DATE=11/11/98
TYPE=BACKGROUND REPORT
NUMBER=5-41827
TITLE=HOLLYWOOD / ISLAM
BYLINE=KATAYOUN BEGLARI
DATELINE=WASHINGTON
CONTENT=
VOICED AT: 


INTRO:  "THE SIEGE," AN AMERICAN FILM ABOUT ISLAMIC TERRORISTS IN
NEW YORK, HAS COME UNDER HARSH CRITICISM FROM THE ARAB-AMERICAN 
AND MUSLIM COMMUNITY IN THE UNITED STATES.  ANTI-DEFAMATION 
ORGANIZATIONS ARE DISTRIBUTING LEAFLETS OUTSIDE THEATERS, 
PROTESTING THE WAY ARABS AND MUSLIMS ARE PORTRAYED AS VILLAINS IN
THE FILM.  V-O-A'S KATAYOUN BEGLARI HAS FILED THIS REPORT.

TEXT:  DURING THE COLD WAR, POPULAR HOLLYWOOD FILMS PORTRAYED 
COMMUNISTS AS "THE BAD GUYS," WHO WERE ULTIMATELY DEFEATED BY 
HANDSOME, JAMES BOND-TYPE WESTERN "HEROES."  

IN THE POST-COLD WAR ERA, AMERICAN FILM VILLAINS OFTEN ARE MIDDLE
EASTERN TERRORISTS, SOME OF WHOM RECITE THE KORAN AND PERFORM 
ABLUTION BEFORE TRYING TO BLOW UP INNOCENT CIVILIANS.  

"THE SIEGE" -- DIRECTED BY EDWARD ZWICK AND STARRING DENZEL 
WASHINGTON, ANNETTE BENING AND BRUCE WILLIS -- IS THE LATEST FILM
OF THIS GENRE.  

"THE SIEGE" TELLS OF THE DANGERS TO DEMOCRACY AND FREEDOM WHEN 
THE U-S MILITARY -- IN A SEARCH OF A TERRORIST CELL OPERATING IN 
NEW YORK CITY -- IMPOSES MARTIAL LAW AND HERDS THE ENTIRE 
ARAB-AMERICAN POPULATION OF BROOKLYN INTO A DETENTION CAMP.

THE DIRECTOR SAYS THE FILM'S CONCLUSION IS THAT PEOPLE SHOULD NOT
GENERALIZE ABOUT ARABS, OR ANY GROUP, BECAUSE OF THE ACTIONS OF A
FEW. 

BUT IBRAHIM HOOPER, A SPOKESMAN FOR THE COUNCIL ON 
AMERICAN-ISLAMIC RELATIONS, WRITES IN THE NEW YORK TIMES 
NEWSPAPER (TUESDAY) THAT HE BELIEVES THE MESSAGE MAY BE LOST ON 
THE AVERAGE MOVIEGOER.  OTHERS IN THE ARAB AND MUSLIM COMMUNITY 
AGREE.

THE EGYPTIAN FILM STAR "YUSRA," WHO WAS A TARGET OF FANATICAL 
MUSLIMS IN CAIRO THREE YEARS AGO, IS OUTRAGED BY WHAT SHE SEES AS
A NEGATIVE PORTRAYAL OF ARABS AND MUSLIMS IN AMERICAN MOVIES.

                  /// YUSRA ACT, IN ENGLISH ///

            TERRORISM DOESN'T COME FROM ONLY ARABS OR FROM 
            MUSLIMS, IT IS ALL OVER THE WHOLE WORLD, DIFFERENT 
            NATIONS, DIFFERENT RELIGIONS AND FROM EACH PART OF 
            THE WORLD. THIS IS REALLY A VERY WRONG KIND OF 
            PICTURE THEY ARE TRYING TO GIVE ABOUT ARABS.  AND I 
            WONDER:  IF SOME JEWS ARE STILL TERRORISTS, WOULD 
            THEY DO THAT (MAKE MOVIES ABOUT THEM)? 

                         /// END ACT ///

THE DIRECTOR OF "THE SIEGE," EDWARD ZWICK, SAYS ARABS ARE OFTEN 
PORTRAYED AS TERRORISTS BECAUSE OF ARAB INVOLVEMENT -- OR ALLEGED
INVOLVEMENT -- IN WELL-KNOWN ATTACKS.  HE CITES THE WORLD TRADE 
CENTER BOMBING IN NEW YORK IN 1993, AND THE RECENT BOMBINGS OF 
THE AMERICAN EMBASSIES IN TANZANIA AND KENYA.

HOWEVER, MR. ZWICK -- WHOSE FILMS INCLUDE "GLORY" AND "LEGENDS OF
THE FALL" -- SAYS THAT AS A DIRECTOR HE HAS TRIED TO TACKLE 
CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES SUCH AS RACIAL OR ETHNIC PREJUDICE.

