The Daily Beast really does think that Joe and Anthony Russo are being courageous in presenting Muslims in a positive manner, and the Russos claim that theirs is “the first film to represent Arabs in a positive way, Iraqis in a positive way and Muslims in a positive way.”
That is, of course, absurd. Virtually every portrayal of Islamic terrorists in film or on television is balanced by an anti-terror Muslim character; even Zero Dark Thirty, which chronicled the killing of Osama bin Laden, featured a U.S. intelligence officer who bore a strong resemblance to John Brennan, and who was seen engaging in Islamic prayer in his office. This is commonplace. And in Hollywood, the dominant view is that “Islamophobia” is a massive problem, Trump is evil, and Islamic jihad is either nonexistent or a justifiable reaction to Trump and the evils of America and Israel. The Russos’ new film is just more of the dreary same. The days when Hollywood was patriotic and portrayed threats to America in a realistic fashion are long, long gone.
“‘Avengers: Endgame’ Directors’ Next Battle: Taking On Trumpian Islamophobia,” by Marlow Stern, Daily Beast, September 13, 2019:
…Marking the directorial debut of Matthew Michael Carnahan, Mosul tells the remarkable true story of the Nineveh SWAT team—an elite group of Iraqi soldiers fighting like hell to reclaim their fallen city from ISIS. All of the men in the unit are on a mission of vengeance, as its sine qua non is you must have lost a family member to ISIS in order to join. You can practically feel the bullets whizzing by as Carnahan drops you right into war-torn Iraq where Kawa (Adam Bessa), a 21-year-old police officer, is left with no other choice than to join Col. Jasem (Suhail Dabbach) and his SWAT team after barely eking his way out of a deadly firefight.
“For us, we can say this is the first film to represent Arabs in a positive way, Iraqis in a positive way and Muslims in a positive way. In war movies, there’s the American Sniper problem: You never see what’s on the opposite side,” says producer Mohamed Al-Daradji, himself kidnapped by Iraqi insurgents in the early aughts, who handled the logistics of the Marrakech film shoot. “We’ve never had a chance to represent ourselves at this level.”
In addition to Al-Daradji, Mosul is produced by the two biggest filmmakers in the world right now: Anthony and Joe Russo, aka the Russo Brothers—the director duo behind the Marvel superhero blockbusters Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame, the last of which recently eclipsed Avatar to become the highest-grossing movie of all time. It’s the first film to be released by their independent film studio AGBO, and is eyeing a domestic distributor for an Oscar-qualifying run in December.
The Daily Beast sat down with the Russo Brothers at the Venice Film Festival to discuss their new film and why we need more diversity on screen—especially in the age of Trump….
One of the commendable things about this film—and there are several—is that it does give us Arab heroes, something this is in painfully short supply in Hollywood.
Joe Russo: It’s critical, because you reinforce either negative or positive ideas about representation if you tell the same kinds of stories over and over again. If these actors can only ever walk in a room to audition for a terrorist, then that is without question going to reinforce the way people perceive their culture.
As a kid growing up in the ‘90s, pretty much the only time we saw Arab characters in Hollywood films were playing terrorists. I grew up with Executive Decision and True Lies, and the Arab terrorists in True Lies are members of “Crimson Jihad,” just this comically absurd terrorist organization.
Joe Russo: Villainous cartoon characters.
Anthony Russo: And look, there’s an enormous creative upside here, too. As a storyteller and as a filmmaker, you’re always looking for new ways to bring new stories to the screen, new ways to engage audiences, new ways to surprise audiences, so what happened there in Mosul was so specific and so unique in the way the warfare played out there, and the complexities the characters had to deal with in terms of their allegiances, and who they were fighting against, and how they were fighting against them, that they had a very unique human experience happen. Nobody’s ever seen those dynamics together in a war movie before, or this story happen on screen before.
Many Americans—purely out of ignorance—view the conflicts in the Middle East broadly as this us-versus them, Christianity-versus-Islam thing. But in Mosul, by humanizing the Muslim fighters, it could help combat Islamophobia stateside.
Joe Russo: I think media is the most powerful tool for combating Islamophobia, and for combating racism….
James Pierce says
Remember the days when going to the movies was a form of entertainment rather than yet another occasion to be preached and lectured to by our self decided moral betters in Hollywood? I can’t remember the last time I was in a movie theater.
Fred Dawes says
Trump is the best guy we Americans have had in 120 years the democrats are little evil communists MONKEYS.
Angemon says
After GamerGate, ComicsGate and Sad Puppies, pushback against forced diversity and progressivism in videogames, comic books, and sci-fi and fantasy books, respectively, we’re way past due for a MovieGate… Russo’s push of “feminism” ruined what could have been the best moment of Endgame…
Joe says
Isn’t it crazy for them to think that they are more moral than anyone? Can anyone be more immoral than the average Hollywood star? Oh, I forgot. They were paid a lot of money their depravity. It is their money that makes them more moral than us.
Rhonda says
Actually it is OUR $. Who do you think got them where they are? Actors are just merchandise. They produce a product(talent or for some it’s questionable but I digress) then it’s marketed. Franchised and put in neat little places like Micky D’s dinners and on and on. WE the CONSUMER buy the “product”. It’s a choice. Buy or don’t buy. Just understand if people don’t purchase what they produce revenues dry up. No more production no more wealth.
