Paradise Now Blog Response

29/8/2012

6 Comments

 
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Please write a 250 word minimum blog post sharing some of your thoughts about the movie.  This is a fairly open response, since I feel there are so many things this movie forces you to think about.  If you would like some direction, you may choose to either
1) answer one of the two questions posted below or
2) respond to one or several of the quotes from the movie copied below.  

I’m anxious to read your ideas!  

·         Some people see Paradise Now as an apologia for terrorism. Those who do, however, aren't paying attention. Abu-Assad's goal is not to condone terrorist actions (in fact, he goes to great pains to condemn them), but to explain why two seemingly "ordinary" men would be willing to sacrifice their lives in an act of mass carnage.  Do you feel this is true? Do you feel the director shows both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict?
 

·         This film candidly looks at the debate of whether or not suicide bombings, terrorism or violence is justified. Did the film reinforce your views on these topics or change them in any way?

Said: I was born in a refugee camp. I was allowed to leave the west Bank only once. I was 6 at the time and needed surgery. Life here is like life imprisonment. The crimes of the occupation are countless. The worst crime of all is to exploit the people's weaknesses and turn them into collaborators. By doing that, they not only kill the resistance, they also ruin families, ruin their dignity, and ruin an entire people. When my father was executed, I was 10 years old. He was a good person. But he grew weak. For that, I hold the occupation responsible. They must understand that if they recruit collaborators, they must pay the price for it. A life without dignity is worthless. Especially when it reminds you day after day, of humiliation and weakness. And the world watches cowardly, indifferently. If you're all alone, faced with this oppression... you have to find a way to stop the injustice. They must understand that if there's no security for us there'll be none for them either. It's not about power. Their power doesn't help them. I tried to deliver this message to them but I couldn't find another way. Even worse, they've convinced the world and themselves that they are the victims. How can that be? How can the occupier be the victim? If they take on the role of oppressor and victim then I have no other choice but to also be a victim and a murderer as well. I don't know how you'll decide, but I will not return to the refugee camp.

Suha: Why are you doing this?
Khaled: If we can't live as equals, at least we'll die as equals.
Suha: If you can kill and die for equality you should be able to find a way to be equal in life.
Khaled: How? Through your human rights group?
Suha: For example! Then at least the Israelis don't have an excuse to keep on killing.
Khaled: Don't be so naive. There can be no freedom without struggle. As long as there is injustice, someone must make a sacrifice.
Suha: That's no sacrifice. That's revenge. If you kill, there's no difference between victim and occupier.

Jamal: What can you do when there is no justice or freedom? Then there's the individual that is forced to fight for it. If we give in to the law that says, the strong devour the weak, then we become the animals. That's intolerable. Death is better than inferiority. That means whoever fights for freedom, can also die for it.

6 Comments
Diego Carvalho
3/9/2012 04:43:05 am


Through Suha’s saying “ If you can kill and die for equality you should be able to find a way to be equal in life” one is able to realize how Suhas is unable to comprehend Said and Khaled motivation to kill themselves for a purpose in trying to make a point into their life. During the movie Khaled gets influenced by Soha, which helps him to comprehend that killing himself with a suicide bomb will give the other country a purpose for continuing their attacks in West Bank. However Khaled´s friend Said has a further reason which is by humiliation of his father that was killed for being a contributor, that being said by killing himself he believes that it will be an honor requirement to prove that he believes differently than his dad did. In addition, Jamal where is a very manipulative character in the movie tries to persuade Said into continuing the process whenever he was in doubt to kill himself, Jamal said “What can you do when there is no justice or freedom? Then there´s the individual that is forced to fight for it” emphasizing that this suicide bombing done by Said and Khaled was necessary for the country to be able to fight for it´s freedom. In the contrast, one is able to realize that even though Jamal words seem very inspirational his action shows the opposite, during an specific moment of the movie when he was about to get caught he was the first one to get away, Jamal was only saying that to use Said and Khaled motivation to manipulate them into agreeing to his plan and being suicide bombers.

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Ana Siller
3/9/2012 08:32:51 am

The movie Paradise Now has two different points of view, (1)people might easily identify themselves with the movie, (2) or people will just analyze the situation but still feel violence for freedom is not necessary. The movie makes us understand the terrorist reason and history behind of why they do things such as bombing and killing innocent people. On the other hand, if we think about it no one is ''forced'' to anything, sometimes in life, people are just manipulated of doing something they really do not want to do. For example, Said decided to suicide himself to restore honor upon his family name, since his father was executed because he was a collaborator with the Israelis. But how exactly did he defend his family's name? By his death? I understand the side of Khaled, when he says ‘’I am already dead’’ while watching the movie I really comprehend his decision of giving away his body for a bombing mission. He was not feeling comfortable with life he got, he was feeling lonely. Sometimes people just do not feel comfortable with the life they are living. Those this drives people to become suicide bombers? In my opinion putting bombs into their bodies is ridiculous. If the individual decides to fight for freedom, for their country or for their honor, they should do it for the good of the community. People who become terrorist are just ignorant, selfish and cruel individuals. Concluding, Violence is just not justified no matter why they do it.