                 /// ZWICK ACT, IN ENGLISH. ///

            THE MOVIE PRESUMES TO TALK ABOUT THE PREJUDICE.  IT 
            TALKS ABOUT OUR OWN CAPACITY FOR RACISM, TALKS ABOUT 
            THE DILEMMA OF BEING AN AMERICAN PATRIOT WHO HAPPENS 
            TO BE ARAB OR MUSLIM, AND HOW DOES ONE DEAL WITH BAD 
            REALITY OF OUR OWN PREJUDICE?

                         /// END ACT ///

FILM DIRECTOR EDWARD ZWICK SAYS HE ALSO IS TRYING TO RAISE 
QUESTIONS ABOUT U-S FOREIGN POLICY, SUCH AS PAST U-S SUPPORT FOR 
MUSLIM FUNDAMENTALIST GROUPS IN AFGHANISTAN, WHICH MAY HAVE BEEN 
INVOLVED IN HELPING BOMB THE WORLD TRADE CENTER.

                        /// ZWICK ACT ///

            IT IS INTERESTING, I THINK, THAT THE MOVIE IS IN SOME
            WAY MUCH MORE CRITICAL OF OUR OWN INVOLVEMENT, AND 
            YET THERE IS NO PROTEST ABOUT THAT.  I THINK THIS 
            (FILM CRITICISM) REVEALS GREAT SENSITIVITY ON THE 
            PART OF THE AMERICAN-ARAB GROUPS; THEY HAVE INDEED 
            BEEN SO ILL-TREATED BEFORE.  (BUT) I THINK IT IS 
            OVER-SENSITIVITY AND I THINK IT IS A NARROW 
            UNDER-ESTIMATION OF THE MOVIE, AND WHAT THE MOVIE 
            INSPIRES TO BE.

                        /// END ACT /// 

// OPT //  EGYPTIAN FILM STAR YUSRA SAYS FILMS BY ARAB DIRECTORS 
-- EVEN BY INTERNATIONALLY ACCLAIMED DIRECTORS, SUCH AS YUSSEF 
CHAHIN, WHO HAS MADE FILMS ON RELIGIOUS FANATICISM -- ARE RARELY 
SEEN IN THE UNITED STATES AND, THUS, THEIR MESSAGES ARE NOT 
HEARD.

                  /// YUSRA ACT, IN ENGLISH ///

            WHO IS GOING TO SEE IT IN HOLLYWOOD?  AND IF THEY DO,
            IN HOW MANY CINEMAS ARE THEY GOING TO BE SHOWN?  
            YUSSEF CHAHIN HAS WORKED 48 YEARS OF HIS LIFE AND HIS
            FILMS HAVE NEVER BEEN DISTRIBUTED IN THE UNITED 
            STATES.

                ///   END ACT  /// /// END OPT //

IT IS NOT JUST ARAB-AMERICAN GROUPS THAT HAVE TAKEN "THE SIEGE" 
TO TASK.  NEW YORK TIMES FILM REVIEWER JANET MASLIN WRITES THAT 
WHILE THE FILM'S "SCREENPLAY IS STRENUOUSLY EVEN-HANDED ... THE 
FILM'S STARK IMAGES OF SCHEMING ARAB VILLAINS OFTEN SPEAK LOUDER 
THAN ITS DIPLOMATIC WORDS."  AND CHICAGO SUN-TIMES REVIEWER ROGER
EBERT WRITES THAT "PREJUDICIAL ATTITUDES EMBODIED IN THE FILM ARE
INSIDIOUS, LIKE THE ANTI-SEMITISM THAT INFECTED FICTION AND 
JOURNALISM IN THE 1930S."

MR. ZWICK, MOVIE PRODUCER LYNDA OBST AND SCREENWRITER LAWRENCE 
WRIGHT ARE FRUSTRATED WITH THE REACTION TO "THE SIEGE."  MR. 
ZWICK SAYS, HOWEVER, HE WILL NOT SHRINK FROM ANY SUBJECT BECAUSE 
SOME SAY IT IS HURTFUL, POLITICALLY SENSITIVE OR POLITICALLY 
INCORRECT, OR -- AS HE PUTS IT -- "ISLAMICALLY INCORRECT."

THE CONTROVERSY DOES NOT APPEAR TO BE HARMING THE FILM 
FINANCIALLY.  SO FAR, PEOPLE ARE STILL PAYING TO SEE IT AT MOVIE 
THEATERS IN THE UNITED STATES.  (SIGNED)

NEB/KB/RRM/GE

11-Nov-98 3:30 PM EST (2030 UTC)
NNNN

Source: Voice of America
.