sbp
05-12-2003, 06:25 AM
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=26024
LOS ANGELES, 9 May 2003 — A US Islamic group on Wednesday demanded an apology from the director of new comicbook movie “X2: X-Men United” for portraying the bad guy in the blockbuster as a Muslim.
Project Islamic HOPE, a Los Angeles-based Muslim civil rights group, said Jewish director Bryan Singer shot a close-up of the film’s villain wearing a ring with, “Allah,” the Arabic name for God inscribed on it.
“It’s a major slap in the face to Muslims worldwide that this portrayal be made when the “X-men” in the comics and movies have always fought against prejudice in society,” said the group’s director Najee Ali. “It was done intentionally,” he said. “It’s another case of Islamic phobia in Hollywood which has always demonized Arabs and Muslims, but after 9/11 we thought that American Jews and Muslims would work together for peace.” Ali said the scene, shown in the opening minutes of the film that took a whopping $85.5 million at the North American box office and $155.2 million worldwide in the three days after its opening on Friday, amounted to “anti-Islamic propaganda.”
He accused Singer of “engaging in a subtle campaign to breed intolerance and hate and demanded an apology from the director and asked its producers, the 20th Century Fox movie studios, to cut the scene when is released on DVD.
“In the meantime, we are not asking for people to boycott the movie in theaters as it will give them an opportunity to see Singer’s intolerance and prejudice,” Ali said.
Neither Singer nor executives at 20th Century Fox were immediately available for comment on the allegations.
Ali said Project Islamic HOPE was affiliated to the American Muslim Association that claims more than two million followers nationwide.
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pffft!
LOS ANGELES, 9 May 2003 — A US Islamic group on Wednesday demanded an apology from the director of new comicbook movie “X2: X-Men United” for portraying the bad guy in the blockbuster as a Muslim.
Project Islamic HOPE, a Los Angeles-based Muslim civil rights group, said Jewish director Bryan Singer shot a close-up of the film’s villain wearing a ring with, “Allah,” the Arabic name for God inscribed on it.
“It’s a major slap in the face to Muslims worldwide that this portrayal be made when the “X-men” in the comics and movies have always fought against prejudice in society,” said the group’s director Najee Ali. “It was done intentionally,” he said. “It’s another case of Islamic phobia in Hollywood which has always demonized Arabs and Muslims, but after 9/11 we thought that American Jews and Muslims would work together for peace.” Ali said the scene, shown in the opening minutes of the film that took a whopping $85.5 million at the North American box office and $155.2 million worldwide in the three days after its opening on Friday, amounted to “anti-Islamic propaganda.”
He accused Singer of “engaging in a subtle campaign to breed intolerance and hate and demanded an apology from the director and asked its producers, the 20th Century Fox movie studios, to cut the scene when is released on DVD.
“In the meantime, we are not asking for people to boycott the movie in theaters as it will give them an opportunity to see Singer’s intolerance and prejudice,” Ali said.
Neither Singer nor executives at 20th Century Fox were immediately available for comment on the allegations.
Ali said Project Islamic HOPE was affiliated to the American Muslim Association that claims more than two million followers nationwide.
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pffft!