{"id":1942,"date":"2008-05-12T12:04:51","date_gmt":"2008-05-12T12:04:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/idolchatter\/2008\/05\/without-a-prayer-muslims-in-th.html"},"modified":"2008-05-12T12:04:51","modified_gmt":"2008-05-12T12:04:51","slug":"without-a-prayer-muslims-in-th","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/05\/without-a-prayer-muslims-in-th.html","title":{"rendered":"Without a Prayer: Muslims in ‘The Visitor’"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TheVisitorPicforIC.jpg\"Laila Lalami, a novelist <\/a> and literary blogger<\/a>, has a review <\/a>of the new indie film “The Visitor<\/a>” in The Nation that serves as a mini-compendium of Muslim film, and how Hollywood has represented Islam since 9\/11.<\/p>\n


\nAfter furnishing us with a list of films that could comprise a Hollywood Does Islam film fest, Lalami voices with the usual complaint that every Arab or Muslim on celluloid, even 10-year-old girls, is a terrorist. Her contribution to the field of big-screen Islamic studies is the prayer rug scene: “Prayer scenes have been used … in one of two ways: as a prelude to a terrorist blowing something up,” Lalami writes, “thus reinforcing the connection between Islam and violence; or as a prop for an Arab character identified as one of the ‘good guys,’ thus serving as a disclaimer that the filmmakers are not racist (See, we have a good Muslim! He works for the CIA!).”
\nLalami praises “The Visitor” for its complete and utter absence of a prayer scene, and how its Muslims apply their faith differently in simillar situations: One female character is comfortable sharing an apartment for a night with a single male, another is not. Imagine if every resident of the state of Utah was portrayed as a separatist polygamist, and you get an idea of what a breath of fresh air “The Visitor” is.
\nClick here to read Beliefnet’s review<\/a> of “The Visitor.” Click here<\/a> to watch the trailer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Laila Lalami, a novelist and literary blogger, has a review of the new indie film “The Visitor” in The Nation that serves as a mini-compendium of Muslim film, and how Hollywood has represented Islam since 9\/11.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":110,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1942","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-movies"],"yoast_head":"\nWithout a Prayer: Muslims in 'The Visitor'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/idolchatter\/2008\/05\/without-a-prayer-muslims-in-th.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" 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