Council on American-Islamic Relations runs its mouth about Hidalgo....

[Pants]

...and comes off looking like idiots as usual.

That's right the same cry baby fascists who try to dictate content by complaining that arabs are depicted as bad guys too often in H'wood films has decided to ride the publicity coat-tails of another film! And this time he's decided to unconsciously point out what a backward uneducated idiot he is:

From IMDb:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has denounced the upcoming Disney/Touchstone film Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen and Omar Sharif, claiming that it presents negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs and that, despite being promoted as "an incredible true story," is completely fictional. The film depicts an American cowboy arriving in Aden in 1890 to compete against a hundred Bedouin riders in a desert horse race covering 5000 kilometers (3,107 miles) called "Ocean of Fire." However, the English-language Arab News today (Monday) quotes Dr. Awad Al-Badim director of research at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies and an authority on Western travelers to Arabia, as saying: "The idea of a historic trans-Arabian horse race ever having run is pure nonsense." Noting that a 3,000-mile race would put the finish line "somewhere in Romania," Dr. Al-Badi told Arab News: "Since they are claiming it is a true story, it's astonishing that neither Disney nor their scriptwriter have even bothered to check records in established museums and archives or tap a single credible academic." Meanwhile, the Lincoln NB Journal Star reports that research by U.S. historians has also concluded that the film is based on a series of fabricated stories told by Frank Hopkins, the cowboy depicted in the movie. It quoted Vine Deloria Jr., author of Custer Died for Your Sins, as saying, "The man was a pathological liar."

This part is my favorite:

"The idea of a historic trans-Arabian horse race ever having run is pure nonsense." Noting that a 3,000-mile race would put the finish line "somewhere in Romania," Dr. Al-Badi told Arab News

This guy is probably confounded about how the drivers in the Indianapolis 500 get home.

Here's a hint dude: A race doesn't have to be linear miles. If the course circumnavigated Arabia it could be 3,000 miles long and still could be contained in a single country.

Oh well, this backwards idiot probably still thinks the world is flat.

I hope he hasn't seen Joe Johnston's Rocketeer...he would probably point out that jet packs don't exist and that Cliff Secord's legs would be burnt.

[jaeufraser]

Well, while I see no point in taking this film to task, it is true that the story it is based on is...well...in question whether it is true. That character its based on WAS known to be a liar, and this entire story is something many claim wasn't true at all. The 3,000 mile race in the film is a linear race, so his argument there could have validity...though I imagine that it makes sense within the context of the film.

So while...I can imagine where his complaints about the story might come from, I dont' see why anyone cares. Some people are annoyed that they are portrayed at all, unless it's in an extremly positive light. With arabs, it has happened before: note True Lies, etc. Personally I say get over it...people of all walks of life do shitty things, sorry other people dramatize it.

[funkyryno]

Has this man even seen the movie yet, or is he basing he criticism on the trailer?

[reapersaurus]

The film went out of its way to portray Muslims and Arabs in a positive light, except for the couple Bad Guys who happened to be Arab.

It seemed to me that they inserted some unbelievable English people in as Bad Guys, just so they wouldn't have to weather this claim.

BTW: Almost every Arab spoke English.

[resinrats]

I am starting to hate the world!!!!!!! Bunch of pansy wussies who can't stand to see anyone stand the slightest possible chance of being offended.

Who the hell is ever going to be the bad guys in movies without someone getting offended?

Maybe all movies can result in all conflicts ending in a nice game of patty-cakes. Maybe a new WWII movie can show the war not happening because Hitler, Mossolini, Churchhill, Rosevelt, & Hirohito sit down and solve the world's issues with a sweet game of Chutes and Ladders. Hugs all around.





AAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGGGGG!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Pants]

Chapter Two of the story of the man who has nothing better to do than bitch all day via press release (get this...he objects to the manner in which his objection was characterized)

From IMDb:

An official of the Council on American Islamic Relations has objected to our characterization of the group's letter to Disney regarding alleged stereotypes in the movie Hidalgo as a denunciation of the film. Helal Omeira, executive director of the Northern California chapter of the organization said that it "only offered concern regarding some of the content as it was reported to us." In a trade review today (Tuesday), Hollywood Reporter critic Kirk Honeycutt called the story "a shamelessly cheesy exercise in Western ingenuity and spirit trumping Arab treachery and intolerance."

If I could have one wish it would be to skull F this guy.

[beefjerky]

I don't know why you're getting so worked up about this. In all of these press releases that you quoted, the main point was that the event depicted in the movie was fictional, a point many historians agree with. The race was supposed to be across the Arabian peninsula.

According to Dr. Badi, "A schoolchild could take a rule and draw a straight line from the start line in Aden across Arabia. Three thousand miles would have the riders trotting through Istanbul to a finishing post somewhere in Romania. Even a circuitous canter around the coast of Arabia would put the finishing post north of Armenia."

Go get angry at Disney for trying to sell a movie as something that it's not. Plus, it was Kirk Honeycutt, a critic not from the Council on American Islamic Relations, who denounced the movie as a shameless play on Western superiority. And if the Council's words were presented the wrong way, why shouldn't they be able to state their position clearly?

You're just coming off as being ignorant with your posts.

[DRG]

First of all, I haven't seen this movie yet, so these comments may have no weight. But:

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has denounced the upcoming Disney/Touchstone film Hidalgo, starring Viggo Mortensen and Omar Sharif, claiming that it presents negative stereotypes of Muslims and Arabs and that, despite being promoted as "an incredible true story," is completely fictional.

Okay, I get why he's griping about the negative stereotypes, even though I am completely sick of these "I'm offended" types. But what does the fact that it may be fictional have to do with The Council on American-Islamic Relations? Are they actually "The Council on American-Islamic Relations and Factual Accuracy in Motion Pictures"? Would they suddenly NOT be offended by the 'stereotypes' if the movie had been 100% true? It just feels like a cheap shot tacked on to add even more negative comments.

What's next?
"The American Italian Defense Association has denounced the Sony film Gigli, starring Ben Affleck and Jennifer Lopez, claiming that it presents negative stereotypes of Italian Americans and that, despite being promoted as "entertaining", is actually a horrible piece of crap."

And while Disney shouldn't have used the line in trailers (they supposedly truly believed the story was real), does this really detract from the movie itself?

[TCG]

would this council be offended by a movie about Sept. 11?