Morgan’s Muslim Man
Last night was the “Muslims and America” episode of Morgan Spurlock’s 30 Days documentary series.
It was an interesting ride: the subject, David Stacy, seemed truly ignorant of just about anything relating to Islam or Arab culture at the start, and being sent to live with a young Muslim family in Dearborn, MI, is quite an immersive experience.
Interestingly, it didn’t bog itself down in too much propaganda, and — assuming editing was fairly consistent with what was captured — was a lot more true to the situation than, say, his previous episode on minimum wage. Also interestingly, it was at its most inaccurate when describing Christianity and Judaism — though the errors weren’t material.
The most compelling dramatic moment was watching Stacy struggle with the notion of Muslim prayer, which he only finally did at the end of the term — with cross in hand. Probably anyone of a religious background could recognize in Stacy moments when they’ve been in a situation that truly tested their religious boundaries.
Stacy switched imams mid-way through, because he said the first one — more of a theologically-lighweight, smiley-stupid type — just wasn’t answering his questions straight. Indeed, it seemed more like the first imam was trying to turn Stacy away from Christianity than honestly respond to his confusion.
At one point, Stacy was charged with gathering signatures in a nearby not-very-Muslim town for a petition opposed to racial profiling of Muslims (this was a bit of a red herring, ostensibly targeted at state legislation that, of course, doesn’t exist). On film, at least, he couldn’t get a single signature, and received quite a few bigoted rejections. Surprising.
Also surprising was just how bigoted and stupid the subjects of Spurlock’s “person on the street” interviews were. He had three, and all showed themselves to be rather embarrassing.
Among the Muslims, everything was honky-dory and welcoming, with two caveats: one of Stacy’s hosts at one point said that Americans need to think about the reasons why 9/11 happened, and a lawyer from CAIR — arguing with Stacy about why Muslims shouldn’t apologize for terrorists, but should condemn them — was too equivocal.
That’s all from just watching the show. Debbie Schlussel was inside it while it was filming and had a lot of interesting things to say, including:
When I told Mr. Spurlock’s executive producer that I felt David Stacy was, well, a moron, she replied that Imam Husham Al-Husainy, a prominent Dearborn Shia cleric, “said the same thing” and refused to continue teaching him about Islam for the show. The biggest morons, though, will be not Mr. Stacy but the critics and viewers who fall for this supersized phony “documentary.”
Some interesting blog responses:
Metajaleh: “While I am not sure he completely got that Allah and God are the same thing only different names, I think he definitely no longer believes that all Muslims are evil. So, that’s good.”
Desert Island Boy: “The show steered clear of any real theological or political debate. Really, it was about building a bridge between people who might otherwise not have anything to share between them. Stacy was sincere in applying himself to the experience and for that I give him credit. He experienced the racism and ignorance that other Americans have toward moslems, he read some of the threats made to law-abiding muslim Americans and the resistance to protecting their civil liberties.”