Crafting an Argument
Europe and specifically Scotland is a region in which many ethnicity live. Statistically, there are over one million Muslims included in the ethnicity strata many of whom are originally from Pakistan. This paper will focus on relationships between Pakistanis settled in these European countries, paying close attention to relationships depicted in cinemas such as Ae Fond Kiss and other Hollywood and European movies. The 16th century experienced a lot of immigration in European countries, but it was not until the Second World War that most countries began to experience multiracialism. Most families sought to migrate in search of better opportunities for them and their families (Malik 165). Families faced a lot of problems, especially parents who tried to bring up their children in countries where Islam was not so widely experienced. They often struggled to approach issues from a western perspective that was eventually inevitable. Admittedly, it is difficult for parents to set aside their beliefs, experiences, and community expectations in order to bring up a generation of Islam families. It is for this reason that directors and writers such as Ken Loach chose to cover the cutting- edge issue that a majority of Islam families all over Europe were experiencing.
Introduction
Ae Fond Kiss revolves mainly around Casim Khan, a young man that aspired to become a club owner and disc jockey, and Roisin, a young catholic music teacher, who manages to make Casim fall in love with him. Casim is preparing for an arranged marriage by his parents, but upon falling in love with Roisin, he decides to go against his beliefs and his parents in order to stay together with Roisin. Obviously, his parents take this act negatively and decide to alienate Roisin from Casim entirely. At the same time, Roisin meets Casim in the middle of a catholic school year, and their relationship grows fast to become intimate. Rosin’s boss finds out about the relationship and does not hesitate to remind her that dating a man of Islam is against her Catholicism. Eventually, the boss urges Rosin to quit the relationship with Casim otherwise, she will lose her job. Consequently, the love she has for him enables her to leave her job because of ethical dilemma. The two lovers have to overcome a series of challenges on their way to true happiness, and they manage to sustain their relationships for a long time. However, it is quite unclear as to whether the two manage to remain together, or compound their relationship in marriage at their own accord at the end of the movie. The concept of stereotype and racism is well tackled in the film. The depiction of the film is almost accurate to modern immigration societies as shown in different scenes of the film.
The film begins with the involvement of Middle Eastern music, a concept that lets the audience find out immediately that there are Arabic or Middle Eastern actors in the film. The immediate scene introduces a Muslim family in an ordinary Muslim cultural experience of preparing an arranged marriage. Immediately the two scenes set the tone of a multicultural and multi ethnic break that is to feature in the rest of the movie. The khan family has integrated well into their community. However, several scenes exemplify hostility and different racism towards them. In the movie the audience sees an eastern nightclub that has a crowd of multiple ethnicities. Later on, a principle supporting character called Tahara comes on rejecting the manner in which she thinks the western world simplifies a Muslim. Throughout the film, she acts as a solid sounding board regarding the issues that surround Muslim men and women in a western society and culture that is not essentially their own. In fact, a blackboard bears writings that suggest that the character and her family are in support of the government and their continued fight against terrorism. This shows the effort that second generations Muslims make in attempts to integrate into their communities and to share the same views other citizens have. This is why attempting to retain some semblance of patriotism and loyalty to fellow Muslims and to their culture can become quite difficult. For example, Tahara has a hard time introducing herself in front of her class. She does not know how to structure her words carefully in a way that her classmates understand that she is a legal citizen, but yet a Pakistani teenager. She supports the Glasgow rangers that are from a catholic school while her dad has been in the country for over forty years and still maintains that he is one hundred percent Pakistani. The film explores universal comprehensive events that overtly and implicitly sway contemporary philosophies regarding Britishness in a context characterized by multi ethnicity and multi cultures. It is pertinent to note that the screenplay centers on the events around 9/11. Every Muslim or rather every person of Arab descent was under a microscope due to the association of Bin Laden as a Muslim and Arab.
Although racism is not the main feature of the movie, the script cannot separate itself from the theme as it keeps on reoccurring in some of the conversations that Rosin and Casim have. To focus on Tahara yet again, one of her classmates makes a comment suggesting the uptightness of most Pakistanis in the area. There is even an instance when one of her classmates spits on Tahara’s family car, showing the distaste that some of the locals have towards the Khans and several other Muslim families in the region. This form of racism is explicit racism. Another example of explicit racism takes place, when Casim argues with Roisin trying to explain to her why his parents are making their love and union difficult. Casim points out a situation for Roisin, where Casim’s dad went through humiliation several times when a group of neighborhood children chased after him with noises that resembled those made by a monkey. Casim expresses his father’s frustration towards the children and his neighbors as he could not take action regarding the matter and had to endure the humiliation. Roisin continues to defend herself stating that she was not to blame for the racism against Casim and his family, but Casim responds by saying that it also was not his fault that he was a Pakistani receiving ill treatment for his origins. This continues even at the end of the movie when Casim meets the woman that his family has arranged for him to marry. Upon his refusal to accept his fiancée, his father scoffs at Casim, stating that he could be with a hundred Roisins, and they would still call him names because in reality, Pakistanis and Muslims will never truly become one of them. According to Tariq Khan, Casim brings shame and dishonor to the family. He refuses to see Roisin as the woman that his son in love with. He acts as the same stereotype that he claims has humiliated him for all the years spent in this country. He categorizes Roisin as ‘one of them’ instead of taking out the time to know her as an individual. The film also conveys stereotypical representations of race depicted in several other movies. For instance, Casim addresses his sister in a derogatory manner when he bumps into her and her friends in one of the clubs that Casim frequents. To Casim, it is not proper for a woman to appear in clubs dressed in the way that Tahara was. He then orders Tahara to go home. This is a stereotype associated with most Muslim men whereby they exert total control over their women (Din 139).
