Monday, November 13, 2006

A Fascinating Iranian TV Drama about Guantanamo

O would some power the gift to give us to see ourselves as others see us. ~ Robert Burns
On November 4, Iranian television broadcast a 39-minute melodrama titled "Guantanamo." It follows a Lebanese doctor (Mustafa Nasser) and an American corporal (Jennifer Smith) from the doctor's torture at Guantanamo Bay prison through the revelation of the Abu Ghraib tortures. The evil antagonist is a satanist American major named Rosenthal. The Middle East Media Research Institute offers the film with English subtitles.

By American video standards it is poorly directed and badly edited. By historical standards it is pure fiction. But it is a fascinating look in the mirror at how we are seen in other parts of the world. Besides, the actress who plays Jennifer Smith has some serious cute going for her. It is worth it if only for the following monologue.
A world dominated by one single nation is a frightening world. 9/11 gave the U.S. a strong pretext for spreading its power over the entire world. Another attack will convince the U.S. that in order to save democracy, you must first destroy it. If you accept this logic, historians will have a hard time explaining why the golden age of democracy lasted only 200 years. We will sadly ask ourselves how human beings like us, through cowardice, could bring the world back to the worst moments of human history. ~ character of French lawyer André Mahfuz in the Iranian TV program "Guantanamo"

1 comment:

PoliShifter said...

interesting find.

What really pisses me off is how in Bush's zeal to combat terrorism he doesn't realize he has created more terrorists.

Either that or he knows exactly what he has done and what he's doing.

Either choice sucks but that's where we're at.