Film Analysis: Not Without My Daughter

Not Without My Daughter depicts Islam in an unfair, yet somewhat typical manner given that it is an American film. Throughout the film, the viewers see many instances in which Islam is portrayed as savage and somewhat cruel towards women and whites. Although it may not be right, this film represents how many Americans feel about Muslims in general. It is safe to say that this film contradicts everything many Muslims strive for and through cultural biases and negative representation of their practices, depicts the religion as a whole to be overtly strict and barbaric. At the beginning of the film, we see the first negative portrayal of Islam in the hospital in Michigan. All of the other doctors are making derogatory statements about Iran and Islam with Moody, the main character and an Iranian-born man, sitting in the room. Even Moody’s daughter, Mahtob, was the target of anti-Islamic hate speech when she was told that her family hated Americans. While very harmful and false, these comments have become more common than they should be in American culture. As one can see in the film, Moody is very hurt by the comments of his fellow doctors and I can see why he would want to take his family out of a country that treated

Upon their arrival in Iran, one of the first events to happen is the slaughtering of the lamb right under Mahtob and Betty’s feet. Later on, we see Moody beat Betty to within an inch of her life, while threatening to kill her if she questioned him again in his home country. Certainly gruesome scenes like these are not typical for the majority of Muslims in Iran. Although it may happen in some instances, can anyone say with confidence that the same things don’t happen here in America where we are supposed to be a “civilized culture”? This was an American film making an attempt to be all-knowing about Islam and those who follow