Islam on My Side » “Yes Man” Says Yes to Stereotypes

“Yes Man” Says Yes to Stereotypes

I really wanted to like this movie.

With its heartfelt message of optimism and living one’s life to the fullest, I thought “Yes Man” would be a film I could enjoy and appreciate after a week of exhaustive finals and papers. Yet it turns out that the film is filled with thoughtless and ridiculous stereotypes that make me feel anything but optimistic.

Before I saw the film, I already detected some suspicion about the film. A good friend of mine had read the book of the same title and told me the author was motivated to “say ‘yes’ more” by an Indian man he met on a bus. The Indian man’s religion is not disclosed, but it could be argued that the Indian man was Muslim since the author searches for him at one point in the book and finds himself in a predominately Muslim part of town. Oh, and did I mention the book takes place in England?

Not only does the film adaptation take place in the United States, but it also removes the Indian and potentially Muslim character. Instead, the man who inspires the protagonist to “say ‘yes’ more” is a White English man played by Terrence Stamp. The producers must have felt that the audience wouldn’t have made a connection with a wise and inspirational Indian/non-White character.

After Jim Carrey’s character starts saying “yes” to everything, we see him checking his e-mail at work and one of the spam messages reads: “Persian Wife Finder.” An Iranian woman wearing a pink hijaab (headscarf) appears on the screen, while puffy clouds are on time-lapse in the background, and says “I am Faranoosh” as if she’s some kind of character you can select from a “Tekken” video game. As she rotates her body to make herself look alluring, the wind blows her scarf into her face, mocking the way Iranian women supposedly dress and drawing ridiculous laughter from the audience.

What was up with that, Jim?

The other pathetic thing about the scene is that Arabic music – not Iranian music – plays in the background of the video (I know because I have that song, it’s called “El B’Nia” by Maghrebika). But who cares; Arabic, Persian – same thing, right? Or is this movie excused since it’s supposed to be humorous?

The problem about that argument is that we see very few positive representations of Iran/Persia in Hollywood cinema, let alone about Muslim women who wear hijaab. Many people don’t know, for example, that there is a significantly large portion of Muslims, including scholars, who believe the hijaab is not mandatory. Regardless if Muslims believe it’s mandatory or not, there is hardly any positive treatment by the media whenever a Muslim woman is wearing hijaab. She is seen as being oppressed, restricted, uneducated, and, as depicted in “Yes Man,” a piece of property. We never see a strong and three-dimensional female Muslim character, especially if she’s wearing hijaab. For example, did anyone hear about the recent report of Lisa Valentine, the Muslim-American woman who was thrown in jail just because she refused to remove her scarf in a courtroom? How’s that for courage?

Later in the film, we see Faranoosh sitting with Jim Carrey’s character at a restaurant, indicating that the two of them got married. Another character asks who the Iranian woman is and Jim Carrey responds, “Oh that’s Faranoosh,” and then simply says he found her on “Persian Wife Finder,” as if any random Iranian woman is going to fly overseas and marry a man she knows nothing about. Iranian and Muslim women are degraded into objects here, as if they can be purchased and easily married off to anyone who clicks “yes” on a computer screen. Faranoosh is a thoughtless and dull character who just sits in the background. She might as well be a clown since every close-up of her only triggers laughter and scoffs from the audience. You know, it’s a point-and-laugh-at-the-backwards-Iranian-woman kind of thing.

At a time when Islam is being constantly vilified by the mainstream media and when Iran is on America’s “axis of evil,” you’d think filmmakers would be more responsible in their representations of Muslims and Middle-Easterners. Every time I saw Faranoosh show up, I wanted her to get off the screen because of the way people were laughing and scoffing at her. Many of the attendees were adolescents, whom Jim Carrey is very popular with, and I can’t imagine what kind of impact this stereotypical and silly representation of a Muslim character will have on teenage Muslims, especially in predominately non-Muslims areas like where I live.

