Escape from Saddam

I really enjoyed, Escape from Saddam. I couldn't believe how graphic this novel was, just even in the very beginning when Lewis' Uncle Saad was telling him about having to join Saddam's army.
"You haven't got any choice. You've been called up, and if you don't go they will consider you to be a deserter. When they catch up with you--which they will if you are still in the country . . ." He made a deft flicking sign by his right ear to indicate its removal--the standard punishment for anyone who went awol. "I've seen people selling these ears on the black market so that deserters can have them sewn back on. Trust me, they are not a pretty sight" (6).
In the United States, with the exception of the draft, if someone does not want to be in the military, they don't have to. I thought the passage immediately after showed how the uncle was truly trying to talk his nephew out of his desire to escape the army.
"Saad looked around nervously, checking that no passersby--no matter how innocent they looked--could overhear our conversation. Idle talk had a tendency to find its way back to military intelligence, and the consequences could be severe. "I don't know, Sarmed. The stakes are higher now. Not attending university is one thing, but running away from the army is quite another. If any of my colleagues were caught deserting during the Iran-Iraq war, they were shot in front of their relatives and the families had to pay for the ammunition" (6).
I can't believe the last line, the family had to watch the execution. How terrifying and horrible would that be. It is such a different world, a different culture, one to me that's nearly unimaginable. His journey itself was incredibly heroic.

Waltz with Bashir

I thought this film was incredible. I was such a drastic change to what we had been watching all semester and even though it was animated, I think it was more powerful than had it not been. Most documentaries are somewhat flat, even Michael Moore the instigator, has his limits to his films. I think the fact this one was animated gave it such a different and more dynamic feel. The film definitely had some surrealism in it, but I think this was the best thing for the movie because it is difficult to portray dreams and emotions with tangible objects of typical film. By animating it, we could see how the characters' dreams were influencing how they responded to such a terrible tragedy. At the end, the director showed actual footage from the massacre and I found extremely difficult to watch emotionally. I think if the entire film had been done that way, I would not have lasted very long before getting too emotionally overwhelmed. Showing actual footage solidified the reality of this terrible event. I think it portrayed both sides very well. Of course we respond more toward the Lebanese because of what they suffered through, but the filmmaker (unlike most others) shows there are always two sides and there may not be a clear line defining them. There is so pity shown for the Israelis as well, not nearly as much, but they were still horribly effected by it also. I think this film shows another way of how to bring a non-traditional text or media into the classroom to help more people benefit by it. One knows when they are in the presence of a great, cerebral film because those few minutes of silence afterward are the class trying to process the amount and type of information that was presented and more importantly, they are giving it time to resonate within themselves.

Beheading the Cat, The Metallic Crocadile, Does This Make My Head Look Big and Guest

Part of this group's reading were two short stories, a novel and today we had a guest speaker. The first short story was called the Beheading of the Cat and I actually liked this story a lot. It was about a man who sees the ghost of his aunt Badriyya who is trying to match him up with a young girl of fourteen. The girl is portrayed by the aunt to be the ultimate wife, a slave in fact. He is already seeing a woman named Nadine, a free-spirited student. Nadine scares him, she is so wild and he is infatuated with her, but she makes him uncomfortable. I really liked Nadine's character, she knows what she wants and knows how to get it. If Abdul can't handle her, then it is his loss. She doesn't need a man to define who she is as a person. Abdul struggles with the traditional arranged marriage and values his aunt lays out for him, and wanting someone like Nadine to have a connection with, but at the same time also tame. I thought it was interesting that Nadine referred to him as her Lebanese Hamlet focusing on the key line "To Be or Not To Be" as a allusion to his wishy-washyness. Overall, I think this was a good story for their group because I think it showed the struggle between traditional Lebanese values (the aunt) and modern Lebanese values (Nadine). The second story was a little more difficult for me to understand. I was confused with the structure of the story, what the underlying meaning of the story was. We also read Does This Make My Head Look Big In This, which is a book about a 16 year old girl, Amal who decides after four days of serious consideration that she wants to wear the hijab to honor her faith. I found it interesting that she deliberated for only four days. To me it seemed like a short period of time. A girl's appearance is very important in high school and the fact that she is bullied for it at school, makes me wonder why she made the decision she did. But at the same time, despite the fact she is bullied she was courageous enough to stick to her beliefs. Finally, the guest speaker, Monica Eraqi I thought was fantastic. She was really so close in age, I could tell the class was very comfortable asking her questions about her life and really wanted to know more. It was great to hear what her experience with arranged marriages was like. The way she described it as being like eHarmony.com made it seem not so foreign. To me, it almost seemed more realistic. I'd rather have my family who knows me at my best and at my worst find me a husband than some computer program. I also thought it was so interesting to find out about her upbringing and how two very different cultures have influenced her life. Overall, I think the culmination of the film, readings and guest speaker gave us a good idea of what life is like for people of Middle Eastern decent living in Western culture.

