Week 7- Views of the Self

The way that someone views himself in the society they live in is very important in the progress of everyday life. One cannot live in peace without being confident in the place where you are living. Upon watching the YouTube clip named Terror TV, which deals with a television show in Iraq that has the sole purpose of humiliating criminals, I got mixed feelings. This show is said to be funded by American money and as media separate from the government. But after watching it, maybe it is funded by the government (which is backed by the US) to show people how terrorists are handled. Public humiliation can be devastating for a person and deprives the people from their rights. Although they are criminals should they be exposed to everyone? Why publicly humiliate men if there is no message behind it? Personally I think that yes its a way to show how effectively the removal of terrorists is progressing, but it could be a way to cause fear among the people. Some of the men in the film could not be a criminal but someone set up by the show. Who really knows?
Minorities in the U.S. commonly share the same struggle to find their place in this nation. After the attacks on September 11, which were said to be done by Arabs, made the way of life for Middle Eastern people even harder. This film titled AmericanEast gives an interesting story about a middle class Egyptian family in the U.S. The family is constantly struggling in the a society that constantly criticises due to their nationality. In this film we can see many conflicts with one self. In the beginning, the young son named Mohammed is not satisfied with who he is. Everything about him including his religion and name bother him due to the actions of society. He constantly asks his father why he was named Mohammed and later on in the film he rejects prayer while in a mosque. As a young man in the U.S. he is confused and rather scared of his association to the Middle East. It is sad to see how society makes someone hide or even deny their nationality and religion. This is the case for many people who find it easier to hide their nationality to other so they are not subjected to rejection or nasty comments.
The character that I felt most sorry for was the character named Omar, who was an aspiring actor in Los Angeles. He was very talented but was always casted as a suicide bomber or a terrorist. Due to his nationality he was never given a chance to participate in a good role that did not involve stereotypes. He is even arrested after a few teenagers aggravated him by saying to move his book bag which he later said had a bomb just to agree with them. Due to his detainment he missed a very important casting call. Desperate and truly shattered, Omar decided to take hostage people running a film set which he is supposed to once again be a terrorist. He is killed without compromise. This film brought about many issues including detainment in an airport for speaking Arabic, investigation of transactions to home country, arranged marriage, and others that families go through everyday.