The Road to Love

(Warning: The following is quite rambling, I had no idea what I was going to say!) 

I have mixed feelings about the movie that we watched in class last Tuesday. I thought that the issues in the Arabic and Muslim community dealing with homosexuality were important to talk about, and made for a great discussion. I also thought that it was daring and admirable to talk about a topic that is considered by many to be taboo. But I had a difficult time connecting with the characters in the movie, mostly I believe because of the style it was shot in. I liked the idea of it being a "documentary," but I think that they could have done a better job of making the movie run seamlessly. If they hadn't been so focused on making the movie look like a documentary, I think we could have gotten a better understanding of the characters if it was addressed from an omniscient view instead.

However by the end of the movie, I found the lead character, Karim to be a relatable, sympathetic character. I found it interesting that the character was struggling with his sexuality in his later twenties, but thought it made sense, being that homosexuality is seen as such a taboo among many Muslim people. That may have been one of the most important issues brought up in the movie. In Western culture, many people find themselves learning about their own sexuality somewhere between middle school and college. They are often allowed much more contact with not only people of the opposite sex, but outside their own families in general, and can develop their own sense of self away from the expectation of their family.

I wish we would have seen more about Karim's relationship with his girlfriend, and how if changed as he allowed himself to understand who he was. I especially would have liked to see relationships between gay men that were not so adolescent and more mature, so it did not seem like sexuality was a game being played by a bunch of kids. The relationships between the men in the movie came off extremely awkward at times, but that makes sense, because Karim was at a place where he was just learning how to act in this new part of himself. Have you ever seen middle school kids flirting at the mall? That is what it felt like watching the movie. I found it hard to watch at times not because of the gay relationships, but because it made me remember my own early fumblings into adulthood. Oh, cringe!