Movie pokes fun at Americans' ignorance of Islam
- From: "Faris Jawad" <ana_faris_bila_jawad@xxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Sat, 17 Dec 2005 09:12:16 -0500
Movie pokes fun at Americans' ignorance of Islam
12/17/2005 GMT
A movie by U.S. comedian Albert Brooks, that pokes fun at the U.S.'s
ignorance of the Muslim world, was premiered in Dubai this week.
"One of the subtle things I think the movie was trying to say is that the
U.S. government really makes no distinction ... between Arab Muslims and
South Asian Muslims," Brooks said. "To the United States -- and it's
unfortunate -- all Muslims are the same. Once 9/11 happened, they're afraid
of all of them."
In the movie, titled "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World", Brooks plays
a comedian sent to India and Pakistan by the U.S. State Department to
discover what makes Muslims laugh, in a bid to understand them better.
But he fails in his mission, mainly due to his inability to understand local
and social culture, the basis of humor around the world.
Audiences in Dubai gave mixed reactions to the movie. However, most of them
welcomed it, saying it was good to see a U.S. film that didn't vilify
Muslims.
"It was different from the usual movies we see from America. It's good to
show others cultures of the world," said 18-year-old Zeinab from the United
Arab Emirates.
But her friend Asma criticized the movie for not doing enough to improve the
image of Muslims. "They showed one perspective of Islam, the Indian and
Pakistani one. I don't think that an American who doesn't know anything
about Islam and the Arab world would learn anything about us from this
film," she said.
Brooks, who wants to make a movie in an Arab state, said the film was a
"good start" on a sensitive issue. "When there's tension in the world the
best thing that can happen is if people can laugh at something. That's the
best icebreaker that we as a human species have," he added.
Although the film doesn't discuss religion and lightly criticizes the United
States, Brooks faced difficulties getting it on screen. He said that Sony
panicked over the title of film because it has the word "Muslim" in the
title, a reaction he said underscored the importance of challenging
stereotypes in Hollywood.
"I don't expect that big Hollywood studios are in the business of doing
anything that would ruffle feathers," he said. "The whole point of this
movie is that you want to take away that scary potential shadow that they
(Hollywood) think hangs over anything with the word Muslim."
Brook's film is scheduled for release in the U.S. in January by Warner
Independent, the art-house unit of Warner Brothers.
Source: Reuters
http://www.islamonline.com/cgi-bin/news_service/world_full_story.asp?service_id=1952
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