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| Zero Dark Thirty and Argo don't do justice to Arabs and Iranians | Zero Dark Thirty and Argo don't do justice to Arabs and Iranians |
| (7 months later) | |
| As Tunisians and Egyptians celebrate the second anniversary of their historic uprisings, two of Hollywood's most lauded films that are vying for Oscars tell Americans: | As Tunisians and Egyptians celebrate the second anniversary of their historic uprisings, two of Hollywood's most lauded films that are vying for Oscars tell Americans: |
| "Never mind the Arab spring or the green revolution in Iran. That part of the world is crippled by religious fervor and a hatred of the west, and full of easily duped, thin-skinned moralists." | "Never mind the Arab spring or the green revolution in Iran. That part of the world is crippled by religious fervor and a hatred of the west, and full of easily duped, thin-skinned moralists." |
| What did directors Katherine Bigelow and Ben Affleck miss? Here's a plotline they could use: Iranians take to the streets to peacefully protest a stolen election, thousands are jailed and tortured for their hopes, and a young woman, Neda Agha Sultan, is murdered on camera, transfixing the world in disbelief and horror. Remember Neda? Wasn't her story of innocent heroism compelling enough for Hollywood? Yet a different story entirely caught on in Argo, as if there was nothing new in Iran 34 years after the Islamic revolution. | What did directors Katherine Bigelow and Ben Affleck miss? Here's a plotline they could use: Iranians take to the streets to peacefully protest a stolen election, thousands are jailed and tortured for their hopes, and a young woman, Neda Agha Sultan, is murdered on camera, transfixing the world in disbelief and horror. Remember Neda? Wasn't her story of innocent heroism compelling enough for Hollywood? Yet a different story entirely caught on in Argo, as if there was nothing new in Iran 34 years after the Islamic revolution. |
| If Neda's story didn't inspire, what about the Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire to demand social equality, and thus began the Arab spring? Remember Mohammed Bouazizi? He started selling fruit in the streets at 10, helping his family and disabled brother, but the local police humiliated him by frequently confiscating his cart and goods. They pushed him to the edge: he doused himself in paint thinner with one hand and set himself ablaze with the other. | If Neda's story didn't inspire, what about the Tunisian street vendor who set himself on fire to demand social equality, and thus began the Arab spring? Remember Mohammed Bouazizi? He started selling fruit in the streets at 10, helping his family and disabled brother, but the local police humiliated him by frequently confiscating his cart and goods. They pushed him to the edge: he doused himself in paint thinner with one hand and set himself ablaze with the other. |
| The ghastly spectacle of his suicide remains on YouTube, seen by millions of Arabs. In the first six months after Bouazizi's death, the Tunis Trauma Center reported at least 107 copycats. Fadoua Laroui, a single mother in Morocco, set herself on fire in front of her town hall; the government denied her housing after it bulldozed her home. In Algeria, Mohsen Bouterfif, a 37-year-old father of two, self-immolated when the mayor of his town declined to hear his pleas for employment and decent housing. | The ghastly spectacle of his suicide remains on YouTube, seen by millions of Arabs. In the first six months after Bouazizi's death, the Tunis Trauma Center reported at least 107 copycats. Fadoua Laroui, a single mother in Morocco, set herself on fire in front of her town hall; the government denied her housing after it bulldozed her home. In Algeria, Mohsen Bouterfif, a 37-year-old father of two, self-immolated when the mayor of his town declined to hear his pleas for employment and decent housing. |
| I don't mean to glamorize this grisly act, but rather to talk about the discordance between modern Arab societies and a relentless popular narrative. The world has changed, but these films, which are celebrated for their "hard-hitting realism", cling to an old paradigm of us versus them. Never mind the sloppiness of Arabic-speaking Pakistanis in Zero Dark Thirty, or Turkish extras in Argo playing Iranian students. They all look and sound alike to some. | I don't mean to glamorize this grisly act, but rather to talk about the discordance between modern Arab societies and a relentless popular narrative. The world has changed, but these films, which are celebrated for their "hard-hitting realism", cling to an old paradigm of us versus them. Never mind the sloppiness of Arabic-speaking Pakistanis in Zero Dark Thirty, or Turkish extras in Argo playing Iranian students. They all look and sound alike to some. |
| The events of 2009 and 2011 show an Arab world reinventing itself. You wouldn't know that from these films, nor what you often see in headlines. To see the true cultural revolution, I recommend watching an episode of Bassem Youssef's satirical show or reading the biting columns in Arab papers. It will take years before all the actual reforms take their course, but we cannot pretend this region is frozen in its traditions. | The events of 2009 and 2011 show an Arab world reinventing itself. You wouldn't know that from these films, nor what you often see in headlines. To see the true cultural revolution, I recommend watching an episode of Bassem Youssef's satirical show or reading the biting columns in Arab papers. It will take years before all the actual reforms take their course, but we cannot pretend this region is frozen in its traditions. |
| Many have criticized Zero Dark Thirty for its lack of moral gripes with torture, but it alarmed me more with its message about the heroic squatters of Tahrir and other protests. Their bitter fight for political change is drowned out by the terrorist tale: "the greatest manhunt in history". | Many have criticized Zero Dark Thirty for its lack of moral gripes with torture, but it alarmed me more with its message about the heroic squatters of Tahrir and other protests. Their bitter fight for political change is drowned out by the terrorist tale: "the greatest manhunt in history". |
