Andrew Worsdale
The Siege was the number-one box office hit in South Africa this week and has grossed R1 979 136. But many Muslim organisations would like the movie banned.
Director Edward Zwick’s thriller has been causing controversy around the world. The film revolves around an FBI agent attempting to root out an Arab-American “terrorist” who blows up buses, Broadway theatres and the FBI headquarters.
On New Year’s Eve the Media Review Network, an Islamic monitoring group, decided it should be removed from cinemas because it was “blatant anti- Islamic propaganda”.
Last week, the Nu Metro cinema at the Victoria & Alfred Waterfront in Cape Town was evacuated after a bomb scare. Chris Hardy, operations executive of Nu Metro theatres, said the hoax was not related to the film.
He said the caller had not mentioned the words The Siege and that several retailers had also received bomb threats. A connection with the January 1 car bomb at the centre has not been established.
Dr Anver Suliman, treasurer of the Media Review Network, says: “The film’s working titles were Against All Enemies, Martial Law and Holy War.What we see is a blatant attempt to defame Islam, and Muslims, yet again. Previews of the film have depicted Muslims at prayer juxtaposed with acts of violence.”
Roger Ebert, one of America’s most influential critics, has great misgivings about the film. “The prejudicial attitudes in the film are insidious, like the anti-Semitism that infected fiction and journalism in the 1930s.”
The producers and director have been quick to defend the movie. Twentieth Century Fox said in a statement: “Both the studio and the filmmakers have had an ongoing and open dialogue with representatives of the Arab community since the production phase of the film. This movie is not anti-Muslim, but anti-prejudice and shows the tragic consequences of racism.”
Said Zwick in the New York Times: “What the critics are saying, as best I can understand it, is that any portrayal of the life of Muslims that includes representations of violence – no matter how well documented – is not only offensive, but also inflammatory.
“To shrink from any subject because it is hurtful or politically insensitive or politically incorrect, or Islamically incorrect, is to deny one of the most important functions of art, which is to be provocative.”
“So, I’m sorry I offended anyone. But I’m really not.”