Iranians and Muslims weren’t the only groups that were stereotyped. Koreans and Latinos were also misrepresented. The female Korean character, for example, was shown as a depressed victim of not finding her “special someone,” so at the end of the film, she gets hooked up with Jim Carrey’s promiscuous and sex-crazed friend whom, by the way, she knows nothing about. The Latino character, with his stereotypical accent since, of course, all Latinos have accents, is standing on a ledge and threatening to kill himself.

What would have happened if the film kept the wise Indian character that inspired the author to say “yes” and live life to the fullest? Wouldn’t that be a step in the right direction since all we see South Asian people do in mainstream films and television is run “Quick-E mart” stores and gas stations? The stereotypes are so prominent that it makes me think the discussion at the producers table probably went a little something like this: “You know what? Let’s cut the Indian character out. Let’s make fun of foreigners instead.”

Thumbs down, Jim Carrey. I say no to “Yes man.”

Tags: Faranoosh, Hollywood, Iranian, Islamophobia, Jim Carrey, Korean, Latino, Muslim, Persian, Prejudice, Stereotypes, Yes Man

Film, Islamopobia | Jehanzeb | December 23, 2008 11:04 am

31 Comments

By Mohammad Nazeeh, December 24, 2008 @ 1:38 am

The fault lies with the writers, directors and producers of the movie. Who runs Hollywood anyway?
By Kourosh, December 24, 2008 @ 12:03 pm

people should learn not to take things so seriously

the movie isnt intended to be a historically accurate drama movie

accept it for what it is… a COMEDY film

myself being iranian i was not offended, i laughed along with everyone else

however, if a movie comes out, lets say similar to Alexander or 300, claiming to be historically accurate, thats when you should b offended.

countless, countless, countless movies come out every year making fun of blacks, latinos, and asians. and no one cares

but when it comes to middle easterns…

cant we take a joke?
By Jehanzeb, December 24, 2008 @ 9:32 pm

Dear Kourosh,

Thanks for your comment and I’m glad you brought up the subject of “300.” When that movie came out, I was very offended and I wrote a piece on it for another blog. It wasn’t just about the film being historically inaccurate; it was also about how the filmmakers vilified and demonized the Persians. There was a very strong sense of ethnocentrism in the film and, perhaps most disturbingly, the creator of “300,” Frank Miller, called Islam “6th century barbarism” during a radio interview on NPR. He also made other ridiculous claims like “Iraq started the war.” It’s very clear that “300″ was a piece of propaganda.

But following the release of “300,” did we see anything positive about Iranians/Persians? Anyone who looks at Persian paintings or reads mystical Persian poetry will know precisely why the horrible depictions of Persians in “300″ are so offensive.

Anyway, in regards to “Yes Man,” it *is* a comedy, but as I mentioned in my post, the problem about saying “it’s just comedy” is that we see very few positive representations of Iran/Persia in Hollywood cinema, let alone Muslim women who wear hijaab. I could see the possibility of a group of Iranians sitting together and laughing at something like this, but when you live in a predominately White conservative Christian area, you’ll probably feel less secure about this kind of humor. There’s a difference between laughing WITH people and laughing AT people. How do you know that you were laughing “with” everyone? When I was in high school, I experienced and witnessed so many teenagers picking on people of color simply based on the stereotypical images they would see in movies, television shows, music videos, etc. What were the Asians called? “Mr. Miyagi.” What were Indian-Pakistani kids called? “Apu.” What were Middle-Easterners called? “Habib.” I’ve seen fist-fights break out because of these racist remarks. One of my friends was Black and someone made a racial slur to him and it just resulted in a fist fight. After 9/11, some kid pushed me around in the men’s locker room just because I got offended when he called me “Osama bin Laden.” He cursed me off and threatened to beat me up. Anyone who knows me knows that I’m not one to get involved in fights.

As I mentioned in my post, just imagine an Iranian or Muslim teenager getting picked on because of this movie. This is not a product of my imagination, my arguments are based on my personal experiences in high school. I have noticed countless times that whenever a new movie or TV show comes out, teenagers are always emulating the behavior. Then they start asking stupid questions like, “hey is your dad a terrorist?” or “do your parents own a Quick-E mart?” I could totally see some immature kids saying, “oh, so are you on ‘Persian wife finder.’” Everyone gets picked on in school, even if your of the dominant culture, but people of color have extra things to worry about because their race gets stereotyped, misjudged, or ridiculed.

