Tuesday, 25 December 2007

The Kite Runner

A week after watching the Kite Runner at a premier screening held by Relief International on the 17th of December, I still don’t know what I should think of the film.

Almost all Afghans are looking forward to the film’s world wide screening because lets face it, nothing good has happened to Afghans for a few decades now. This film is sort of our hope for something of world-class quality.

From a production point of view the film was great. The cast was excellent. The film quality was fantastic; all in all everything was impressive. It was also something new. In the past few months, I have never seen a film made by Hollywood that didn’t resemble a previous one, so the Kite Runner was entirely a fresh idea. Knowing Hollywood, one can predict the Kite Runner II, depending on the success of the first one.

What concerns me is the message presented to a widely conservative nation. The reason for Afghanistan being so backward is due to the fact that our hot blood always kicks in before our brain does.

Like most young Afghans, all I have seen in life is the degraded status of Afghanistan. There was war from before I was born and it still continues. The nightmares of it staying the same or getting even worst keeps me awake at night like many others. So while everyone is anxiously waiting for the films to come out in cinemas, I am anxiously waiting for the reaction of our people after the film.

Will it be the first and last good thing that happened or will we be able to see it with a more open mind?

When I first heard the saying, “Desperate times call for desperate measures”, I thought it was the wisest thing I ever heard but seeing what desperate actions have done to Afghanistan, I am now wondering if taking desperate measures is even a characteristic of wisdom? The more I think about it the more I get sure that it is not.

Maybe I am just paranoid but once you have tasted degradation, it is hard not to be.

My hope is that the film opens a new positive horizon in the progress of Afghanistan towards a just and open-minded society.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

GET A BLOOODY LIFE....U ALWAYS THIS NEGATIVE ABOUT AFGHANS!!!??? FIRST CRITICISING THE FILM, SPRNG OF HOPE, AND NOW TRYING TO ASSUME THAT PPL WONT BE OPEN MINDED ABOUT THE MOVIE ETC.... ANYWAYS I WAS STARTING TO LIKE UR BLOG TILL U GOT ALL NEGATIVE ..... TUT TUT LOOKS LIKE U NEED TO SORT URSELF OUT B4 GIVING ADVICE OR ANYTHING ESLE OR EVEN PROJECTING UR OWN THOUGHTS :P

Anonymous said...

shoma agar az afghan boudan khod sharm darid in nazarat khod ra baraye kasi bayan nakonid.har mamlakat shaer darid,in baraye ma ayb nist.ma chizhayi darim ke be an eftekhr konim.ba in bish az 40 sal gang va bisavadi shoma chi tavago darid.shoma ba savad va farhang englis eftekhar mikonid.shoma nemayande mardom afghanistan hastid,koshesh konid hamisha mosbat fekr konid va hamvatan khod ra kam nazanid.thank you.

Anonymous said...

I watched it today in lster Sq. London. I liked the movie....it showed most of Afghan culture and their way of thinking but the having 'wine'on their dinning table...thats something i did not like AT ALLLLLLLLLLLL!!! Other then that it is a good movie to watch in cinema!

Anonymous said...

Having read the blog I think it is important to acknowledge that the author has highly praised the film and has only pointed out that the controversial nature of the film may cause tension within factions of the Afghan Community.

Anonymous said...

just like to say to anon3, that today our afghans DOOOO have wine on their table so i dont think it is a big shock to many in the west. Our afghans in the west have'PROGRESSED' as they would like to call it and having wine whilst eating or partying isnt a big deal. I myself have been amongs afghans that drink away like its water.....so dont be tooo shock!!!

Anonymous said...

Well, I haven't had read this Blog until now - but I guess the movie was quite a great intiative by Hollywood - though who has backed up the movie am not quite sure who they are, but the message delivered by the movie could be revealing something in particular to a specific faction!

I didn't liked the idea of screwing a guy in the movie by a Pashton, don't know if it was necessary to show it like that - if so for the sack of equality they should have also showed a Hazara cutting the breats of a Women or nailing an Afghan (Particularly Pashton) in the Head or something else Dance of Dead. And also a Tajik girl doing prostitution in Pakistan after they got refuge in that country or have got drug edicted in Iran. So i guess it wasn't a movie to give the people of Afghanistan a hope rather hatered amongst the diffrent fractions - so it was a political step which was played through Hollywood this time!!

Anonymous said...

reading these other comments, I don't think you have said anything wrong. I don't think you are being pessimistic; I know you bring out the things you observe in Afghans that none of us like or are proud of having, but it is obvious that you do appreciate your Afghan-ness and are proud of being an Afghan.

And as far as drinking goes, I am surprised anyone would object to it, because from what I have seen, drinking has always been a part of the culture and I am sure if not 100%, 90% of Afghan males have had a sip at some point in thier lives if not regularly.