Remember supply and demand. Demand better and see how fast hellywood acts. Then decide if you want the so called talented to still live high and mighty on YOUR dime. It’s been a scam against all of us from the start and they ALL are laughing at us as they drink champagne and eat children for supper!
Stuart Jones says
Funny, normally the Jooz would be blamed for something coming out of Holywood
Fred Dawes says
Only a total fool thinks he or she can get along with Islam for one reason Islam is evil, end of story.
Westman says
The real difference between the aims of Muslims fighting ISIS and the soldiers of ISIS was: Who should control land and resources. ISIS was not being fought by Muslims to change Islam. ISIS was more compliant to the Quran and Sunnah than those fighting them.
We don’t want to live under the influence of any practicing Muslims because the goal of EVERY version of Islam is world domination; by force, when possible.
One wonders if this is ignorance, not knowing the ultimate goal of Islam, or intentional dismissal by the movie industry.
Rev. G says
I am pretty sure that islamic doctrine very much makes it a them versus us (Christian, Jew, atheist, Buddhist, Shinto, Hindu, etc….) thing. As does history.
Angemon says
I wonder if that had anything to do with the Beirut barracks bombings, Paris attacks, World Trade Center bombing, the Jerusalem bus suicide attack, etc. – maybe Arabs/muslims were portrayed as terrorists for the same reason Germans are portrayed as Nazis in WWII movies… In any case, we’re not in the 90’s any more – for example , the movie “The Sum of All Fears” had its villains, Arab nationalists, replaced with generic “fascists”, and that was before 9/11…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GCV7m27rDRU
Stuart Jones says
More than 35,000 Islamic terrorist attacks and climbing since 9/11 probably has something to do with the stigma attached to Islam. That, and the fact that the 1.2 Billion Muslims that say nothing and do nothing each and every time one of these atrocities is committed by Islamic Terrorists in the name of Islam speaks volumes as to what their mindset is. They are either complicit with their silence or they are too shit scared or they are all for it.
Angemon says
Wait, a comedy film has a “comically absurd” villain? Like the Sheriff of Rottingham in Men in Tights? Or Dr. Evil in Austin Powers? Or Freddy Krueger in the Nightmare on Elm Street sequels? Or…
mortimer says
Sounds like these movie producers are trying to go broke. Then they can collect the insurance money from putting out a real stinker that no one will bother seeing.
Battle says
Westman hits nail on head. Good.
Battle says
mortimer hits nail on head. Good.
Battle says
There is no god but Mohammad, and Allah is his messenger. –Anjuli Pandavar
DHazard says
Beaten to the punch by the movie “The Message” released in 1976.
“The English version, which received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Score, starred Anthony Quinn, playing the prophet’s uncle Hamza, and Irene Papas as Hind, a Meccan woman who long opposed the prophet’s forces but eventually became Muslim.”
It never showed Muhammad at all, not even his shadow. Some say this was pulled off brilliantly. If you can find this video anywhere then you can decide. If the google search pulled up the most recent info then it can be seen on AMC. But that’s it, which in itself says something.
gravenimage says
The director of this movie and his daughter were killed in an unrelated Jihad terror attack.
Lydia Church says
Funny.
We call it ‘common sense.’
The fools on the left call it ‘islamophobia.’
You play with fire, you get burned, you learn.
But they would call that ‘conflagraphobia’!
: D
Lydia Church says
NEWSFLASH!
On ‘ratherexposethem’ blog, there is an article under today’s date (Sept. 15th) about the pope and the united nations. He makes comments that humanity is ‘obligated’ to ‘obey’ the united nations. This is nothing less than a call to the one world government new world order agenda. Wow! Things are moving along quickly! This is the 3rd Sunday in a row like this, there was a similar item on Sept. 1st and Sept. 8th, and now Sept. 15th too. There is also a video at the bottom put out by ‘theremnantvideo’ that has some interesting highlights. It’s from a Catholic perspective so of course I can’t condone it all, but he makes some interesting statements and at least he is one of those over there who gets it about PF! Many are starting to wake up and see the light about pf and what is going on now and that is encouraging! Go take a look!
revereridesagain says
I’ve been a fan of the “Avengers” movies — ironically as an escape from the political insanity — and they managed to keep the Muslim nonsense out of those. No interest in the next movie series, but the upcoming Disney streaming channel will include several featuring established “Avengers” characters, and if they infest those with their pernicious groveling to Islam and other leftist propagandizing they will never see another cent of my money.
I suspected that might be John Brennan in that very jarring scene from the otherwise excellent “Zero Dark Thirty”. I also suspect that awarding the Oscar to the comparatively bland “Argo” was sheer politics.
gravenimage says
I know how you feel, revereridesagain. I love the Avengers.
I did enjoy Argo, though, and would recommend it. It doesn’t focus on Islam enough, but at least properly posits the Mullahs as evil. I also found it very entertaining.
gravenimage says
Courageous! “Avengers: Endgame” directors take on “Trumpian Islamophobia”
……………..
What tools. The Averngers–and all the Marvel superheroes–used to take a firm stand against evil. I fear this stupidity will only get worse now that founder Stan Lee has passed away.
gravenimage says
Avengers
AP says
I will boycott their films for the rest of my days and so should you.
TrueFreeThinker says
It’s funny that these Hollywood morons show us how dumb they are by giving interviews and proving to us how stupid they and their views are.