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.
Interesting !! But you, once again based on your bias, have given more weight to the stereotyping in Pakistan for US than in US for Pakistan. At least, in Pakistan, the young generation knows a lot about US, hollywood, their movies and wish to go for higher studies there…Your middleclass, upper class and educated class too. !! but what about US ? They only take us as insects, terrorists and third class human beings.
hilarious!
Pathetic…just can’t face the reality ..right??
but its a movie!! and the americans have zero responsibility to e 100% accurate on lame shit like a few words of arabic spoken or head gear or whatever. the priority of the movie is this womans struggle to this goal… not the correct depiction of pakistan. the movie is not made for pakistanis. its made for americans and we all know that they dont even know anything about canada and they are arrogantly ignorant. so whats the point of getting every pakistani detail correct when it is more than enough to make a chor protest give an idea and feel of protest to white people to move the story forward. its a cinema. not a national geographic documentary on pakistan. in fact in the movie pakistan doesnt have a real role to play other than historic accuracy with its name, its just a prop in the movie. I nfact im pretty sure the house that osama was hiding in wasnt really the house he was hiding in. I dont see you complaining about that detail or the structure of the house or whatever whatever. I am indian and I 100% know all the things that were depicted wrong in the movie. but its ok to do that. all you have to do is when someone says is that what pakistan is like or.. you say no and point out the inaccuracies. simple. dont waste your time feeling offended
and as people .. we need to stop relying on movies to get our information. you cant not rely on any media.. but lets just take movies with a pinch of salt. meet people, spend some time with them and THEN judge them and be racist.
You are missing the point. The movie is thoroughly unwatchable for multiple reasons. Yet, it shows the liberties that people will take with societies that they do not know or do not care enough to know. The film-makers did not need in depth research on the ground to know that Arabic is not the language of everyday chit-chat in Pakistan or Abbottabad is not exactly a 45-minute drive from Islamabad. Basic Google search would have unravelled the mystery. It is patronising and insulting when people make grossly inaccurate, generalised observations about a group and perpetuate those myths arrogantly.
Caption of this piece is great.
LOL!!! Sir, wish we had such journalists in India!! Great wit and satire.
When journalists in India give up their jehadi mentality, they will be able to write like NFP.
LOL, always a riot Mr. Paracha. Here’s a more serious, more comprehensive breakdown of the poor depiction, with movie stills and everything. It adds to your post nicely.
http://cinemapakistan.wordpress.com/2013/01/31/zero-dark-dirty/
hahahahah, the best article ever! and perfect description of pak/us stereotypical misconcepts about each other in the minds of some. loved it!
Another sparkling, refreshing tonic from NFP. We laugh while having to take it seriously.
There’s irony though, when finally sitting back and thinking about it. Write a funny spoof about America, and most Americans (not everyone, but most) will laugh along with you. Write the same kind of spoof about Taliban, and you’ll get death threats: not just to you, but to others also in your profession.
.
This is Hilarious
I do agree that some parts of the movie could have been less sloppy e.g the use of Arabic but otherwise the movie was fine. They couldnt depict Islamabad as it is because the movie wasn’t shot here and the bazaars shown were those in Rawalpindi and Peshawer which are kinda like that. Apart from that how life in Pakistan was showed well I imagine any CIA agent working in Pakistan would feel like he is in hell heck we Pakistanis feel scared all the time and let’s face it Pakistan is rampant with terrorism and there is no sugarcoating it!
Interesting, and funny.
What are Americans to think of Pakistan when no one is willing to talk about what Bin Laden was doing resting a mile away from Pakistani military institute? Has the government or the media in Pakistan tried to give any explanations to the Americans – what are they to think?
pakistani officials gave the US the information a year before the incident… it was a re-election tactic for obama.
I suggest you read the article at least before commenting. The writer’s focus is on the lack of basic knowledge of Pakistani life. Not the politics behind OBL. By the way, what exactly are Pakistanis to make of the nation that blew up over 90 children through drone attacks without a blink of an eye, yet (rightly) mourned the deaths of 22 of their own. All life is equal… yeah right, BS.
NFP has written about ignorance in both the countries….what Americans have depicted in the movie and what Pakistanis think about america
Haroon, you are right on the spot. I live in the United States. Did you see this article about agent orange? Mr Alan should definitely read it. http://cnnphotos.blogs.cnn.com/2013/01/30/effects-of-agent-orange-ongoing-silently-in-children/?hpt=hp_c3
Alan, what do the Americans think about the fact that no WMD were ever found in Iraq but still they went ahead with their invasion which has cost more than a million lives? I think America leads the world in false propaganda.
Last cartoon is a masterpiece for ages to come.
Hollywood is 10 times “paisa wasool” than Bollywood. Taking advice from Pakistanis would have hurt the bottom line.
Remember “Charlie Wilson’s War” was even further from reality.
But hey, did you not know that our god is the almighty Dollar.
Why the fixation with Bollywood? Hollywood made a movie like Charlie Wilson’s War” and will keep on making more, cus it is their choice, their public pays to watch these kind of movies. And isnt it because of the $ that you have and still are in foreign shores and not working in your homeland.
LOL!!!! Yes this is quite funny, Havent watched this movie, but can imagine that the stereotypes cast in the movie. The director actually came up with an excellent first movie before this. When shooting a “real-life” situation they should ve been more authentic in their depiction of the content. It was actually shot in India for starters.
i guess thats the problem when it comes to stereotype but an oscar nominated movie should be better. But then ask Marlon Brando about how good and true the oscar awards are!!!!
Awesome article. But what our media shows about us to the world, the world will have only that much understanding of Pakistan.
