REVIEW: The Reluctant Fundamentalist (2012) dir. Mira Nair Starring: Riz Ahmed, Liev Schreiber, Kate Hudson, Kiefer Sutherland Rating: 4.5/5
Review Summary: I’m not going to be friends with anyone who won’t watch this movie.
SOME SPOILERS AHEAD
The Reluctant Fundamentalist, based on the book of the same name by Mohsin Hamid shares the story of a Pakistani man living in America post-9/11. It opens with the kidnapping of an American professor, Anse Rainer, in Lahore, Pakistan. American journalist/CIA informant, Bobby Lincoln (Liev Schreiber), interviews Rainer’s colleague, Changez Khan (Riz Ahmed), who the CIA suspects is involved in the kidnapping.
Caption: Bobby Lincoln, left, (Liev Schreiber) and Changez Kahn, right, (Riz Ahmed) sit at a table in Lahore, Pakistan discussing Changez’s life.
Changez is a very intelligent and determined young man who moves to the United States to attend Princeton University on scholarship, and eventually, to New York City to work for a Wall Street valuation company, Underwood Samson. He works on a fairly diverse team and thrives very easily at the company, rising quickly to the level of Associate.
Caption: A conference/meeting room at Underwood Samson. Changez Kahn is pictured middle left
Changez also falls very deeply in love with a white American photographer, Erica (Kate Hudson) who he meets by chance one day by stumbling into her outdoor photoshoot of skateboarders.
Caption: Changez and Erica (Kate Hudson) kiss and embrace in Erica’s apartment.
After the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center by Al-Qaeda, Changez experiences many different forms of racism and Islamophobia. Immediately after the attacks, Changez and his co-workers are arriving back to New York from Manila, Philippines. There, he is subjected to a humiliating strip search by authorities which ends with the man inspecting his anus. The film portrays this in a way in which makes you focus entirely on how Changez feels humiliated and degraded.
Caption: Changez bends over naked in a private room in the airport as he is inspected by authorities.
The entire film does just such an amazing job of focusing on how deeply traumatic these experiences of racism and Islamophobia are for Muslims living in America. In addition to being strip-searched at the airport, Changez is also mistakenly arrested on the street after calls were made to the police about a different Pakistani man. He is interrogated intensely and not allowed to contact his lawyer. In another instance, his tires are slashed after a meeting and a white man pulls up next to him in the parking lot (assumingly the same man who slashed his tires), spits at him, and says “Fuck you, Osama!”
One scene that is particularly unnerving is when his girlfriend, Erica sets up an art show that is based on their relationship. It features several fetishistic elements and appropriates many aspects of Islamic culture. Changez is outraged when he sees it, feeling as if he was just a prop in her artistic endeavors. Riz Ahmed’s acting here is really amazing here too! (He is never one to shy away from political comments and recently released a song called “Englistan” about his experience as a British Pakistani man which you should listen to!) You can really feel Riz’s true emotion behind it. Here is the full reaction scene:
Full transcript Changez: You’re the one goddamn person I trusted in this city and now I get this shit. I get this fucking shit from you too, now? Hmm? Erica: I don’t...I thought...I thought...I thought you’d be proud of me. Changez: Why would I be proud? What? Proud of being your own little pet artistic project? Erica: Can we please take this outside? Changez: No, what? Was that the idea? Huh? How chic! How chic! “I’m gonna date a Pakistani after 9/11 and it’s gonna be great for my bohemian street cred!” Erica: That is completely unfair! Changez: “I fucked the 20th hijacker!” Huh? I’m like the ultimate downtown status symbol right now.
Another thing that The Reluctant Fundamentalist does that is interesting is display everyday microaggressions or ingrained Islamophobic ideals that we as Americans exhibit towards the Muslim community. Changez consistently has his name pronounced incorrectly and by people that he works with. These are people that he spends the majority of his day with and they can’t even learn how to pronounce his name - a name that is really not at all hard to pronounce even for the most redneck American. He gets called “Changes” or “Chain-jeez” multiple times.
By one coworker, he is even called Saddam on more than one occasion. Multiple coworkers comment on the fact that they dislike his beard and urge him to shave it, despite the fact that Changez says that it reminds him of where he comes from. These are things that Americans, particularly white Americans, do, sometimes without even realizing it. But still, The Reluctant Fundamentalist shows us that these things impact Muslims living in America negatively.
Furthermore, often while at work, after the attacks, Changez overhears his coworkers speaking ignorantly about Muslims. Here is how one conversation went down:
Wainwright: All I'm saying is, before I'd start a full F-16, tank-ass war against the entire Muslim world, I'd give the CIA, INTERPOL, whoever, a chance to track these motherfuckers down. Mike: We got hit first. It's Pearl Harbor all over again. It's common fucking sense. Wainwright: I'm not saying you're wrong, but what nation-state attacked us? Mike: Nation-state, my ass! You're splitting hairs. Wainright: Am I? Mike: Yeah. They believe God told them to blow us up. It's in their book. Wainright: It's in their book? Mike: Yeah. Whatever it's called.
The film does an incredible job of articulating how American patriotism can easily cross the line into xenophobia. I think that a major point to take away from this is that white fear and American nationalism breeds terrorism (though Changez is not a terrorist, that’s not what I’m implying). But, we as Americans ostracize Muslims to the point where we make them resent us. We tell them that America is the place where dreams come true and anyone can thrive, but then despise anyone who we don’t think fits our very Eurocentric standards. And when tragedy strikes or anything happens that makes us feel threatened, we blame anyone who looks like the people we are angry at. I think that Changez says it best himself:
Changez: You picked a side after 9/11: I didn’t have to. It was picked for me.
So, are there any negatives to the film? Only slightly. I found the present day plot with Anse Rainer a bit confusing to follow. I just think that it could have been simplified a bit for the film. And as for women in the film, of course, I wish there were more women because I literally always wish that there were more women. However, I was pleased with the way the women were represented. His sister Bina (Meesha Shafi) is a carefree and confident woman who dresses in her own unique style. It’s a contrast to the typical Muslim women that are typically displayed in Western media. We need more honest and real portrayals of Muslim women in popular media, which is why we really need more incredible filmmakers who are women of color like Mira Nair (Mississippi Masala, The Namesake).
I give this film a 4.5 out of 5 because I really think that the plot taking place in the present day was very confusing and hard to follow. That being said, this is truly one of the most incredible films I have seen recently. I’ve been so serious this whole review because I just couldn’t bring myself to try and be funny. This topic isn't funny. It demands to be taken seriously. I wish every single American, especially white American, could watch The Reluctant Fundamentalist. Maybe then we could understand our impact of the hatred and trauma that we inflict on Muslims living America every day.