Sure, we can just say that “there are ignorant people everywhere,” but it doesn’t change the fact that young people *do* have these experiences which can have a profound effect on them.

You wrote: “countless, countless, countless movies come out every year making fun of blacks, latinos, and asians. and no one cares.”

This is not true; of course people of those ethnic backgrounds care. If you visit websites like “Racialicious,” you’ll see them speak out against stereotypical images of all races. Even my Catholic friends hate it whenever Catholicism is portrayed in a negative light. I enjoy humor, but there is no other Iranian character in the movie to cancel out her stereotypical depiction. And, as I mentioned before, we hardly see any positive representations of Iranians in mainstream media. We see plenty of negativity and mockery about Iranians and Muslims; how about something positive for a change?

There are brilliant Muslim, Middle-Eastern, and South Asian comedians out there (like Maz Jobrani), but how many people know about him? You’d have to *look* for these comedians, whereas with “Yes Man,” it’s a blockbuster Jim Carrey movie that is known nationwide. Depictions of Iranians/Persians and/or Muslims in “300″ or “Yes Man” are more likely to be seen by the average American than the “Axis of Evil” comedy tour.
By Sara, December 25, 2008 @ 12:26 pm

This was a RCIST piece if garbage. Hollywood THUGS love the taste of Persian’s poop. AT least that is good to know!

Perhaps we should start a business selling these guys our poops!
By Anonymous, December 25, 2008 @ 8:52 pm

I am a Muslim, and this Movie is absolutly offensive. Our Muslim women are not some objects to advertise themselves, or to go on dates to be tried! Disgusting and filthy. For us it is either marraige or not. Our women are not walking public men’s bathroom, like those western women going from one boyfriend to another. How disgusting! And then they wonder about the growing hate!
By Edward Cheang, December 25, 2008 @ 9:34 pm

Firstly you got some facts wrong. Soo Mi got together with his crazy wild spontanoues ex-boss. And then as an Asian I’ve lived in the states and no it isn’t displaying a negative light on much around. I see asian woman in America hoping that they’d be able to catch a fish (pardon my bluntness) yet still unable to get hitched cause of their heritage and such. Then again it is a comedy. And the moral of the story isn’t to discriminate anyone. Its only to tell you to open your mind to more things and more events around the world, also to be more willing to try different things. So whats you’re problem?
By maral, December 27, 2008 @ 4:17 am

oh gosh.
are you seriously put in such an uproar over simple jokes.
sure there is always some truth in a joke, but honestly, america’s youth isnt going to have a second thought on the rights and social status of iranian women let alone their intelligence. im iranian, but i see the ignorance of most everyday americans. when people are naive and sheltered, altering perception of the world around them, what do you expect?
By Maryam, December 27, 2008 @ 5:40 am

I haven’t seen the movie but I guess they did that because women in hijab are hilarious to them. sad. i don’t find it in good taste and obviously a bunch of ignorant idiots are gonna try to make fun of some Muslim women because of the movie. even though most Americans are against the Iraq war our country does try to pump up American spirit by making fun of Islam as backwards and laughable.

I also noticed how the writer of this article tried to state how many people including scholars believe hijab isn’t mandatory. i smiled when i read this because it’s not true at all, i mean they’re some scholars who think alcohol consumption is just fine too. Truth of the matter is hijab is mandatory but it’s up to the women whether they want to observe this command or not and it’s between them and God.
By Jehanzeb, December 27, 2008 @ 11:40 am

@ Maral,

As I explained to Koroush, I have witness and experienced high school students poking fun at different minority groups based upon the stereotypical images they’ve seen in the media. You even admit that you’ve seen the ignorance of most Americans. Where do you think that ignorance comes from? And I don’t think saying “what do you expect?” is a helpful statement. This is a matter of education and creating a bridge of understanding between different communities. Like I said before, just imagine a teenage Muslim girl in high school wearing hijaab and being picked on with references made to this film. Just think about that. I have seen people make fun of Persians with references to “300,” so what makes this movie any different?