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Wan Len
3/9/2012 11:10:05 am

The movie “Paradise Now” was really different from others I’ve seen, since it can make people feel the actors’ emotions and imagination. The whole plot was an understanding through the minds and feelings of the suicide bombers. Both man had volunteered to a suicide mission, who were presented with ordinary lives and working at fixing up broken cars listening to a radio while drinking beer. I believe that Abu-Assad’s goal was not to condone terrorist actions, but a response to the lives they were taking. Especially since they were scared and unsecure with the tapes and bomb glued on their chests under their suits. They were willing to sacrifice their lives because of their desperation and shame, not to promote a terrorist action. The director clearly shows both side of the Israeli/ Palestinian conflict, since the movie occurs in Tel Aviv and Palestinians are the main actors. The movie as a whole made me see with a different perspective upon the suicide bombers. It didn’t made me believe they are right to be committing these acts, however, it clarified their reasons and purposes for becoming a suicide bomber. I believe it has to do more with their personal and emotional issues than a real terrorist act in many cases, however not for all suicides. The movie’s realistic insights made the incident seem more “trustworthy” made me believe it does occur to many of those who decide to volunteer as suicide bombers. The volunteer’s hatred is what moves and directs them to such a dreadful mission.

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Marina Oliveira
3/9/2012 09:48:42 pm

The movie "Paradise Now" gives a realistic approach to the issue of suicide bombers. The purpose of the director was not to justify the actions of those who chose to kill themselves with the purpose of killing others, but to demonstrate to the viewer what is behind the decision of committing a suicide bombing, which to most people is incomprehensible. In the plot the two main characters that accept to be suicide bombers end up following two different paths in the end of the movie. While Said commits a suicide bombing in Israel inside a bus, his friend Khaled returns to the Gaza strip. These two opposing choices demonstrate the diverging opinions on suicide bombings and humanizes the people that make such an extreme measure. Said follows the attack through to clean his family’s name and to gain pride, while Khaled that believed in salvation is convinced by a human rights organization participant, which is also the daughter of an important resistance palestinian, that there are other and more effective ways of resistance rather than the senseless suicide bombings that only trigger Israel more. The movie though doesn’t show both sides of the Israeli/Palestinian issue since the plot is focused primarily on the oppression suffered by the Palestinians and does not address the conflict from an Israeli point of view. The director portrays the Gaza Strip as a prison and as Khaled declares in the movie it is like they are already trapped in hell and in disadvantage against the Israeli army, which shows how the liberation, the hope of keeping the resistance alive and the promises of paradise can be for someone a justification to commit a suicide bombing. Despite the fact that after the movie I’ve taken a more humanized and understanding approach to what leads a man to be a suicide bomber, I still strongly believe it is a horrific measure which wastes human life and achieves nothing rather than terror.

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Thales Reis
7/9/2012 01:31:09 am

1) The movie "Paradise Now" is a direct and realistic portrayal of ordinary men being allured to suicide bombing. While it does not justify Palestinian terrorism or diminish the value of human, the author and director did not do a very good job of showing the Israeli point of view. All that's said about Israeli settlers comes from Palestinian characters who believe there is a pro-Israel conspiracy preventing Palestine from advancing. Since the movie takes place in Palestine and feature Palestinian characters, this is normal. The movie would have been biased only if the author had portrayed Israeli characters being cruel and fulfilling the stereotype. The only danger (which is not something the author should change his movie to avoid) is that an uninformed viewer could be mislead and take the Palestinian view as truth and believe that the conflict is a one side oppression scenario. Instead, (to me at least) both sides believe to rightfully own the land, but Israel has far better resources to fight the conflict. The use of these resources is viewed as cruel or disproportionate.
Abu-Assad however, is not condoning terrorism. His portrayal of the inner conflicts and recruiting process of the terrorist organization are not a heroification. In fact, he shows that a terrorist organization has its global Jihad objective, but depending on who they are recruiting, they will focus on different short term objectives that may seem more appealing to the recruits. In this case, Sahid and Khaled did not have much to live for, so Jamal (the recruiter) gave them a perspective on eternal paradise and a step against the Israeli occupation. The author did so much as to depict the recruiting process only, not to revere it in any way.

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Mario Camilo
9/9/2012 08:10:37 am

The movie "Paradise Now" represents a one sided way of seing the never ending conflict between the Palestinians and the Israelis. One the Palestinian side is shown, the side of the oppressed, the ones who live a boring life and have no perspective of growth and achievement. The city were they live is not developed, looking like "hell", and having everywhere a checkpoint, which demonstrates control of the Israelis over their lives. There is no point of living in that situation and the only thing they want is freedom and better lives for their families. All of this situation justifies terrorism and the suicide bombs in Israel, the families of Khaled and Said suffered throughout history like the families of many other Palestinians, justifying this revenge. Palestinians are always dying due to this conflict and as shown in the movie, they don't have an equal army, so the only way to fight and cause damage on the bordering nation is by using suicide bombers. Despite this there are still people like Suha that believe that there are other ways of solving this conflict, without their death, being able to convince people (Khaled), but there are still some people that do it in the honor of their families (Said), in order to save them and keep up with the struggle, that goes through generations. The writer Abu-Assad portray only the prison that it is to live under the Israeli control, but there is the other side, the fear of the Israeli of more attacks and more terrorism if they are not controlling them. Despite this the movie is able to justify the terrorism seing in the West Bank and is able to show the struggle of the weaker for a better place, for their "paradise". Even though it only exists in their mind it is better than living in that situation, not seing change, with injustice, so they must be sacrificed for a greater good.

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