Thursday
Sep172009
Amreeka
Ursula Lindsey
A film about the Arab-American immigrant experience is getting some attention, but unfortunately it seems from reviewsthat "Amreeka" (about a Palestinian single mom who moves from the West Bank to Illinois) isn't a very nuanced portrayal. I've been disappointed so far by the work I've seen focusing on the lives of Arab Americans--whether it's stand-up comedy like the Axis of Evil Tour (which pulled way too many punches) or the film "TowelHead" (which was voyeuristic and pointless). It's surprising because the subjects seems like such rich terrain right now, for both drama and comedy.
Reader Comments (7)
I haven't seen it yet, but I'm kind of surprised by your comments, especially reading this review by a Palestinian-American friend whose views I tend to agree with (http://www.kabobfest.com/2009/09/amreeka.html).
Either way, I've got tickets for a screening next week, so I guess I'll see for myself then.
Also, I'm not sure I trust that review you linked to - "Aliens in America" was about a Pakistani immigrant, not an Arab. If they can't even figure that out, I doubt I'll agree with their opinion about a film.
like the above two commentators, i think i'd rather see amreeka for myself before i pass judgment. but you're right on about "towelhead".
also "the visitor" wasn't exactly about arab-americans (the arabs in the film were illegal immigrants), but it's the best portrayal i can think of.
I don't think that Towelhead added anything in terms of commentary on the Arab-American scene, but there was something about the girl's struggle with sexuality and how to be sexual that I found very honest.
Meanwhile, "The Visitor" was horrendous. The immigration stuff was nothing new, and the message besides that seemed to be that white people could be cool if they hung out with non-white people (go back to the last line spoken in the airport if you don't believe me).
I haven't seen Amreeka yet--sometimes, the West Coast of the U.S. can feel like a backwater.
I was shocked when I found out someone was making a Towelhead movie, easily my least favourite book of all time. You have a point about Arab-American stuff in general(though there are exceptions, Randa Jarrar's book is one) but I think it goes with the territory of being a not-so-visible minority in general, usually people go for the jokes that are hokey or obvious when they want to sell themselves to a general audience that doesn't really know anything about them.
I haven't seen this movie either.
Also from the little I've seen, Arabs-and-other-minorities-in-Europe movies don't seem to have this problem, funny how that is.
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