@ Maryam, thanks for your comment and I agree that these jokes about Muslims is not in good taste. Also, I didn’t write this post to have a religious debate about the hijaab. I just want to point out to you that there *are* scholars who don’t believe hijaab is mandatory (and they don’t say alcohol consumption is permissible either), but these same scholars will defend a woman’s right to wear it. There are plenty of devout Muslim women who *don’t* wear the hijaab, yet they are marginalized by members of their own community. They’re not thought of as “practicing” Muslims. This is unfair. There is a reason why it’s still disputable in our community (and it’s much more disputed than the alcohol issue; I would say most Islamic scholars consider that haram). We don’t need to divide each other, we just need to be accepting of everyone’s interpretation, school of thought, and beliefs.
By Mongey, December 27, 2008 @ 8:31 pm

I havent watched the movie but I saw the ad couple of times and I noticed a vieled girl so theres a muslim character in the movie and I asked myself is it going to portayified in good manner or not, but apparently not.
I think I have to watch and see for myself
but theres an important point here about the nature of the movie yes man is a comdey movie and as you know sterotypes are common in most the comedy movies you might see anywhere and I am not talking about hollywood I am even talking about the local movies here in Egypt you could find alot of stereotypes about different locals and who their behaviour when in reality its not .
I think we should focus on the portrayal of Muslim characters in the more serious movies and series that deal with issues like war on terrorism
I cant really remember one time that I saw a good portrayal of a Muslim character in a movie or serious
they are always either a terrorist or just too conservative to be true
anyways what I wanted to say is that we can justify this for “Yes Man” since its a comedy and comedies mostly use stereotype to get the audience laugh
but its really hard to justify things in other type of movies which are more serious and supposedly portray reality.
By Erin, January 1, 2009 @ 1:07 pm

i’m actually a regular user of persian wife finder.com

it’s only a joke, im a teenager of a multi-ethnic origin and when people joke about muslims, persians, blacks latinos I laugh along with them, even though my father is muslim. i know they are not being puprosefully mean. it’s time we took a joke.

you’ve looked too deep into this, and i think yesman is a pretty decent film.
By Jehanzeb, January 1, 2009 @ 2:33 pm

Erin,

Please read my responses to comments above. You may get a better understanding of my points.
By Ray, January 1, 2009 @ 7:16 pm

first of all, get over yourselves. filmmakers do not have an agenda to vilify your heritage or history. filmmakers make movies to make money, not to offend you on a personal level, and not to incite hate crimes. so just take some humble pie, no one cares if you are incidentally offended, you are but an insignificant speck in an infinite and brilliant universe. enjoy anonymity
By Ray, January 1, 2009 @ 7:31 pm

to jehanzeb

americans being ignorant is a stereotype

and most americans ARE ignorant of your culture. but i would guess that YOU are ignorant of some cultures as well. tell me, what is the holiest Catholic sacrament? what was the first monotheastic faith? what is the main religion of russia?

the answers are:
Communion
Zoroastrianism
Eastern Orthodox Church

i am an American Catholic but i know the Five Pillars of Islam

do you know the Seven Holy Catholic Sacraments?

what im saying is: before you accuse me, take a look at yourself
By Jehanzeb, January 1, 2009 @ 11:42 pm

Hi Ray,

I appreciate your comments, but I think accusing me (someone you don’t know) of being ignorant about other cultures is quite immature and uncalled for. I actually knew the answer to your first two questions, but not the third one. I appreciate you sharing that.

Also, anyone who knows me knows I am interested in different cultures and religions. If I don’t know a lot about a particular culture, I will make an effort to understand things from their perspective rather than just say “get over yourself.” Such statements create barriers to gaining better understanding. I am confused by your last sentence where you said, “before you accuse me, take a look at yourself.”

It seems that you should be taking your own advice because I didn’t accuse you of anything. This post just expresses my thoughts and reflection on the film. It’s not making an accusation towards the filmmakers that they deliberately wanted to incite hate or prejudice towards Iranians and/or Muslims.

