Submission (film)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Submission | |
|---|---|
| Produced by | Theo van Gogh |
| Written by | Ayaan Hirsi Ali |
| Distributed by | VPRO |
| Release date(s) | August 29, 2004 |
| IMDb profile | |
Submission is a 10-minute film in English directed by Theo van Gogh and written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali (a former Tweede Kamer member for the Dutch People's Party for Freedom and Democracy); it was shown on the Dutch public broadcasting network (VPRO) on August 29, 2004. The film's title is a direct translation of the word "Islam" (see also the etymology and meaning of the word).
Contents |
[edit] Content
The film tells the story of four fictional characters played by a single actress wearing a veil,[2] but clad in a see-through chador, her naked body painted with verses from the Koran.[3] The characters are Muslim women who have been abused in various ways. The film contains monologues of these women and dramatically highlights three verses of the Quran,(4:34 2:222 and 24:2)[4] that authorize mistreatment of women, by showing them painted on women’s bodies.
[edit] Motivation
Hirsi Ali has said "it is written in the Koran a woman may be slapped if she is disobedient. This is one of the evils I wish to point out in the film".[5] In an answer to a question about whether the film would offend Muslims, Hirsi Ali said that "if you're a Muslim woman and you read the Koran, and you read in there that you should be raped if you say 'no' to your husband, that is offensive. And that is insulting."[6]
Director of the film, Theo Van Gogh, known as a highly controversial and provocative personality,[7][8] called the film a "political pamphlet".[9]
[edit] Reception
The film was perceived by many Muslims as insulting; and several people loyal to Hirsi Ali's cause against abuse and oppression of women expressed doubts about the film's effectiveness, fearing that it would only polarize positions.[citation needed]
While the film drew both praise and outrage over its portrayal of the abused women,[10] as a criticism of Islam it drew the following comment from one critic, “It's depressing to think that this morsel of glib effrontery could pass as a serious critique of conservative Islam.”[11] Another critic referred to the stories told in this film as "simplistic, even caricatures."[10] After the movie's broadcast on Dutch public TV, newspaper De Volkskrant reported on claims of plagiarism against Hirsi Ali and Van Gogh, made by internet journalist Francisco van Jole. Van Jole said the duo had "aped" the ideas of Iranian-American video artist Shirin Neshat. Neshat's work, which made abundant use of Arabic text projected onto bodies, had been shown in the Netherlands in 1997 and 2000.
On November 2, 2004, Theo van Gogh was assassinated in public by Mohammed Bouyeri. A letter,[12] stabbed through and affixed to the body by a dagger, linked the murder to Van Gogh's film and his views regarding Islam. It was addressed to Ayaan Hirsi Ali, and called for jihad against kafir (kafir is an Arabic word for unbeliever, a person who hides, denies, or covers the truth), and so, against America, Europe, the Netherlands, and Hirsi Ali herself. Following the murder of Van Gogh, there were fire-bombings of mosques and Muslim schools, and counterattacks against Christian churches. Besides Bouyeri, eleven other Muslim men were arrested and charged with conspiracy to assassinate Hirsi Ali.[13]
After the murder of Theo van Gogh, Submission gained international fame. It was withdrawn from the International Film Festival Rotterdam, but was shown on television in a number of European countries.[14]
[edit] See also
- Apostasy
- Controversies related to Islam and Muslims
- Criticism of Islam
- Criticism of the Qur'an
- Islamist Terrorism
- Women in Muslim societies
- The Satanic Verses controversy – controversy surrounding Salman Rushdie's novel The Satanic Verses
- Sudanese teddy bear blasphemy case
- Piss Christ – controversial photograph
- Monty Python's Life of Brian - controversial comedy movie about religion
[edit] References
- ^ Submission by Theo van Gogh
- ^ Review of Submission by Phil Hall
- ^ http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,356485,00.html
- ^ Script for the movie, Submission
- ^ Hirsi Ali on Film over Position of Women in Koran
- ^ http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2005/03/11/60minutes/main679609.shtml
- ^ Lim, Dennis: The Village Voice, November16th, 2004 "he was most famous for being a radical-libertarian loudmouth. A political columnist who got fired from almost every newspaper in the country, he delighted in blurring the line between free speech and hatemongering—he insisted on calling conservative Muslims 'goatfuckers.' "
- ^ Review of Submission by Phil Hall "In his own career, van Gogh was a minor figure within Dutch culture who was known for writing rude political columns and creating films designed to challenge the sensibilities of Dutch audiences – which was no mean feat, given that nation’s excessively liberal social environment."
- ^ Simons, Marlese. “Ex-Muslim turns her lens on a taboo”, The New York Times ” 'Of course it's a political pamphlet; that's undeniable,' said Theo van Gogh, who directed the film and insisted....."
- ^ a b Simons, Marlese: Ex-Muslim turns her lens on a taboo, The New York Times
- ^ Lim, Dennis: The Village Voice, November16th, 2004
- ^ 'Jihad Manifesto' - A call to destroy America and all "unbelievers", English translation - letter left on Theo Van Gogh's body by the militant Islamist killer, Militant Islam Monitor.org, November 5, 2004
- ^ Slaughter And 'Submission' - Creator Of Dutch Film Vows Sequel Despite Muslim Death Threats, CBS, Aug. 20, 2006
- ^ Televisions stations that have aired the film include VPRO (the Netherlands, August 29, 2004), DR (Denmark, November 11, 2004), and RAI (Italy, May 12 2005).