Class Discussion

During our class discussion on Tuesday with the East meets West group, we watched a great short film on an Iraqi living in America and allowing everyday people to ask him questions called Talk to an Iraqi-This American Life. I thought this was a great way for Americans to get first hand knowledge from someone living the life, but what I realized is that people do not take advantage of this. Often, the Americans would tell the Iraqi what his life is like rather than letting him tell his own story. Even the soldiers serving in Iraq seem to have a tainted view of what life is like. What upset me was the one solider who was excited to go to Iraq. It bothered me because he was excited to go to war and it doesn't seem like anyone should be excited to go to war. I thought it was funny and interesting the man who asked if there were any fat people in Iraq. In someways it seems like it shows how little people really know about life outside America. But I also think it shows the man trying to make a personal connection with something foreign that he can relate to in a personal way. I was very impressed with the eleven year old girl, who wanted to apologize for our (America's) actions toward Iraq. I felt she was wise way beyond her years and the maturity she showed to understand the reasoning of adults and to see that it possibly can be flawed. I think this was a great idea, but I wish people would actually listen to him and allow him to speak his story because only then could they really learn something.

Arranged

I really enjoyed this film, Arranged, probably the most so far. I think it was a great way to start off this group about East meeting West. I liked how the two women allowed themselves to have the best of both cultures. The modern, American culture where Muslims and Jews both get along and can be good friends. And their traditional religious cultures by upholding modesty as well as their families' standards of arranging marriage. They were not pushed over by anyone, not the children, nor the principal, nor their families. I liked how the matches for each girl were what one would think of in the stereotype of a tradition arranged marriage; obnoxious, overweight, ugly, and old. But both stood their ground and held faith that the right man would come along. I loved Rochel's exercise on acceptance through the unity circle. I think this was a fantastic example of how to teach children about ignorance and that they all have choices on who they are friends with through a kinestetic activity. I would adjust this for high schoolers so that I could do something similar when I become a teacher. I thought it was great that the movie emphasized how both women's parents wanted the best for their daughters. I think there is a misconception that the women in arranged marriages have no choice, but my showing this it breaks down the stereotype to show these women do have choices. Overall, I think this was a great film to kick off this group and I really enjoyed it as well. I hope we have some time next week to discuss it!

Final Presentation Day and Class Discussion

Yesterday was the last day of our group's presentation. We wanted to hold a discussion about what we had done in the past week. First we started discussing the speakers we brought in. We actually got the second speaker from Egypt to come back for the last hour of class and talk with us again. I found it interesting what she said about in Egyptian families, women are the queens of the household and make the majority of the decisions. I also found it interesting that she said Islam is very sex-positive for women and if a woman is not sexually satisfied, that is grounds for divorce because to not allow it may push the woman to commit adultery. We also discussed the first speaker, Gulnar, and how she talked about the day her daughter started wearing the hijab. Gulnar said she would have told her daughter to wait to wear it, but instead did not say anything. We were trying to determine her reasoning behind saying that. Some people said they felt she wanted her daughter to fit in into American culture and that would make her daughter seem like more of an outsider. I found this confusing because it seemed like Gulnar would want her daughter to embrace the different aspects of their culture, including wearing the hijab. I liked though how she allowed her daughter to make her own decisions and did not force her to do anything she didn't want to do. We also discussed the film and the role the men play in the film. John said he noticed that all the men seemed to be portrayed as irrational and controlling. We thought that Fereshteh's husband was the most controlling because he bought her freedom, he had the ultimate control over her family for her entire life. Overall, I think everyone agreed that there will always be disagreements on how to follow customs and laws because everyone has their own interpretation of the laws.

Two Women

On Thursday we watched the film for our group called Two Women(1999). I was very interested in the last scene of the film when Fereshteh was finally free, yet she seems so hopeless and so helpless. She asks her friend and the friend's husband, "what am I supposed to do now?" All of her dreams, goals, and ambitions seem lost to her and likens herself to a "free bird without wings." I thought it was interesting that in the husband's death Fereshteh's children would go to a grandfather or uncle, but not to her. It shows how men dominate every aspect of society. What I thought was most interesting was the different types of men portrayed in this film. There were men who look for their lives in a bathroom. Men who stop and stare at women in the middle of the road. Men who are stalkers. Men who stick up and defend women. Men who are traditional father. Men who are controlling husbands. Men who are distracted doctors who won't give women the time of day. Finally, there are quality caring men such as Roya's husband who want the women in their lives to succeed. I think this is an accurate description of the different types of men in Middle Eastern society, primarily male-dominated. So looking at all the different types of men in this movie was really interesting.