You also said no one cares if I’m offended. Well many Muslims that I’ve spoken to were offended by the film. I suggest you read the comments I posted above and enroll yourself in an inter-cultural communications class. Watch Spike Lee’s film, “Bamboozled” and study the mainstream media’s depictions of minority groups.
By Edward Cheang, January 2, 2009 @ 12:37 am

So mr Jehanzeb you only reply to muslims?

Are you racist as well?
I mean this show was meant to be a comedy. There is a saying. “If you can’t laugh at yourself you shouldn’t take yourself seriously cause you’re too caught in your own ways to see the world”

I’m chinese. I get called small eyed greedy chink everytime I go back to the states. I laugh it off. Why is it you can’t do the same?
By Jehanzeb, January 2, 2009 @ 2:48 am

Edward,

I don’t know what made you think that I’m a racist, but I think you have a misunderstanding of my post. Of course, we can laugh at ourselves. But there’s a difference between laughing at yourself and having people laugh *at* you.

The people who make those racial slurs against you are immature and ignorant. You say you laugh if off, but you should also be aware that there are a lot of Asians who can’t laugh it off. You cannot discredit their experiences, especially the younger generation. I had a Korean friend in middle school who couldn’t stand it when students made stereotypical insults towards her. She was so down about it that she missed some classes. I’m sure you wouldn’t feel too great if a child of yours came home one day and was depressed because classmates made immature racial slurs.

I made a multiculturalism documentary recently where I interviewed an Asian student who said he still gets discriminated against and made fun of. The whole point of my documentary is to show the necessity of having multicultural courses so that we all gain a better understanding of each other.

In addition to understanding, we need to develop respect. Perhaps I should share my documentary on multiculturalism here.

When you say “laugh it off,” it sounds like you’re just saying we should just ignore it and forget about it. Sorry, but that is just absurd. You’re pretty much suggesting that we keep silent and allow people to make fun of us.
By Sara, January 3, 2009 @ 4:33 pm

To Ray:

FYI, all muslims or those who grew up in Muslim countries and now are agnostic and believe in science ( like myself) know PLENTY about other abrahimic religions. In Iran, we START our education learning about zoroastrianism and then we have SERIOUS history lessons on Judaism and Christianity. Qoran is one of the most respectful sources to christ and abrahimic prophets. It is ALWAYS the other way around, I have noticed christians to be CLUELESS of all other religions including their MOTHER religion judaism and Jews mostly do know how similar their religion is to Islam, almost 90% IDENTICAL. As an agnostic, I see Islam as volume 3 of the 3 so called holy religions, the only difference is that it is the arabian/beduin version.

So if one person is definitely clueless is your people. You are an exception IF indeed you know ANYTHING about Islam.

Muslims ae BY FAR more respectful of your religion than your people ever could claim to be. This is just a HISTORICAL fact, like it or not.

Sara
By Sara, January 3, 2009 @ 4:44 pm

and to Muslims from a scientist woman who was born Muslim but now believes in Darwin and genes MORE:

the PROBLEM with muslims and islamic world is the fact that we LACK Luther. We need a LUTHER in Islam who could come and SEPERATE Religion from State.

And Re Hijab, give me a break, a GOD that thinks covering women is actually a holy thing is too imperfect to be my God. Muslims need to GROW UP and move toward progression and get out of 7th century beduin minset or the whole world wil be destroyed by such harsh unfriendly dangerous minset. Faith MUST be a personal matter and FORCING faith is NO ONE’s business. If a GOD is commanding that, that God sure won’t have a lot of sane rational followers.

Please, give me a break. Stop worshiping jealous man made Gods and just use those brain cells. The best answer is ‘NOT KNOWING’. Since what we are told perhaps made sense back in the time mirages were associated with demons and angels work and people actually believed earth was flat. Those stone age descriptions of our creator is too BELOW our IQ. That is just the reality. Let us all face the truth which is WE KNOW THAT GOD WE ARE TOLD IS TOO IMPERFECT TO BE THE ACTUAL GOD. Live your lives and live in peace. My way of thinking is actually too good to be true, it is too liberating.
By azad, January 14, 2009 @ 8:42 am

Dear Koroush,

I know you regard this film as a comedy, but there is also something else behind , have you realised at the begining of the film, when Jim Carrey went to rent a movie in a shop,the movie that he chose was 300 ??!! and it was the only title which was shown between the movies that he get from the rent shop ?? is that by accident or mistake or what ? I dont think all of this just happened without any porpous and just for fun of it!
By Mike, January 15, 2009 @ 7:55 am

I’ll agree it’s a movie that jokes about races and what not, but no matter where you are in the world or where you come from you are going to be taunted and stereotyped. It happens to every country. No matter where you are. And don’t even bother starting on religion because it is exactly the same.

