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[ Friday, July 25, 2003 ]

 

"My Daughter The Fanatic"

I thought that I'd be able to sleep in pretty late this morning considering I don't have class on Fridays, but I awoke to the sound of my mother talking VERY loudly on the phone...yup, she was talking to my aunt in Pakistan. And of course, my aunt asked my mom whether they've thought about getting us engaged yet and when we're all getting married. Humpf; it's not really the type of conversation I'd want to wake up to. The first thought that went through my head was, "Man, why is Ummy talking so loud!?!?" and then I was like, "Oh no, here we all go again..." Aunts with their marriage talk...you can't escape them!

So, you're probably wondering about the title. The other night, my dad happened to call me a "fanatic." Coming from my dad, it doesn't offend me. It rather reminds me of Abez and Aniraz's idea of "fundus," or fundamentalists, and how they're trying to reclaim the word and get rid of the stigma attached to it. I know Daddy's right that sometimes I tend to get to emotional when I'm trying to explain the correct Islamic method of doing something to my extended family, and as a result, I tend to offend them. That's something that I definitely need to work on; that, and patience. But I get so annoyed with a lot of Pakistani culture, because many times, it directly contradicts Islamic teachings, especially since Pakistani culture seems to evolving more and more into Hindu culture. Just look at current Pakistani fashion and most weddings and you'll see what I'm talking about. Just look at some of the superstitions that Pakistanis have and their attempts to get rid of them (e.g. going to a pir). Astaghfirullah! To put it simply, I don't like it one bit.

The title reminded me of the movie My Son The Fanatic. If you haven't heard about it, it's about a British "Muslim" family that falls apart once the son decides to turn to Islam. I happened to see it one day with my mom, thinking that it'd be interesting to watch. I totally despised it. When the son started learning how to do salah and tried to keep his father from consuming alcohol, I wanted to applaud him for it. But by the end of the movie, the son ended up slapping a prostitute, and hurting a woman, no matter who she is, is not allowed is strictly forbidden in Islam. I could not longer say that I approved of all his actions. The movie also portrayed the mullah/imam that came to stay with the family in a bad light. The mom (the same woman who plays the mom in Bend It Like Beckham) was made out to look like an oppressed woman and she returned to Pakistan by the end of the movie. The husband, played by Om Puri, was an alcoholic taxidriver (can you say stereotype?) who ended up falling in love with and having an affair with a prostitute, and helping to run a whorehouse. Yeah. All that in a movie. Lovely huh? I guess if I wasn't a Muslim and was ignorant about Islam and Pakistani culture, I would sympathize with the father because both his wife and son left him by the end of the movie. But on the other hand, I would probably rejoice that now the father would be free to be with the prostitute. Is it just me or does it seem like in almost every movie that depicts Muslims in a bad light, the actors are played by Hindus? And if you look at the movie Not Without My Daughter (with Sally Field), it's actually filmed in Israel (figures, right?) to make it look like Iran.

We need more Muslims in the media!

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