Comments on: Towelhead DVD Review

By: Phil

Phil — Sat, 22 May 2010 04:02:20 +0000

Come on, the controversies are so unimaginative and pedestrian, they required little imagination. This is a childish attempt at social commentaries. The humor is in how contrived the subject matter is and how badly the movie attempts to provoke responses. Intellectual, no. Stupid, yes. F-

By: kurt

kurt — Mon, 26 Jan 2009 04:14:52 +0000

I hated this fucking film (http://www.rowthree.com/2008/09/17/review-towelhead/)

By: Tim

Tim — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 20:51:21 +0000

I read the book and then watched the film. I was amazed at how true Ball kept the script to the book. Much of the humor comes from the book, and movie viewers need to remember the author of this book, claims that it is a semi-autobiographical
Also, the actress who plays Jasira held the movie together with her performance. I hope to see her in more movies as soon as possible.

By: Ryan M.

Ryan M. — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 19:00:49 +0000

Posted that last one before your reply.

I’m glad you’re saying “someone *could* potentially interpret it that way” because I’m really tired of people claiming that a film is racist simply because it’s characters have that POV. It’s sad that many people see “300″ in some vaguely similar light as “Birth of a Nation”.

By: Ryan M.

Ryan M. — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:53:23 +0000

“race is not the dominant factor in perverse and bigoted mind frames”

Oops, replace “bigoted” with “patriotic” and that’ll make sense…what I was trying to say is that Towelhead shows that an individual’s race is not as influential on their belief system & values as the predominant view of culture by the mainstream society in which they live.

By: Sean

Sean — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:37:34 +0000

Yeah, looking back at that statement, it makes it seem odd that I still gave the movie a positive review. What I was trying to say is that someone *could* potentially interpret it that way, which is a dangerous thing to leave out there. I personally did not jump to such conclusions or find it offensive.

Maybe I should adjust the wording in that sentence.

By: Ryan M.

Ryan M. — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 18:29:33 +0000

1. Little Children
2. Happiness
3. American Beauty
4. Towelhead

This is how I rate the films in a nano-genre I like to call suburban-perversion.

Hopefully I don’t seem perverse in saying that I love these explorations of seemingly normal middle-class Americans indulging in their suppressed desires. It’s a rare achievement when a film makes someone as jaded and desensitized as myself feel even slightly uncomfortable.

“The movie fetishizes underage Middle Eastern girls, it makes Middle Eastern fathers seem abusive and closed off, and it makes Southern rednecks seem like perverts.”

That’s a going too far Sean! The film only shows us one example of each of these races. The film doesn’t use these character depictions to classify the ENTIRE race…I feel that it shows us that race is not the dominant factor in perverse and bigoted mind frames. It’s not like Alan Ball has an entire Texan Elks Lodge rape a Middle Eastern Girl Scout Troop who run home to their insanely strict fathers only to get beaten because it’s their fault for hiking up their little skirts.

“many stereotypes being thrown around”

I don’t agree with that either…Jasira doesn’t wear a burqa…her father does not pray in the direction of Islam daily, support Saddam, & only date chaste women…Eckhart’s character isn’t only interested in white women…the Black kid doesn’t talk like an ignorant rapper, live in the ghetto & dress gangsta…Toni Colette’s character actually accepts a brown-skinned teen as her own child…

Where are the stereotypical aspects of these characters? I see almost none. This feels like the “RE5 is racist because you’re shooting a bunch of black people” argument.