Actually, A Veiled Revolution by Elizabeth Warnock Fernea, which played with Mary Ann Smothers Bruni’s Quest for Honor, was the most impressive in the screening. It was a totally new experience and perspective to look at the Arab women’s quiet revolution to resist the wave of Western fashion of dressing, and trying to keep their cultural tradition. The women were proud to be wearing their traditional dress which covers up their face and body, and even those who wear western dresses actually admire those who keep their traditions. It was a shock to me, and it was a demonstration of how flawed it is to force the Western point of view to someone who is of such a completely different culture. The filmmaker’s neutral stance in this film shines in this manner, providing a different way of understanding the world. It is something very relevant to everyday life more than it looks, as UT is filled with international student like me and I come across the Arab students who cover up their body according to their tradition, every once in a while.
In this way, I was really glad that the question of minority was raised during the discussion of the film Quest for Honor. Although honor killing is a big issue in every part of world including America, as the film itself states in the end, the filmmaker decides to choose the Kurdish people, who are minority to other Arab people. A student raised a question of ‘isn’t the documentary othering and alienating the people of Kurdish region, making Kurdish men look like savages, while activists inside the umbrella of Western culture try to save those poor abused Kurdish women?’
Although honor killing really happens and it must not be allowed, this critical viewpoint is something that’s necessary for picturing another culture, considering the amount of influence a documentary can pose to its audience. I think watching the inserts of A Veiled Revolution before watching Quest for Honor really helped remaining neutral.
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