| Bigelow only appears interested in a revenge story: she shows an America fixated on evildoers. This is neither a sobering account of reality, nor a moral stand against torture; it aggrandizes violence as a fantastical restoration of American pride. How can this hawkish rendition of history, with scary machines and interrogators, restore anything? Fear cannot deliver the higher moral ground. | Bigelow only appears interested in a revenge story: she shows an America fixated on evildoers. This is neither a sobering account of reality, nor a moral stand against torture; it aggrandizes violence as a fantastical restoration of American pride. How can this hawkish rendition of history, with scary machines and interrogators, restore anything? Fear cannot deliver the higher moral ground. |
| Affleck's Argo rightly suggests the futility of violence, but also means to retrieve lost pride, this time with the story of an America that always beats the odds. The film has a compelling story, but its image of Iran is a society dogged by religious fanaticism. The 2009 Green Movement did not spring from a vacuum – a politically mature generation of Iranians, who don't share their leaders' narrow agendas, took to the streets. Protests and raucous debates endure today in Iran, Turkey and many Arab states – a sign of healthy societies in flux. In a recent demonstration in Tehran, protesters held signs that read: "Stop supporting Syria – focus on our situation," and "Neither for Gaza nor for Lebanon; my soul is sacrificed for Iran." Across the Arab world, slogans ask for jobs, education, ending corruption, and accountability, but they are only a fleeting sight for most Americans. | Affleck's Argo rightly suggests the futility of violence, but also means to retrieve lost pride, this time with the story of an America that always beats the odds. The film has a compelling story, but its image of Iran is a society dogged by religious fanaticism. The 2009 Green Movement did not spring from a vacuum – a politically mature generation of Iranians, who don't share their leaders' narrow agendas, took to the streets. Protests and raucous debates endure today in Iran, Turkey and many Arab states – a sign of healthy societies in flux. In a recent demonstration in Tehran, protesters held signs that read: "Stop supporting Syria – focus on our situation," and "Neither for Gaza nor for Lebanon; my soul is sacrificed for Iran." Across the Arab world, slogans ask for jobs, education, ending corruption, and accountability, but they are only a fleeting sight for most Americans. |
| Affleck missed an instructive moment while filming Argo in Turkey. He told NPR's Terry Gross that it was hard to find extras in Istanbul to recreate the student siege of the American embassy: | Affleck missed an instructive moment while filming Argo in Turkey. He told NPR's Terry Gross that it was hard to find extras in Istanbul to recreate the student siege of the American embassy: |
| "Things are booming in Turkey. We couldn't get any students. The professional folks are naturally working … So the only people that were available to us were folks that were 65. So we turned it a bit into a seniors' revolution." | "Things are booming in Turkey. We couldn't get any students. The professional folks are naturally working … So the only people that were available to us were folks that were 65. So we turned it a bit into a seniors' revolution." |
| Jokes aside, what's important to notice is that the lens through which we see the Middle East has fogged up beyond recognition, but we still make movies according to that blurred vision. We are told these films are fictional, yet they all begin with the title: "Based on firsthand accounts of actual events". How do we know what's true and what's fiction? | Jokes aside, what's important to notice is that the lens through which we see the Middle East has fogged up beyond recognition, but we still make movies according to that blurred vision. We are told these films are fictional, yet they all begin with the title: "Based on firsthand accounts of actual events". How do we know what's true and what's fiction? |
| I don't have any illusions about Hollywood's foreign policy credentials, but I hoped that two filmmakers – one with a degree in Middle East studies and the other a woman in a men's club and the director of a different, excellent war film – could take greater care. They could have told stories that didn't just redeem America, but restored our commitment to freedom and celebrated differences. In a few days, both directors might receive even more accolades at the Oscars, while the new voices of the Middle East are further ignored. | I don't have any illusions about Hollywood's foreign policy credentials, but I hoped that two filmmakers – one with a degree in Middle East studies and the other a woman in a men's club and the director of a different, excellent war film – could take greater care. They could have told stories that didn't just redeem America, but restored our commitment to freedom and celebrated differences. In a few days, both directors might receive even more accolades at the Oscars, while the new voices of the Middle East are further ignored. |
| But why should we wait for Hollywood? Our harshest indignation should be directed at Arab investors who won't put their fortunes behind the power of storytelling. Arab billionaires could finance films that cast their region a more nuanced light. They need not paint a rosy picture, but they should do more than recast tales of self-triumphalism. Why is it that a region with prestigious festivals and pan-Arab media companies still won't boost cinema? | But why should we wait for Hollywood? Our harshest indignation should be directed at Arab investors who won't put their fortunes behind the power of storytelling. Arab billionaires could finance films that cast their region a more nuanced light. They need not paint a rosy picture, but they should do more than recast tales of self-triumphalism. Why is it that a region with prestigious festivals and pan-Arab media companies still won't boost cinema? |
| Vincent Harding, an American civil rights leader, has spoken of a "dangerous" spirituality "that makes it impossible to avoid the folks in trouble". We need "dangerous" filmmaking about the burdens and joys of being Arab, unafraid to inspire or make people uncomfortable. Tunisians made a memorial for Mohammed Bouazizi so they never forget. Let's make films so that we understand. | Vincent Harding, an American civil rights leader, has spoken of a "dangerous" spirituality "that makes it impossible to avoid the folks in trouble". We need "dangerous" filmmaking about the burdens and joys of being Arab, unafraid to inspire or make people uncomfortable. Tunisians made a memorial for Mohammed Bouazizi so they never forget. Let's make films so that we understand. |
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