'm so glad I didn't. That is also a great movie, for what it's worth.
>> Taylor: I don't think I've seen it. I did watch. Oh, go ahead.
>> Farz: Nice. That I saw the Cinerama was so fun. One of the guys from Scrubs, the main guy, the one I forgot what. I don't know what their names are. He was. He was sitting, like, one over for me. It was really fun.
>> Taylor: Oh, fun.
>> Farz: Yeah.
>> Taylor: Cool. Very la.
>> Farz: Yes. It was a very LA experience.
>> Taylor: I watched the first half of Final Destination last night. It was great.
>> Farz: The new one? Yeah. Is it out?
>> Taylor: No. Again, I just. I procured it through means, but I. You saw it already, right?
>> Farz: Yes.
>> Taylor: The opening scene was so good. Losing my mind. We did go to. We went to the Tokyo Tower when we were in Tokyo. And, like, it's like one of those things that there's, like, a restaurant, you're up in it. And I had a panic attack when we had to leave. So, I mean.
>> Farz: Yeah, it's kind of freaky. It's kind of like.
There's a lot of those places. Seattle has one, Dallas has one
There's a lot of those places. Seattle. Seattle has one, Dallas has one. Toronto, like, I definitely went on The.
>> Taylor: I used to go on, like, the roller coaster on top of the one in Las Vegas, and I'm like, absolutely not. What's wrong with me?
>> Farz: Yeah, I mean, now you're older, you know better. I'm not going to risk my life over nothing. That opening scene was incredibly elaborate. And where did you stop?
>> Taylor: They had just gone to, like, talk to the mom.
>> Farz: Okay.
>> Taylor: And the mom left her house for the first time.
>> Farz: So you got to that scene or no.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: Okay. Yeah, that was fun, too. That one freaked me out. Actually, out of all the. All the scenes, that was one that freaked me out the most because. Yeah, it was, like, so in your face.
>> Taylor: It's like, in. Did you see them? Oh, you saw the monkey, too, right? Oh, my God. Similar. People are just, like, tripping over and dying.
>> Farz: I might watch that again tonight. That was a great movie.
>> Taylor: Do you ever see Tucker and Dale vs Evil?
>> Farz: No.
>> Taylor: It's so good. And it has, like, a similar thing where people, like, keep dying in really stupid ways. And you're like, what is happening?
>> Farz: Who would have thought that'd be a whole theme of movies? But, yeah, keep watching because.
>> Taylor: Oh, yeah, I'm definitely finished it tonight.
>> Farz: There's one death scene that is just, like, so gnarly.
>> Taylor: Can't wait.
>> Farz: They're going to save it to the end, but, yeah, it's great.
>> Taylor: Awesome.
>> Farz: Sweet.
I asked my friend Teddy if he could win in a sword fight
Do we have anything that we want to read out?
>> Taylor: Yes. I asked my friend Teddy, who is the only person I know who fences, if he could win in a sword fight, and he said he had asked this question a lot, which I'm sure he does, which is hilarious. And he said probably, yes, he has an advantage because he, like, has, like, experience, like, using, like, the sword. But it's different because fencing, you have. You can only go forward and backwards. So in a sword fight, you can obviously move around. So I kind of feel like his answer is actually probably no.
>> Farz: Yeah, I think I'm gonna stick with my. I think the person who wins is the one who can remain calm. Yeah, it's funny. I watch a lot of, like. One of my weird guilty pleasures is watching, like, normal people who don't know any better trying to get into fights with, like, professional UFC fighters.
>> Taylor: Yeah.
>> Farz: And, like, you know, you see someone, you're like, oh, my God, they're so, like, just beating their chest and, like, scary and, like, running up on people, and then they always just get flatlined because the other guy's, like, attitude is just like, oh, I do this, like, 15 hours a week.
>> Taylor: This isn't My job.
>> Farz: Yeah. This doesn't scare me. So they just, like, place their punches and just, like, immediately demolish the other side. And so that's why I'm like. I think being calm is the most important factor.
>> Taylor: I think that makes sense. And that makes sense.
We just finished the third Star wars movie, the one where Garth
We also just finished the third Star wars movie, the one where Garth, you were committed. I mean, we're watching with the kids, and it takes forever because we have to, like. We watch it, like, while we're eating dinner. So it's like 20 minutes at a time, you know? But we. And then we started the fourth one, which is the first one, and it's a breath of fresh air because you're like, oh, my God, this is finally. Doesn't look stupid. But I, like, cannot get over how Darth Vader gets injured because, like, him and Obi Wan Kenobi are sword fighting on lava while they're surfing through lava on a piece of wood, which was absolutely no sense. And zero. People catch on fire until, like, the very, very end when they pop off his legs and then he catches on fire. I just can't. And they put him, like, a dollar store Darth Vader Costagum. They're like, he's fine.
>> Farz: Which one is that one?
>> Taylor: It's in the last one. The Sith. I don't know.
>> Farz: The Sith ones I know suck.
>> Taylor: It's terrible. Oh, my God. It's just, like, really, really funny. It just happens so fast, and you're like, this is so stupid. I don't know what to do.
>> Farz: The Adam Driver one I thought was really good. I forgot which one that counts as is, like, the chronology.
>> Taylor: But that one was Revenge of the Sith, the one that I just watched.
>> Farz: Yeah. I think the one I'm saying is, like, the Last Jedi.
>> Taylor: Maybe. Hayden Christensen. You poor man.
>> Farz: Yeah, it kind of ruined his career.
>> Taylor: I think I was, like, good for Natalie Portman for still having a career after that, because she was terrible. And I don't. I think it was, like, not her fault.
>> Farz: She was already famous. She didn't. She. You know, when you're already up there, you can have a few bombs.
>> Taylor: Yeah, yeah. But no. Really bad. Anyway, that's all.
>> Farz: No more coconut talk. Or.
>> Taylor: I do, but I have to say something with another one.
Ira Glass: Who isn't listening? Don't think anyone's gonna tell on us
>> Farz: All right, all right.
>> Taylor: I can't just, like, give you all of my names in this episode.
>> Farz: Please. No. Let's save some nuggets for later on. Cool. Well, this has been Ira Glass. I have to edit that, don't I?
>> Taylor: I don't know. Don't don't. Who isn't listening? Don't think anyone's gonna tell on us. Who cares?
>> Farz: All right, fine. Watch. We're gonna get. We're gonna get a hate mail. Okay, cool. We'll go ahead and cut off there. Thank you, Taylor.
>> Taylor: Thank you. Oh, doom to fell pod at gmail dot com and doom developod on social media.
>> Farz: Boom. Thank you. Bye.