hi folks, saw this short film starring the talented archie panjabi… details about the film are on http://www.cinemaya.net/c7-fi.asp?filmid=57&ur=cce§1=7
it’s viewing was this evening on channel 4.. for those who saw it what did you think of film?
Re: yasmin...
Yeh i saw it...it was interesting for the most part...i liked the ending...me and my boys were screwing...we thought she was gonna end up with the white guy after divorcing Faisal...but when he asked her for a drink...she says shes going to the masjid...for the first time in the film she didnt seem to be ashamed to act Muslim...and in the end the white guy rejected her...when she adopted their culture like the beer,pubbing etc then she was accepted but once she donned the headscarf and decided to go to the masajid then it was clear to what extent white people accept our culture...
Made me think because often people compromise to fit in to a society which doesn't carry their values...and is it better to compromise to fit in or to be yourself and disliked?
Also the portion where Nasir is talking ti the white girls about being a freedom fighter is jokes...hes telling them about how he wants to fight for his brothers and sisters while toking on some weed...one girl so impressed with nasir enthusiasm gives the boy a blowjob...lucky guy...then the next scene you see him choking of his weed while giving an adaan...i can imagine muslims getting pissed of at this...but lets face it...Muslims are the most confused people...they are like schizophrenics...living dual identities depending on their surroundings...nasir epitomised what the Muslim is...
Anyway it was good...although flawed in placed...with a good ending
Re: yasmin...
NBN I beg to differ, don't generalise. Muslims are not confused people. How the Director portrayed the muslims in yasmin, is not how every muslims is and/or leads their life. No we don't base our lives according to our surroundings, no we don't all wear tarty outfits and go to the pub for a drink. No we don't live in houses which look as if they haven't been cleaned for weeks. No we don't all have pre-marital relationships and do boogie woogie and what have you. This film wasn't just flawed in places, it was screws up from all angles, no wonder in this day and age; people look at us in a bad way. The mass media doesn't do us any favours.
Re: yasmin...
i saw the last 45 minutes, and i kept thinking about it and the whole issue for the next three hours!!!
Re: yasmin...
Hi Let Uz Chat,
Fair play i made a generalisation...but for you to say for the most part Muslims arent what i believe them to be is a generalisation on your part as well...i have my opinions based on my experience of Muslims and you have yours based on your experiences which is cool...
So i'll reply to your comments based on my opinions...
"How the Director portrayed the muslims in yasmin, is not how every muslims is and/or leads their life"
Well we are all different...naturally the director showed a set of people practicing Islam in their own particular way...Yasmin, Nasir, Faisal, the father, Islamic groups...all practice Islam differently and i could relate to a lot of the characters...Nasser the anti West, anti establishment Muslim who loves his brothers and sisters yet loves to blaze and get laid...sounds like your average Muslim boy...pick n mix their Deen...its hard to be a good Muslim in Western society so most boys are like Nasser...although i think his move towards fighting for his borthers and his sisters was not detailed enough in its reasoning...the director showed how apathetic he had become after the gun had been held to his head...most Muslim boys are disenfranchised...blaze...get laid...yet still go to Jummah...they know what they do is wrong but continue to do it out of weakness...not to fit in as such...these boys i dont disrespect so much...
Yasmin did everything to fit in...she would don her hijab at home...yet pretend to drink beer with her white friends...she was shameful to me...she was ashamed to show any of her religion to the white guy she liked or her friends to make her life easier...she integrates not out of weakness of instinct like her brother but because she is a coward and isnt proud of her religion at all...Muslims like this i hate...but she gets it together in the end...its a good ending ike i said...She becomes Islamic on her own accord...Not cos of her father or societal pressures but on her own perogative which makes her attachment to her creed that much stronger...at the end she shows that Muslims who act Muslim will never be accepted becuase the West accepts Muslims but only those who practice an Islam that they deem acceptable...not Islam itself...
The father is a fool...He is a sellout and a coward...dons the beard, topee and goes to the masjid yet is a coward...and in turn loses his son...he is apologetic of his religion...he acts religious yet sacrifices his daughters happiness to fulfil some stupid promise...no wonder his daughter hated him...i was hoping he would end up alone...Forcing opinions and lifestyles down your childrens throats only succeeds in alienating them and this is this idiots speciality...Unfortunately a great deal of parents especially from the subcontinent are like this...Force feed Islam rather than allow their children to make choices...this is why the alternative lifestyle seems so desirable...make islam a chore then any chance at freedom you get you will take advantage of...
Obviously there are more characters i can discuss but im just illustrating that not all Muslims were one dimensional in the script...
"No we don't base our lives according to our surroundings, no we don't all wear tarty outfits and go to the pub for a drink. "
Well most of us do from my experience...but we all differ on the extent to what we do...some Muslims draw the line at drinking for instance but will have no problems with sex for instance...whatever is easy to do we tend to do...whatever is hard we dont...we are societal as human beings and depending on our surroundings certain things are harder...certain things are difficult...mans biggest battle is between instincts and rational thought...and 9/10 instinct wins...Just cos you dont wear a short skirt or drink doesnt make you islamic either but Muslims love to justify their own insecurities with Islam...girls might be insecure about their bodies...or sex...yet make it a point that Islamically they dont wear a short skirt or fornicate...lol this ugly boy said he didnt believe in fornication or free mixing...i got one of my friends to act suggestively with him and lol suddenly his belief system changed...how much a bit confidence can benefit your fitna eh...and how well you can hide behind Islam to justify your insecurites...One Muslim friend of mine...she drinks, blazes and sleeps around...but for me at least she is honest about who she is...i prefer her to most Muslim girls i know...who genuinely dont seem to know who they are...one girl i met who initially seemed Islamic was just a girl that hadnt been given the opportunity to experience life...she acted Islamically but desired to commit sin...anything she didnt do wasnt because she didnt want to...its because my friends would kill me...what if my mum found out...this kind of fakeness i cant accept...your islamic in action but not in faith...i prefer people like my friend who sin but know they sin...admit they sin...admit they are weak and desire to be Islamic someday...she will be the same whatever her surroundings...the girl i met though...take her from her tight knit town where everyone knows everyones business and bring her to London...i promise you she would go wild...yet she will be the same Islamic girl back in Manchester...but who can blame her...when daddy forcefed her everything and willprobably arrange her marriage to some random...poor girl can only be confused and disenchanted...
"This film wasn't just flawed in places, it was screws up from all angles, no wonder in this day and age; people look at us in a bad way. The mass media doesn't do us any favours. "
Muslims face a daily struggle with their identity...and their allegiance...what does it mean to be Muslim?...can you integrate into British society yet be a good Muslim?....amongst other questions...all in all a good effort...im reading Hanif Kureishis The Black Album which explores this idea as well...and just shows how confused Muslims are with this question...we live in a land where are parents tell us one thing...our clerics tell us another...and our laws and society tell us a completely different thing...it is no wonder that we as Muslims are a confused schizophrenic people....
Sorry about the essay...but i felt a need to express my opinions on an issue that is close to me...