Film

Culture, Film

The Dictator regurgitates anti-Muslim portrayals

The Dictator is nothing more than silly comedy with crude sexual content and a regurgitation of a century old anti-Muslim depictions. In my community advocate role of liaising with the entertainment industry, I attended an advanced screening of the new Sasha Baron Cohen film last week. Afterward, I was glad I saved myself 12 bucks and a trip to the theater. Following the historic Arab spring, Cohen makes a film about the ever-despised Middle Eastern dictators.

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Columns, Film

“Fordson” the Movie is Worth Watching

Although not a follower of football, I am the first to acknowledge and celebrate the importance of football in this here United States of America. So I was honored to attend a sneak preview of the film and special Q and A session with the cast and crew of Fordson, a documentary film that follows high school football players in Dearborn, Michigan during the last ten days of Ramadan as they prepare to play their rival high school.

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Culture, Film

A crucial attempt to humanize Muslim Americans

Stereotypical Muslim misrepresentation in films is as old as film history itself, if not older, as seen in Orientalist paintings, novels, and plays which pre-date the invention of film by centuries. One of the founding fathers of cinema, Georges Méliès, directed The Terrible Turkish Executioner as early as 1904; in this short film, a Muslim/Turkish executioner chopped off four people’s heads in one swish, with a Sinbad-like sword wearing “typical Muslim garb.” Later, through the visual magic Melies was known for, the chopped heads rolled back to where they belong, and the four took their revenge by chopping off the executioner’s head.

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Culture, Film, Readers Room

Who needs Twilight? Find the Edward or Jacob in your own man.

The phenomenon of Twilight is more than just a guilty pleasure. It could be a response to fill a void in the hearts of many women. As Eclipse, part 3 in the Twilight movie series approaches, women are ready to become infatuated again with the male characters of the movie. From tweens to grandmothers, it gets the heart pumping; it gives the young hope for what to look for in a man, and for the old, it reminds them of their first loves and of their youth. Aside from the obvious craziness of vampires and werewolves, Author Stephanie Meyers reintroduces the ideas of chivalry and chastity to mainstream America.

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