The romantic relationship between Casim and Roisin is common among second-generation immigrants especially those of Arab descent. Culturally, parents arrange marriages for their children based on several criteria that encompass the wealth of the families involved, as well as the character of the people intended to marry (O’Donnell). Originally, Casim is to marry his cousin Jasmine; however, he changes his mind upon meeting Roisin. Roisin has been married before, and Casim finds it peculiar that she still maintains contact with her estranged husband. When Roisin finds out about Casim’s engagement to another woman, she is tearful asking severally if he is in love with her. Casim has a difficult time explaining to Roisin that arranged marriages do not last entirely n love, but involve fundamental aspects such as continued tradition and loyalty to the family. In turn, Casim undergoes a struggle to challenge his family regarding his refusal to marry Jasmine. His family does not understand the way in which Casim alienates himself. To them, the family and the individual never undergo separation even after marriage. In fact, most Pakistani children that go against their families return only to settle into an arranged marriage that they initially rejected. In the end, he leaves his family and refuses entirely to communicate with his fiancée for the woman he loves. There are instances where Casim receives support and negligent advice from his friends. His sister, Tahara does not see any reason to stop talking to his brother based on his choice of a woman. She does not break ties with him like the rest of her family. On the other hand, Casim’s friend Hamid advises him to marry Jasmine to please his family, but maintain a hypocritical relationship with Roisin outside marriage. He continues to say that he, Hamid, accepted to marry the bride that his parents selected for him, but he maintains a relationship with a white woman on the outside and that neither his wife nor parents know.
Several films bare the same message as the one represented in Ae Fond Kiss. East is East, a film by Damien O’Donnel depicts the story of a man, his eight brothers and sister that grew up in Manchester raised by a Pakistani father and an English mother. One would think that this family would have it easy, having a mother of English descent and all. However, the family still undergoes the issues predominant in the case of the Khan family in Ae Fond Kiss. East is East also tackles the issue of arranged marriages whereby the siblings in the film severally refuse to follow in their father’s Pakistani routes. One of the siblings, Tariq refuses to marry a fellow Pakistani woman against his dad’s will. Here, racism is not just present in the community, but in the home, as well. In fact, one of the siblings nicknames his brother Maneer, who is the most traditional of them all as Gandhi because he chooses to dress in traditional Pakistani outfits and the religious cap just like his dad. The mother in the story does not correct her children whenever they make derogatory comments regarding her husband’s religion, thereby enabling her children’s racism throughout the film. The father figure fails to influence his children’s values. It should be fascinating to note that the father also goes against British stereotypes, as he owns a business that predominantly British owned. The father runs a fish and chips shop. However, the film East is East approaches the issues regarding race and stereotypes in a comical manner compared to the seriousness in tone in Ae Fond Kiss (Loach).
Conclusion
Throughout time, films have served well in broadcasting the issues in relation to racism and discrimination especially of Muslim immigrant families, as well as minority families. Ae Fond Kiss goes a long way to inform the audience regarding problems that these families face on a daily basis. They have changed the way people approach racial topics or arranged marriages such that they make them understandable through a platform that people can relate. Such films evoke emotion from an audience that would have otherwise shunned practices like arranged marriage. Such films also provide a network where people can learn and reflect on multiethnic and multicultural issues in society (Sendra 2011).
Works Cited
Din, Ikhlaq .The New British: The Impact of Culture and Community on
Young Pakistanis. Hampshire: Ashgate Publishing Limited. 2006. P 139.
Malik, Sarita .Representing Black Britain: A History of Black and Asian Images
On British Television, Sage. 2002. p. 165.
Sendra, Estrella .Love, Identity and Multiculturalism. november 2011. Web. 23 March 2013.
Available at:
< http://www.projectcarousel.org/2011/11/09/love-identity-and-multiculturalism/>
O’Donnell, Damien. East is East. 1999.
Loach, Ken .Ae Fond Kiss. 2004.
