MY Vast Right Wing Conspiracy

Islamofascism in Movies and TV

• Posted by Beth on January 6th, 2005 filed in General    

I’ve seen a couple of interesting things today about the war and terrorists on the big and small screens.

First, Max Boot does a review of two “small” films, Osama and Voices of Iraq.

I just saw Osama last week, and it’s definitely a must-see for anyone. There’s no political slant regarding America whatsoever, because it takes place pre-9/11. It will show those who have FORGOTTEN what life for Afghanis (particularly women and girls) was like under Taliban rule–although just a small piece of it. The story is about a family of a grandmother, mother, and a young girl who have no way of earning a living, so they send her out to work disguised as a boy. I’m not going to be a spoiler, but I will say that I found myself constantly annoyed that the girl acted so…girlish. Then I realized that of course she wouldn’t know how to act more like “the boys,” since there was virtually no contact with males for her to understand how to “act.” Besides, she IS a child. Anyway, the movie is safe enough for kids to watch, and while some of you may disagree, I think it’s good supplemental information for kids who need to understand more about who “the bad guys” are.

This movie was made with “real people,” not actors, and it is at a documentary pace. If you’re looking for action and violence, this isn’t it. However, I don’t think anyone with even a passing interest should miss this.

I haven’t seen Voices of Iraq yet, but it’s at the top of my Netflix queue. Max Boot says:

“Voices of Iraq” is one of the most gripping documentaries I have ever seen. Most of the footage was created by distributing 150 digital camcorders to let ordinary Iraqis record their own lives and thoughts from April to September 2004.

Early in the film, an American newspaper headline — “Fear of Militias Forces Ordinary Iraqis to Stay Home” — is ironically juxtaposed over a bustling street scene. As the movie moves along, we see proud university graduates in mortarboards, boys swimming in the river and clowning around, and everyone riveted by the exploits of the Iraqi soccer team at the Olympics. In other words, we see that the terrorists are failing to disrupt Iraq’s slow, painful progression toward normality.

We all know about the counter-Fahrenheit 9/11 movies out there (Fahrenhype, Celsius 41.11), and they’re a good answer to the lies in Fahrenheit 9/11. Osama and Voices of Iraq are a different sort of movie. See them for yourself.

Now for the TV side. Daniel Pipes has an article today, Hollywood Discovers Radical Islam. In it, he questions the lack of American feature-films focusing on the current war:

Why the absence of movies on the current war? Jack Valenti, then-head of the Motion Picture Association of America, once replied with questions of his own:

Who would you have as the enemy if you made a picture about terrorism? You’d probably have Muslims, would you not? If you did, I think there would be backlash from the decent, hard-working, law-abiding Muslim community in this country.

That’s what some call a pre-emptive cringe. Others call it dhimmitude.

Pipes then notes that other than the TNT mini-series about terrorism that aired last summer, The Grid, the only other thing that doesn’t obfuscate the truth is coming up with Fox Channel’s TV series 24 (new season 2-hour premiere this Sunday):

Predictably, 24 has the Council on American-Islamic Relations, the country’s lead Islamist outfit, in a tizzy. CAIR spokeswoman Rabiah Ahmed complains that “They are taking everyday American Muslim families and making them suspects. They’re making it seem like families are co-conspirators in this terrorist plot.”

Hmm. If CAIR thinks it’s bad, I’ll be sure to watch.