DISQUS

Nevernude · 1 year ago

hmmm looks very good. also, anything with aaron eckhart in it..you can't go bad.

Uma B. · 1 year ago

^^
I second this. <3 Aaron.

ScreenRant.com · 1 year ago

Saw it at Sundance, VERY uncomfortable to watch but excellent.

And CAIR? Give me a break... they're a front for radical Islam as far as I'm concerned.

Vic

Johnny Boy · 1 year ago

"The film in question is American Beauty director
Alan Ball’s Towelhead..." Actually Sam Mendes
directed American Beauty, NOT Alan Ball, as you
mention in the article.

Also, the reason why these groups don't make a
big deal about offensive material in films earlier is
because they simply don't learn of these until the
film is marketed to the general public. you said
you wrote a review of it from Sundance. Do you
think groups like this go to Sundance?

Neil Miller · 1 year ago

@Johnny Boy

Shit.. I do that all the time. Writer, writer, writer... Damn you, Alan Ball!

Neil Miller · 1 year ago

@Johnny Boy

Also, to answer your question. No, they definitely don't go to Sundance. What I am saying is that if they want to complain, they should start paying more attention. There is no way to affect change in film if they are coming about right before the film goes into theaters... They aren't helping their own causes.

Affad · 1 year ago

Actually, CAIR did ask to see the film and part of this was to discuss with Warner the issues behind the scenes. After much discussion, it was a matter of principle and if people access the actual press release they will notice that no where is CAIR impinging on the right of the artist to express. What CAIR points out is that a movie title should not use derogatory or racists slurs to bring in audiences. I believe there is mutual agreement between CAIR, Mr. Ball and the Warner that the term is quite explosive, where CAIR differs is this idea that the movie title was changed twice, once to take into account that the term is offensive and then again back to the title of the book, which indicated some sort of PR move rather then artistic practice.

I would say personally, the fact that there is a discussion and Americans as a whole understand that Muslims, Arabs and even South Asians view this term on par with the N-word, or the G-word or any other derogatory, racist term a message is sent that these words do not bring value to any conversation.

JMoney · 1 year ago

I don't see this as the same as the Tropic Thunder uproar. IN Tropic Thunder, the word "retard" was used in the movie, the characters were using it in a bad way, that is artistic freedom, if a character is an idiot and doesn't understand mentally challenged people then he would use the term.

This however seems like a blatant marketing ploy. How else to draw people in than to use a racial term as the title of your movie. Build contraversy and get people to come see your movie just for that reason. Which may in fact be an excellent movie and a great commentary on muslim intolerance in America. but you shouldn't have to use that term in order to promote your movie. Imagine the uproar if someone wanted to name their movie the N-word? Oh wait, that happened with Nas' CD, and we saw what happened with that

Johnny Boy · 1 year ago

JMoney makes a good point.

Cole Abaius · 1 year ago

Damn you and your good points, JMoney!

Now here's a fun list of all the film that have the word 'nigger' in the title:

Offensive!

As you can see - they were either made a long time ago, were so low-key no one saw them or were a dramatic short made a few years ago. But even the filmmakers who made "The N Word" were smart to enough not to shoot themselves in the foot by using the actual word as their title. It's good for shock value, but not for establishing credibility.

Neil Miller · 1 year ago

One thing I forgot to point out in the article, which I believe to be very relevant, is the fact that the movie is based on a novel entitled "Towelhead" by Alicia Erian.

And while I agree with JMoney that the title was changed as a marketing ploy to make the film more visible, it isn't as if they just picked a derogatory word and retitled it, that is the title of the source material, so I'd say its fair game.

Shannon the Movie Moxie · 1 year ago

Interesting issue, I'd be surprized if it got re-titled (again) especially if the new title is referencing the book it was based on.

I always wondered if they retitled if from Nothing is Private to Towelhead due to the across-the-board negitive reviews at TIFF 2007.

David · 1 year ago

What i find offensive is the constant casting of South asians as Arabs. We do not look like indians- this girls Summer Bishil is indian and is also Darker skinned than the father and the mother who is supposed to be of european ancestry. Please cast a lebanese actress or someone of mediterranean descent like a greek or italian. Lebanese are caucasian peoples not australoids like indian peoples (like john mcains adopted daughter). Towel head is a ethnic/cultural slur not a racial one, muslims are not a race. I find it interesting that maria bello is the european mother since italian-amercans look no different from lebanese americans. Lebanese peoples look like mediterraneans.
The story is based on alicia erians life she has an egyptian father- egyptians are known in the arab world as having large amount of nubian blood in them and are not like lebanese who are mostly mediterranean with some north european blood.
This film perpetuates ignorance and lies about the arab world. Arabs are not a race, there are caucasian arabs and african arabs and mixed race arabs and mongolian looking arabs atc..... . Arab is culture and language not race!