Here we go with another film review. It’s pretty ironic how I watched this film even though I don’t know what the word complicit means. According to the Oxford dictionary it means “involved with others in an activity that is unlawful or morally wrong”. That gives you a clear indiction as to what the film is about. It’s about an MI5 officer who is working on a case of a British terror suspect who he believes is planning another 7/7 style atrocity. He has a lack of solid evidence, his superiors don’t believe him, and he works hard to prove himself as well as protect his country. I don’t really watch films of this genre but there were two powerful storylines running parallel with one another.
The first storyline is the fact that he is a black MI5 officer and his superiors are white people. He feels he is discriminated against his skin colour. I know it’s quick and easy to throw in the race card. A lot of people do. When they don’t get their own way, they say the opposition is racist. It’s becoming one of those things that are being used willy-nilly so it’s hard to believe who is being honest. Being of Asian heritage myself, I know how it feels to be stereotyped. I may have brown skin, but I don’t have a bomb strapped to my body, I won’t be forced into marriage and neither am I any less of a person compared to males. In the film, he feels like his superiors look down on him and do not give him a job promotion because they are white and he is black. Again, this is something hard to prove. Instead, he feels like he has to work harder than everyone else in order to show and prove his worth.
He suspects a Muslim guy is planning a ricin attack in Britain but he has no real evidence so works REALLY hard to get hard facts. He checks over loads of CCTV footage and emails hoping to get hard evidence of the planned attack in order to protect his country and boost his career. The suspect is smart and refuses to answer any questions so the MI5 agent resorts to torture the suspect. Of course it’s a wrong thing to do but he’s adamant to get to the bottom of it. It’s unprofessional and morally wrong but he’s desperate for answers. The suspect gives him an address in Britain about where the ricin is being manufactured. BINGO! He’s got what he wanted. End of story. WRONG!!!!!!! The address was incorrect, his superiors find out and he loses his job. Gripping story, I have to admit.
So the second storyline is how the media portray terrorists to be Muslim. This definitely angered many people and rightly so. But to be honest, I think the film was captured correctly. I’m not trying to be biased or anything but I was gripped to the film. I’ve said in many posts before, the minority always spoil it for the majority. It’s like there’s a stereotype of terrorists being Muslims and I think it’s going to be around for a long while. Once you get stuck with it, it’s hard to shake it off. I don’t really want to elaborate on this too much, because I don’t want anyone to get offended by my opinions, so I’ll let you form your own opinions.
Moral of the story: make sure you watch this film because it really is an eye opener to careers, cultures, lifestyles, stereotypes and just a general outlook on life.
Second moral of the story: DON’T always believe what you hear and see in the media.
I was stuck in traffic the other day and was listening to a song called ‘same love’ by Macklemore featuring Ryan Lewis. It was the first time I’d heard it and the lyrics were quite meaningful when I’d listen to them properly. Listen to the song here. Before you start thinking, no, I won’t help people promote their mixtapes on my blog. I get enough of that on Twitter. I’ll actually tell you some of the lyrics which stood out to me and made me think about them more. Before I go on, I must say that this post may start a debate. I have no problem with people expressing their opinions against my posts but I have to remind you that these are my OPINIONS. You may agree with what I’m saying, you may not. But in no way, shape or form am I trying to state facts, neither am I trying to offend. So here goes.
“The right wing conservatives think it’s a decision and you can be cured with some treatment and religion“. This prompted my thought of whether people are born gay or if they “turn” gay. A lot of people may call me ignorant, others will have strong opinions about it, but I don’t think there is a clear cut answer for this. In the song, it comes across as though people are diseased if they are gay. I don’t think you can ever win a debate as to whether being gay is right or wrong. Personally, I couldn’t care less. I’m not very keen of the practise but it is what it as. As I’ve said in a lot of posts before “different strokes for different folks”. What happens in people’s bedrooms, love lives, sex lives is nothing to do with me but it is shocking how quick some people are to form an opinion. I will definitely write a separate post about this. But until then, we’ll stick to the lyrics.
“America the brave, still fears what we don’t know and ‘God loves all his children’ is somehow forgotten but we paraphrase a book written thirty-five-hundred years ago.“ Debates get serious when religion is involved. The first part about about fearing what we don’t know is an interesting line. It makes it seem like there is a lot of ignorance in the world especially when it comes to homosexuality. There’s always a stigma that comes with it as it was a taboo in history. It still is, to a certain extent. I think this is the reason why people need to learn about it and deal with it because homosexuality will always exist. The second part of the lyrics is about the Holy Bible. To be honest, I kind of agree with it, in the sense that people pick and choose part of Holy scriptures that they want to in order to raise a point. I can’t mention too much about this because I’m not sure what is written in the Bible about homosexuality but I do know it is frowned upon. In most discussions about religion and homosexuality, there will always be someone who mentions Adam and Eve and how it’s the norm for a male and female to be together. However, everyone is entitled to their opinion.
The second verse of the song was very thought-provoking.
“If I was gay, I would think hip-hop hates me Have you read the YouTube comments lately? “Man, that’s gay” gets dropped on the daily We become so numb to what we’re saying A culture founded from oppression Yet we don’t have acceptance for ’em Call each other faggots behind the keys of a message board A word rooted in hate, yet our genre still ignores it.“.
Truthfully, the word “gay” is overused and not always in the correct context. It’s a term that is used so loosely that we actually forget what it really means. We tend to forget the deeper definition of the word as it’s become street talk now. I’m not saying that’s an excuse for people to say what they want, but it’s the world that we live in. It’s the way that the world is changing (in a bad way). The way in which gay has been used this context, linking it to hip hop, is more insightful. Music and video games receive a lot of flack about the way people view the world, in particular, women, sex, violence, drugs and so on. I know that’s slightly off topic but when you think about it, it all interlinks. Women always have amazing figures in music videos so it becomes the norm for women to have curves in the right places as well as look pretty. The men always have muscles so we expect to see that in reality too. So it’s no shock that the word ‘gay’ is being becoming a part of the norm.
“I might not be the same, but that’s not important. No freedom till we’re equal, damn right I support it.”Again, the fight for equality is hard to win but it’s worth the battle. I take my hat off for anyone who is trying to make a difference. Women have fought hard for their rights but I don’t think we’ve completely won. Now it’s time for homosexuals for fight as well. It’s not going to be easy but definitely needs to be fought for.
My Naughty Views 