Zero IQ Thirty
Recent Hollywood blockbuster, ‘Zero Dark Thirty’, was quite an experience. Though sharp in its production and direction and largely accurate in depicting the events that led to the death of Osama Bin Laden, it went ballistic bad in depicting everyday life on the streets of Pakistan.
With millions of dollars at their disposal, I wonder why the makers of this film couldn’t hire even a most basic advisor to inform them that
1: Pakistanis speak Urdu, English and other regional languages and NOT Arabic;
2: Pakistani men do not go around wearing 17th and 18th century headgear in markets;
3: The only Urdu heard in the film is from a group of wild-eyed men protesting against an American diplomat, calling him ‘chor.’ Chor in Urdu means robber. And the protest rally was against US drone strikes. How did that make the diplomat a chor?
4: And how on earth was a green Mercedes packed with armed men parked only a few feet away from the US embassy in Islamabad? Haven’t the producers ever heard of an area called the Diplomatic Enclave in Islamabad? Even a squirrel these days has to run around for a permit to enter and climb trees in that particular area.
I can go on.
The following is what I have learned …
Pakistan according to Hollywood
________________________________
America in the eyes of Pakistanis
Nadeem F. Paracha is a cultural critic and senior columnist for Dawn Newspaper and Dawn.com
The views expressed by this blogger and in the following reader comments do not necessarily reflect the views and policies of the Dawn Media Group.
I am sorry to see NFP miss the point that Americans dont want to learn any culture except their own.. they are happy with it and know the whole world follows it… They intentially used arabic language and guys with that kind of headgear and surrounding to give more intensity to the movie.. even though its based on facts, its still an movie and need some story building and thrill to succeed…
I don’t agree with you. There is not thing called “American Culture”. America has no culture or history . The country is hardly 500 years old. Real American culture should be native(Aboriginal) culture, the original owner of the land. Have you even heard about it?
Rajiv never said anything about American Culture. And the Aboriginal were in Australia. America had native red Indian. Pakistan is only a 66 years old, so does that mean we have no culture or did we carry it from Indian culture?
There is no such a thing as “Red” Indian. This is a term that desis coined for the native Americans to distinguish them from the sub continental Indians. In the US, nobody understands what a “Red Indian” is.
I am an American, born and raised here, everyone here knows that the Native American people were the first inhabitants here, and Europeans started coming here in the 15th century in droves. Armed with better weapons and diseases that the Native American’s didn’t have, it was pretty easy to take the land from them. Sad part of our history. I disagree that the US has no culture, we have many different cultures, we have Hispanic culture, European culture, Arabic culture, Native American culture and Asian culture here. The US is a melting pot of all kinds of religions, societies and history. You should probably seek to learn more about a place before you make blind comments on it. That is the problem with the world today, nobody wants to seek the truth on their own and they just believe whoever has the loudest mouth.
Check ur books, read up first.
Actually that’s not true. Native Americans were always referred to as Red Indians. But as and when political correctness got more and more aggressive in America, were they referred to as Native American, just like Negroes are now called African American. Red Indians were named so, as they were coloured people, and Columbus assumed then to be Indian. Later, to distinguish them from the “Dot Indians” ie the Indians from the country of India, the Americans referred to them in the now politically incorrect term “Red Indian.”
Yes Pakistan and India are one and the same place and they have the same culture. . people of these countries have lived together for thousands of years. The hatred between muslims and hindus was the invention of devious British mind and the sorrow fact that two egocentric leaders had dislike for each other. Also go and check the meaning of word Aboriginal in dictionary. Also read a little about social psychology and understand the meaning of word”Culture” and you will realize that the “American Idol” based society is far away from culture. American culture can be easily defined with wild west mentality,gun and violence.
America my dear do have a culture, 90% of the world listens to their songs and copies their music, tries to wear cloths that they wear… buy same gadgets they use… culture does not have to be some poor people singing and dancing in a language that 90% of the world does not understand… anyways my point was simple… They make movies only for american people… they know if americans like it.. whole world would watch.. that should tell you something… and if the movie is so bad like you guys think… it will fail in rest of the world… have you checked how much money its making..
You are hundred percent right, American businesses will do any thing for money. Also remember it is a country where slavery was practised until 200 years ago. The word Negro is the invention of American culture.
Parts of what you say are true. People in the USA have short attention spans and the producers of a movie need to maximize the two hours they have to keep our attention, because we are bombarded everyday with advertisements, music, movies, television. We live in a land of instant gratification, if someone can’t produce something quickly, then the average American has lost interest. So Hollywood producers must quickly hit on the most stereotypical pieces they can about other cultures, so American’s don’t have to think too deeply on it. Again, they don’t want to lose our interest.
Your comment about how American’s don’t want to learn many cultures except our own, probably has a lot of truth to it. Like I posted earlier, American is a melting pot of all kinds of different religions, societies and races. You can take any city in America and easily draw the lines of where different people live. Mexicans tend to all stay together in a certain part of a city. Black people tend to stay together. Everyone wants to associate with their own kind so they feel accepted. Most people in America live in areas of like minded people. So when we see so many different people in our own country, we tend to get enough education on other parts of the world right here at home. This makes people less likely to branch out and learn about another country.
I strongly believe that American’s should study the world more than they do, but with all the entertainment and distractions we have here, it’s tough to find time in the day to do so. This is a problem with my society.
since we ain’t got discos and bars and malls and cinemas, we read dawn.com all the time.
