Hollywood Gets Muslims Wrong, Again

By Wajahat Ali, Huffington Post. Posted August 29, 2008.

Traitor: one who betrays another's trust or is false to an obligation or duty.

Like the protagonist of the movie, Traitor exists with conflicting loyalties and a fleeting sense of fidelity to its honorable yet ultimately porous intentions. The Don Cheadle-headed action/thriller co-written by comedian Steve Martin and director Jeffrey Nachmanoff inelegantly attempts to combine cardboard, blockbuster plot mechanics with the important, philosophical musings of a complicated post 9-11 world.

If anything, this mainstream movie should be commended for having a practicing, religious, African American Muslim as its hero -- one portrayed by a major Hollywood celebrity, no less. Unfortunately, both due to the plot constraints of the movie and today's geo-political realities, this character must reactively and proactively define himself though his actions within yet another "us vs. them" narrative. As such, the quest for a multi-faceted, dynamic Muslim character that is neither a terrorist nor a cab driver continues.

The Muslim and titular "traitor" in question is Samir Horn [Don Cheadle], a Sudanese born, American agent so deep undercover as an Islamic extremist bomb maker that only one government supervisor (Jeff Daniels in a cameo role) knows his true identity. He infiltrates the ranks of a radical movement headed by the mysterious "Nathir," a terrorist group hell bent on striking against infidels (basically, everyone but them). Their mission? To activate sleeper agents -- seemingly ordinary Americans but in reality (gasp -- heartless Muslim terrorists) -- and carry out massive, simultaneous suicide bombings on 50 separate buses.

Is Samir driven by his loyalties to his "brothers" in Islam and so thoroughly entrenched in his covert identity that he will carry out the attacks? Or, will he be loyal to an American government which is simultaneously pursuing him as a high priority terrorist and is also complicit in racial profiling and violence towards the Muslim world?

These timely questions could make for an introspective and layered movie that resonates with the fears and hopes of an international audience. Unfortunately, the filmmakers, or perhaps their Hollywood producers, jettison these aspects of the movie for a streamlined "catch the terrorists before they terrorize us" plot that was already beaten to death by Showtime's Sleeper Cell and every single season of Fox's 24.

Although Traitor aims for a The Departed meets Paradise Lost setup, it fails to work as both a cat-and-mouse thriller and a reflective identity drama. Cheadle underplays his role with a somber anguish that emphasizes Samir's turmoil as he falls rapidly into his "role" as bomb maker and "jihadi" recruiter. But an actor can only work with the solid, creative foundation a director and a script can provide.

The characters in the movie, particularly Muslim ones, become less human as the film progresses and morph into Wikipedia sound bites. You know the type too well: characters who randomly and unrealistically interrupt their speeches with info-tainment, such as explanations of jihad, translations of Quran verses, botched Islamic prayers and inopportune vernacular. This is Hollywood's casual way of placating a skeptical, progressive audience. "See! We did our homework and rented some Muslim advisors! We know all about Quran and Hadith and Sunnah! Right? Great! Ok, let's continue and show Muslims blow up stuff!"

One of Traitor's tragic flaws is Hollywood's century old myopia, placing a shining minority citizen amidst a sea of his depraved brethren. The "Good Darkie" then battles for the souls and minds of the "Evil Darkies." Cheadle's Samir is a devout Muslim whose religious discipline is displayed continuously and even admired by other characters. He prays five times a day; he fasts; he abstains from alcohol and so forth. Meanwhile, every other Muslim character seems transplanted from dated 80's action movies and True Lies.

You have the English speaking, well-coiffed terrorist who poses as an elite aristocrat in Europe, but whose sole purpose is the destruction of the infidels. Then there's the terrorist henchmen, a classic Hollywood staple, which is basically a United Nations coalition of mute, scary looking Middle Eastern, Persian and South Asian men. A young, good-looking French kid eagerly and quickly embraces the jihadi cause after a clichéd and uninspiring recruitment speech. And another major supporting character, Omar (played by perennial "go to terrorist actor" Said Taghmaoui), is a European educated, chess-loving jihadist, who Samir befriends in Yemen.

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Wajahat Ali is a playwright, essayist, humorist, and Attorney at Law, whose work, “The Domestic Crusaders” is the first major play about Muslim Americans living in a post 9-11 America.