Americans won’t be offended by that stereotyping really….they’ll acknowledge it….
Groovy !
Brilliant!!
LOL
This not the only example, in Mission Impossible Ghost Protocol, in Dubai just underneath Burj Khalifa all the ladies were in veil and streets were of 18th century and in the same movies all the futuristic cars were shown in India, along with the ultra modern car park. Bhai Jaan yeh sub Yahoodi saazish hay! deliberate.
So goes for Sex and the City
May be because of their ignorance, they just depict whatever less/more they see. But you on the other hand show your ignorant attitude more than them out of frustration and a sense of inferiority. Of course they might be using sarcasm in movie or in the news, but your response on the other hand becomes the lower of the lowest intellectually. You start using kids and Jews for your counter defense. In the end, you turn out be a looser as they do not give damn about you and your articles, but certainly you do a lot to their. They are not lining up in front of Pakistani Embassy and begging for the VISA to migrate to their country. It’s you who does it. Whether you like it not or publish it or not, the reality is harsh you know it, I know it, and the entire world knows it. And you will make sure that it will turn worst.
Really!!! a little criticism with a hint of sarcasm can’t be that bad.
you comment starts with “May be”, you are not even sure. When someone thinks that a Pakistani mother tongue is ‘Arabic’ this is not just ignorance, this is studpidity or at least ignorance at its worst. in the end it is you who felt the 3rd degree burn..
well isnt the perception of pakistanis being of arabic origin and not “indian” roots being taught all around …………..
Stereotyping is required for characterization in a drama, serial or a movie. Have you ever watched how Hindus are shown in Pakistani movies/serials/drama? or how Bollywood shows Pakistani’s. Well, as already said this movie was made for US public and is a top grosser now. The producers or directors had no obligations to stick to authenticity. I am sure if the showed authentically the American public can NOT make out the difference between a pakistani/hindustani/afganistani. And ask any South East Asian in US or Canada, and they will tell you they are most commonly mistaken for being Mexicans!
Hahahaha this is the best depiction of the movie ! loved it …. and the pictures are AL- Crazy !
Humorous..! Depicts the world view of the masses in this country.
I am a white American living in Oklahoma. One of my Pakistani friends (I have over 100 awesome Pakistani friends) send me this link. I find these images extremely funny, and somewhat spot on! Great job to the writer. American’s and Pakistani people need to seek to find out more about each other without the influence of media.
I have a company that works hand in hand with a company based in Islamabad. We do software development for US based companies, and the relationships we have built between normal hard working Pakistani’s and normal hard-working American’s are amazingly strong and mutually beneficial. You don’t truly get to know someone unless you work with them on a daily basis, and our clients and our employees, are getting to know the true side of each culture. Armed with that knowledge and the strong friendships we now have, we can ignore 99% of false media lies.
Get to know an American, find out about his/her life on your own. Don’t trust what media tells you about each other. I tell my fellow American’s the same thing.
Dude, you ain’t an American from Oklahoma! No one in Oklahma says ‘spot on’. You’re a ‘chor’!!
And no American will identify himself as a ‘white American’ without any context…:-)
Take a hike, “Trent”!
I just did and again why do your stereotype Americans and come on here and get offended when some Hollywood producer does it to you.
I post a message of peace and hope and you want me to take a hike. There will never be peace in this world as long as there are people like you that never want to see positive changes.
I will admit that here in Oklahoma I have a lot of work to do to educate my fellow people. My state is full of gun toting rednecks that could careless about the countries that border us let alone a country on the other side of the Earth. This world is full of uninformed ignorant people, and it’s going to take real education to overcome that. Not listening to the person with the loudest mouth.
Instead of ripping me and trying to look tough, try to be positive for our earth and for our children.
Wow.. what a comment? would you mind reading it again for yourslef… that was nonsesne
Care to bet? Post your phone number and I can have all my Pakistani brothers give you a call tonight to prove it.
Your comment says that no one from Oklahoma would say spot on. HOW DO YOU KNOW? Do you live here? LOL. Wow we just found a similar case of stereotyping that the author of this article is pointing out. Seems to me you like so many other people love to complain when one side does you wrong, but you totally fail to see yourself when you do the same thing back.
Get an education buddy it would serve you much better than the thought process you have now.
Trent,we have ‘rednecks’ in Pakistan as well..Bare with it.
I am sure Dawn will not publish my comment (Dawn loves India like rest of new Pakistanis have a tendency of trusting India). But most of the damage to Pakistani reputation was done by intelligent young, professional Indians living everywhere. Indians consider their moral duty to malign Pakistan on every forum possible in all sorts of ways including the most subtle ones. I am not saying Pakistan is a piece of heaven but Pakistan is unfortunate to have two most influential lobbies against it: Israeli and Indian. Then is it surprising that Pakistan is depicted worse in the media than it actually is? I am not promoting hatred towards India here but I want Pakistanis to not trust India and keep their country in mind all the time. It is perfectly okay to normalize relations with India and defuse the threat of war and resolve pending disputes. But don’t let that sense of positive competition go or ambitious Indians will be all over Pakistan. I sincerely hope my message is not misunderstood. (I can bet that scores of Indian software developement companies will hunt for Trent and offer his company better cooperation from India if Trent’s company abandones Islamabad-based partner company in favor of some Indian company).
Wow. Just wow. You’re a genius.
and you know what. their media is the one who feeds hatred to Indians. No matter English (targeted towards so called educated Indians) and local language.
Yes, dont trust the media. You can ask CIA about ISI or vice versa. You will get the same glowing tributes about each other. After all, they have been hard working Americans and hard working Pakistanis for almost half a century!