There has been a big uproar going around Paradise Now, the film nominated for “best foreign language film” at the Oscars. Here’s the rundown from the good folks at Digital Spy:
Israeli families have called for Palestinian Paradise Now to be disqualified from the Oscars.
The film – which has already won the Golden Globe for best foreign film – focuses on two suicide-bomb volunteers. Director Hany Abu-Assad said the Globe
demonstrated recognition “that the Palestinians deserve their liberty and equality”.But the petition organisers say his movie will encourage attacks and is disrespectful. Yossi Zur, whose son Asaf was killed in a bomb in Haifa, said: “What they call ‘Paradise Now’ we call ‘hell now’, each and every day.” He added: “It is a mission of the free world not to give such movies a prize.”
Man, this is a touchy subject, but here’s my opinion on it anyway:
Everyone deserves a voice, even those we disagree with the most. It is then up to us to evaluate the message. The answer is never to forbid the message or silence those who disagree with us. It’s a movie… and if it’s a great movie (I have yet to see it) then it deserves to be nominated. You can’t pull it from contention just because you don’t like what it says… you nominate it or don’t nominate based on how well it says it. The Oscars is a scociety of ART… not a body for world politics.
What’s next? Are we going to start pulling movies about gay cowboys from the Oscars? How about any films with politically left leaning messages? Or right leaning messages?
Anyway, I could be wrong… but that’s how I see it. Feel free to curse and insult me in the comments section below.