This movie was made to see the optimism in life; sure it was a cliche hollywood film made to sell, but it still entertains.

See the optimism in life. Pessimists’ don’t have as much fun and have way more problems. No matter how many lame or racist jokes you find in this movie you cannot deny the undeniably healthy message of optimism. Persians will be vilified in films. Australians will be. Chinese will be. It’s a part of life.

[Administrator Note: Your comment was modified to fit within our comment moderation policy. Please review the guidelines posted on our main page. We encourage our readers to debate in a civil and respectful manner, so please try to refrain from making condescending remarks, thanks!]
By Jehanzeb, January 15, 2009 @ 10:19 am

Mike,

Of course there are always going to people who stereotype and make bigoted comments, but it doesn’t mean it’s right. To suggest that we ignore the racial issues in “Yes Man” and just accept it as a “healthy message of optimism” is problematic.

As I’ve explained above (in my post and my comments), the stereotypical presentation of a Muslim woman only generates more misconceptions and generalizations about a group of people that are already stigmatized in post 9/11 America. Our blog focuses on the experiences Muslim-Americans in the post 9/11 era, so my review of “Yes Man” must be understood in that context. I also mentioned that younger Muslims who live in areas of the United States where there are hardly any Muslims may face discrimination or ridicule based on the images their classmates saw in “Yes Man.” I used examples from my own experiences and observations in the comments above.

It’s not about pessimism, Mike. On the contrary, it’s about generating awareness and presenting new ideas so that people may be mindful about how a film can be viewed differently through another person’s lens. To you, you may see the message of optimism. For me, I saw the minority characters, especially the Muslim character, singled out and just used as an object to draw laughter.
By Arthur Bárbaro, March 6, 2009 @ 1:13 pm

Hi, Jehanzeb.
Just wanted to add my own point of view on this…

First, I’d like to remember the actor just plays his character. There is no reason to accuse Jim Carrey of anything (unless you mean he shouldn’t have accepted to play that role in this movie).

Second, as some have pointed already, Soo-Mi actually got with his weird nerdy friend Norman. I can call him that because I’m somewhat like him. =P He’s the exaggerated stereotype, of course, because this is a comedy, and comedies make use of that (exaggeration). Some could view it as offensive and say that “the movie says all harry potter fans are like that”, but that’s not true. Also you gave the impression the writer meant that all south americans had an accent. Well, a lot of them have, so I don’t even see this as any problem here. It’s as some said here already: if this was a serious movie, then maybe that was the case, but not with comedies. Of course, even in comedies there’s a limit, but I don’t think that was not even nearly trespassed here.

Anyway, these were not the core of the subject, so I’ll move on.

I actually wanted to speak on the Faranoosh topic. The only thing that I, personally, somewhat disliked about her character, was the wind on her clothes, because I thought a bit like you. But even so I really don’t think the writers meant to make fun of her clothing, it was only a sad thing they didn’t notice. I interpreted that wind like “that’s to make obvious the site is not well made”, not like “ha ha! she wears so much clothes the wind goes over here”. Not in any point did anyone in the movie make fun of anyone’s culture, nor their accents, nor anything. Sorry, I disagree with you on that. If you felt like that maybe it was the people watching near you at the theater that made fun of her, so the problem would actually be with them, not with the movie.

Finally, I just wanted to add that there is different people everywhere and everywhere they’ll be made fun of. I believe the right thing is that the ones being made fun of learn to live of whatever he/she has that is different and that that isn’t a bad thing and for the ones making fun of them that they should do it in a playful manner so that the other person shouldn’t feel bad about it.