It is common in Hollywood movies to depict other parts of the world with such reduction to the prevalent stereotypes. I just wonder if the people who make these movies are genuinely that stupid or they just simply don’t care about the rest of the world and there sensibilities.
Hahaha: To answer your question who makes this movies? Well people who know they can get rich after making such movies. And guess what they r happily smiling to their banks now.
Yallaaa gooodi articalaaa habibii ….. Agreed – why in the earth didnt the movie maker hire some one to help them know about Paki culture? …if this movie gets an award -Yallaa Oscaraaa ridiculousaaaaaa …..
Excellent …. a great piece about the mindsets of Americans -
@Maha: And Pakistanis?
We Pakistanis dont need any further insight into our own mindsets. This is a Pakistani writer writing in a Pakistani paper for Pakistanis. Thats why Maha is amused over American mindsets.
Love the depictions. I have some American friends and still they could not understand that I am a Pakistani then why i cannot speak Arabic and also why I always tell them that we grow our own vegetation and food despite Pakistan is a desert as a whole with no water and only camels.!!!
Hollywood has faltered on many occasions but as much as this. NFP is 100% correct here. had the movie been allowed to be shot in Paksitan, the results would have been closer but no one would risk their money to shoot at a place with such grave security concerns.
Ironic…but most of the pictures are rather true
err….which ones for instance?
@Indiausa. U2 have been exposed to uncle Sam’s culture for too long, it’s about time you were acclimatised, pay a visit to your homeland!
Tariq, really too long…may be we have met..one of many assumptions Pakistani’s make everyday…as far as visiting my Homeland..I do it very frequently
Your name tells how hung-up you are with “USA”. Working with many H1B, and how they live in this country I know where you are coming from !!
I think the Pakistani Ones… lol
this time leave the India trip and look for a doctor.. lol offcourse…
Ofcourse the Pakistani ones
Yes they truly depict USA
and Pakistan
Nobody gives a s*** about Pakistan in USA
Epic
NFP, I am your great admirer, however this piece of work did not seem to be your’s. Question is what made others think so about your country. Here ISLAM is supreme and country is ruled by Terrorists. I don’t find PAKISTAN in eyes f American as hilarious as majority of the people on this earth have similar perception about that country. However AMERICA in eyes of PAKISTAN was certainly not in a good taste at least not from the pen of NFP.
Instead of criticizing others, we need to introspect to find out why others are thinking about us so and take corrective measures to correct the perception instead of depicting through vulgar pictures/statements and cartoons.
For heavens sake, amar, this is SATIRE!! It’s supposed to be exaggerated. This is typical NFP: Taking absurdities of reality and commenting on them with absurdest satire. Relax.
Rabia,
I know it’s a SATIRE and SATIRE is certainly not absurd , but the use of sarcasm, ridicule, in exposing, denouncing. What I found in PAKISTAN in the eyes of AMERICAN perfectly true, but not AMERICA in the eyes of PAKISTANI. That’s why told for self introspection. Certainly not a NFP standard piece.
A mistake is a mistake. Director should had taken some guidance from Pakistan or at least some Indian guy.
lol, he did take advise from an Indian for sure.
Just because “majority” holds a perception doesnot mean its true.India had the same problem with SLUMDOG millionaire ,India has some very poor slums ,yes but the entire country is not Dharavi.And NFP did a great job,what are you on about?
You are not an admirer of NFP if you have not understood this plain and simple satire. This article is his signature.
You should read Pakistan’s history. Who brought Pakistan to this stage? Who created and supported terrorists and corrupt army generals in Pakistan? The answers are the west and particularly America. You probably belong to the small number of Pakistanis who live in Islamabad and attended a class based western school. You don’t even know what is happening in “CHICHUN KI MALIAN”
…and now you’ve got me longing to see the film!
top quality stuff NFP. kudos.
ha ha ha ROFL okay NFP you have atleast turned one english movie fan away from seeing this movie.Really can mediocrity never be beaten?HOLLYWOD has constantly disappointing since 2010.
“Even a squirrel these days has to run around for a permit to enter and climb trees in that particular area”. Lol well said!
Welcome to the US, Agressive Brown Man, Your Place or Mine….bhahahahahahAHA. When Katy Perry said, ‘Baby, You’re a firework’, she probably meant a Suicide bomber. I almost chucked-up my dinner from laughing. Freaking awesome NFP.
Top Quality Satire and pretty much paints the real picture!!!!!
Excellent piece of satire. It is said that truth is bitter but you always tell the truth in a sweet way.
LMAO, great job!
A big thanks to the producer of “ZERO….”, which has transformed NFP
what do you mean by transformed? NFP is a critic, he will criticize everything against the norm.
Agreed. I think Shuaib only went through the first part of the piece.
Hilarious., especially ‘Pakistan accordin to Hollywood’
they always show India and pakistan as poor, overcrowded, malnourished and irrational people. NFP as always right on the money.
Yes but both India and Pakistan are poor, overcrowded, malnourished, irrational people living in squalor. Do you need more to prove it!
I have been in the US for around 5 years now, and they don’t think of India as just poverty any more, they think of us as people who are stealing there jobs.
well you can always tell them that globalization has its pros and cons, compete or die!!
(they should watch the 3 Idiots and “Koyl birds scene” 
Yes,”poor people” stealing their jobs, IT coolies.
*Their
White ppl driving cabs… actually they steal our jobs too..
Brilliant!!
I though you are picking up on Politics but it show your verstality – brilliant
Looks like you put this all in a hurry NFP … I have seen better work from you..
Hahaha, hilarious..