UmmZakariya
15-09-2004, 04:40 PM
aa did anyone watch this? I watched hamburg cell and foudn it offensive so i didnt bother with this. Heres what this brother had to say...
BBC's The Grid - realistic or offensive to Muslims?
12th September, 2004
by Waqar Khan
http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/596
Watching Channel 4's Hamburg Cell last week, I was slightly pleased on the accuracy and the depth of the characters. Hopefully, gone are the days when white actors wearing fake beards and speaking in Indian accents (when the characters are Arab) are used. Still, it seemed rushed and very vague. With such a big real-life event in question, it could have been more detailed and longer.
It has been 3 years since the 9/11 attacks and British television has inevitably dedicated a lot of their evening programs to a terrorist theme. After Hamburg Cell came the highly trailed The Grid, another series I was looking forward to.
It starts with a couple of Arab/Asian looking guys in a hotel room trying to set up devices which will release dangerous chemicals. One of the Arab/Asians burns through the seal of one of the chemicals by accidentally dropping cigarette ash into it, killing everyone. The attack in London reaches the USA and eventually a task force is created were MI5 and MI6 join forces with the FBI and the NSC.
The turf war between the different agencies is highlighted in the program, which was good to see. It questioned the reliability of such organisations and their battle against terrorists when they are too busy battling against each other over intelligence. One of the leading characters of the film was Raza Michaels a Muslim agent employed by the NSC. Raza is depicted in the film as an honest man, who is hard working and will do anything to preserve his nation and his religion.
As well as being a dedicated American agent he is also a dedicated Muslim. His physical appearance in the film is of a very handsome sophisticated man (Milk Tray man comes to mind), that too is a positive trait.
The clash of civilisation ideas are persistent in the film. Michaels is questioned by a fellow female agent who verbally attacks his faith as being old fashioned and oppressive to women. That comment infuriated me. I thought here we go, here comes the Muslim bashing. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Michaels reply, "How do you know all Muslim women are oppressed? You ever asked a Muslim Woman if she is?" At times I felt like it was me being tested rather than the character of Raza Michaels.
The cinematography on the series was great. It showed a variety of back-drops from the modern Western cities of Central London and New York to the sands of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen.
Detail on the terrorists is just as varied, from the Egyptian ring leader who calls himself 'Muhammad' (pictured above) to the American who is of Chechen decent, to the British Asian militant from the streets of London, played by Emil Marwa (the skull capped brother in East is East). Details on every character within the film are given, which was positive.
The film made further distinctions between the 'good Muslim' and the 'extreme terrorist' by showing the brother of the British terrorist who aims to help the British operative in London. The guy is portrayed as a spiritual Muslim who shows his good morals by helping the police prevent his brother from killing innocent people.
The film highlighted how Muslims can be so diverse in physical outlook and interpretation of beliefs. The extremists claim their plight as worthy of Jihad by killing civilians in Nigeria, yet the 'good Muslim' can always come back with a Quranic quote
He who kills a man, it would be as if he has killed the whole of mankind, He who saves a life, it would be as if he saved the whole of Mankind.
This quote is central to the whole film.
As a Muslim I did not feel offence as I knew that those who were in the film were Muslims themselves. It is hard to argue that it was anti-Islamic also based on the script. If anything such a film should widened the horizons of the Muslim and the non-Muslim communities of Britain, and possibly America since it might be shown on Fox, that terrorism does not wear the uniform of the white turban and big beard.
The uniform of terrorism is only to be judged by the terrorist. It can be a white guy with blue eyes and blonde floppy hair, to a black guy with dread locks.
BBC's The Grid - realistic or offensive to Muslims?
12th September, 2004
by Waqar Khan
http://www.asiansinmedia.org/news/article.php/television/596
Watching Channel 4's Hamburg Cell last week, I was slightly pleased on the accuracy and the depth of the characters. Hopefully, gone are the days when white actors wearing fake beards and speaking in Indian accents (when the characters are Arab) are used. Still, it seemed rushed and very vague. With such a big real-life event in question, it could have been more detailed and longer.
It has been 3 years since the 9/11 attacks and British television has inevitably dedicated a lot of their evening programs to a terrorist theme. After Hamburg Cell came the highly trailed The Grid, another series I was looking forward to.
It starts with a couple of Arab/Asian looking guys in a hotel room trying to set up devices which will release dangerous chemicals. One of the Arab/Asians burns through the seal of one of the chemicals by accidentally dropping cigarette ash into it, killing everyone. The attack in London reaches the USA and eventually a task force is created were MI5 and MI6 join forces with the FBI and the NSC.
The turf war between the different agencies is highlighted in the program, which was good to see. It questioned the reliability of such organisations and their battle against terrorists when they are too busy battling against each other over intelligence. One of the leading characters of the film was Raza Michaels a Muslim agent employed by the NSC. Raza is depicted in the film as an honest man, who is hard working and will do anything to preserve his nation and his religion.
As well as being a dedicated American agent he is also a dedicated Muslim. His physical appearance in the film is of a very handsome sophisticated man (Milk Tray man comes to mind), that too is a positive trait.
The clash of civilisation ideas are persistent in the film. Michaels is questioned by a fellow female agent who verbally attacks his faith as being old fashioned and oppressive to women. That comment infuriated me. I thought here we go, here comes the Muslim bashing. However, I was pleasantly surprised with Michaels reply, "How do you know all Muslim women are oppressed? You ever asked a Muslim Woman if she is?" At times I felt like it was me being tested rather than the character of Raza Michaels.
The cinematography on the series was great. It showed a variety of back-drops from the modern Western cities of Central London and New York to the sands of Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Yemen.
Detail on the terrorists is just as varied, from the Egyptian ring leader who calls himself 'Muhammad' (pictured above) to the American who is of Chechen decent, to the British Asian militant from the streets of London, played by Emil Marwa (the skull capped brother in East is East). Details on every character within the film are given, which was positive.
The film made further distinctions between the 'good Muslim' and the 'extreme terrorist' by showing the brother of the British terrorist who aims to help the British operative in London. The guy is portrayed as a spiritual Muslim who shows his good morals by helping the police prevent his brother from killing innocent people.
The film highlighted how Muslims can be so diverse in physical outlook and interpretation of beliefs. The extremists claim their plight as worthy of Jihad by killing civilians in Nigeria, yet the 'good Muslim' can always come back with a Quranic quote
He who kills a man, it would be as if he has killed the whole of mankind, He who saves a life, it would be as if he saved the whole of Mankind.
This quote is central to the whole film.
As a Muslim I did not feel offence as I knew that those who were in the film were Muslims themselves. It is hard to argue that it was anti-Islamic also based on the script. If anything such a film should widened the horizons of the Muslim and the non-Muslim communities of Britain, and possibly America since it might be shown on Fox, that terrorism does not wear the uniform of the white turban and big beard.
The uniform of terrorism is only to be judged by the terrorist. It can be a white guy with blue eyes and blonde floppy hair, to a black guy with dread locks.