Arthur

P.S.: I think they’ve decided to change the indian bus guy for the “white” guy because the audience would have a better connection with his little show or because they thought that little show would be better on a movie script than a long talk with a guy on the bus. On the contrary, maybe they even thought of keeping the guy but after they changed the idea of the random bus encounter to that “show”, they thought that keeping the indian there would seem like he was trying to make a profit on those thoughts and this could seem offensive! This completely changes how you saw it.

P.P.S.: The only other thing I disliked about the script was that the writers made fun of Karl Marx at a point. Again, I shrugged for the bad joke and understood that it was there only because the writers only knew USA’s broken version of communism. It’s a sad joke, but I can’t blame them for that…

P.P.P.S.: Being nerdy-like as Norman, I actually also find Soo-Mi’s character really cute. =] Yay stereotypes! \o/
By Persian Belle, April 13, 2009 @ 8:38 am

Thank you for this article.
Someone stood up and said it. This movie reinforces the stereotypes that may wrongly alrady exist in many uneducated minds, and even encourages new ones. Crudely racist.

Kourosh, I have to disagree with you. Racism is not a joke. Many uneducated viewers will absorb those messages and do not see it as a joke. There are some messages that are more subtle that we can see… And they WILL backfire on you and me in the North American society. You don’t want non-Persians to think that if they date you, they will be questions for having possible links with terrorism, and so many other issues…

You mentioned other ethnicities… Well, as for African-Americans/Canadians, this has been a long debated issue, and no one in the sane mind will dare make fun of them again, at least not openly. But other groups such as Middle-Easterns and Koreans are still easier targets.
By Andrew, May 9, 2009 @ 6:02 am

[Administrator Note: Your comments were not published because they don't comply with our comment moderation policy. If you would like to engage in mature and civil dialogue, rather than making lousy accusations and xenophobic remarks, then you are welcome to do so. No one said that we "don't like Americans," and to tell us to "go back home" is not only insulting, but also very ignorant since this blog is about American Muslims. America is our home and just because we're pointing out stereotypes in media doesn't mean we "don't like Americans." I suggest that you study media literacy to gain a better understanding of what this post is trying to point out. Resorting to ad hominem fallacies won't fly here since it represents one's inability to engage in mature and respectful dialogue. Please review our comment moderation policy for more details.]
By John Blackmore, May 11, 2009 @ 7:40 pm

Administrator Note: Your comment was not published because it does not fit within our comment moderation policy. If you would like to engage in mature and civil dialogue, rather than making personal attacks, then you are welcome to do so. As for you having Persian friends, our response is simply: we’ve heard it before. Please visit this link and read the commonly expressed “counter-arguments” that people make regarding racism and prejudice:

http://resistracism.wordpress.com/we-heard-it-before/

See number 2 on the list.
By Matt, June 9, 2009 @ 12:55 am

i agree the film was sterotypical there, but i do not think that was their intention. i believe it was more meant to be a parody of those ethnic dating websites (like “single asians” or “u like christian girls” that u see on the side of facebook etc) then a jab at muslims. i think it was more they just were rather insensitive with the character; i dont think they meant to portray her that way but i agree they def should of spent more time on her character or at least made her something deeper than that… like i was a little upset by carl’s apathy towards her at the dinner it was really the only part of the movie that upset me a little… although i dont remember anything saying his ex-boss was sex-crazed; matter of fact i almost got the opposite impression myself
By Quid Quintessa, June 23, 2009 @ 8:55 am

To Sara: I appreciate your comments about the need for an “Islamic Luther”, but we have already had many, many “Luthers” (I will excuse for the moment the unfortunate native Muslim tendency to look for a white, Christian analogue for all things). We have people like Haji Bektash, Yunus Emre, Shihab al-Din Suhrawardi, Ibn Arabi, Ibn Sina, and so many others. If you really read Luther, he makes a weak comparison with these great thinkers and spiritual leaders.

What we need is to foster intellectual curiosity amongst our community to explore the various rich venues that have been laid out for us, the many paths that have led on from the Quranic imperative of our Holy Prophet, may peace be upon him and his Family.