Lessons We Learned From ‘My Name Is Khan’

Shahrukh Khan's newest Bollywood film, "My Name Is Khan" has been lauded by many as a cinematic gift to Muslims all over the world. The film follows the Asperger's afflicted protagonist Rizwan Khan as he struggles to find his way through a pre and post 911 America. Many Islamic organizations have lavished the film with praise for breaking down barriers and showing Muslims in a positive light. For that reason, the movie is undoubtedly a Bollywood landmark as most Bollywood films revolve around couples trying to get married for three hours.

That being said, anyone who has seen the movie is fully aware that it is the most melodramatic and histrionic movie regarding Muslims ever produced*. Most of the movie is downright laughable as it attempts to accurately depict the Muslim American experience in a post 911 world.

Here are just a few of the lessons we took away from "My Name Is Khan":

—America has regions in which black people live inexplicably as though it is still 1854.

—If you're a Muslim and you pray in public, a crowd will form around you and at least one person will attempt to video record your bizarre and exotic behavior.

—Schoolyard bullies can vaguely threaten kids (with as little as a mean look) into not reporting their best friend's homicide to authorities.

—Muslims at any local mosque can be radicalized into nutcases within a few lines of dialogue and then do a complete one-eighty two minutes later after the advice from a man they've never seen before in their lives.

—If you raise your Indian child in San Francisco he will inexplicably have a thick Indian accent that he will never be able to get rid of despite his full assimilation into American culture and the fact that he's never lived in India.

—If you are a Pakistani shop owner in America people will pass by and give you the finger and shout obscenities comically like a Martin Lawrence movie.

—San Francisco, California is the most conservative and intolerant city in America.

—People can travel from the West coast to the South in about two hour's time despite hurricanes of biblical proportions that may be occurring.

Source:

http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/blog_detail/lessons_we_learned_from_my_name_is_khan-nid217963608/