Geert Wilders' 'Fitna' or, the dumbest film you will watch this year.
So Geert Wilders released Fitna, huh. A nice introduction to the thoughts that spurred him into making his film are two youtube videos here and here, both interviews with FOX News before the release.
For more background reading, I don't know how much space he was given in the news world wide, go here:
How a Film Triggered a Global Panic [Spiegel]
'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star [Guardian]
A Dutch Antagonist of Islam Waits for His Premiere [New York Times]
Fitna (film) [Wikipedia]
I expected to be angry watching Fitna. Another movie demonising Muslims, yay. I think the real reason no channel wanted to show the film was because it was dumb, so so dumb. That was probably the most heavy-handed, boring and offensively stupid piece of propaganda crap I have seen in a while. I have seen Nazi-, Communist-, Fundamentalist Christian- and Islamist propaganda; Fitna ranks right up there in the category of most WTF inducing nonsense. Don't believe me, judge for yourself. It's online in both Dutch and English at LiveLeak. [a word of warning: lots and lots of violence, blood and upsetting images. also, you may want to turn down the sound about 6:30 minutes in during and for ten seconds after the off-screen decapitation scene. the sound effects almost made me throw up, and I have a fairly high threshold for nasties.]
I started writing a detailed evisceration of the whole mess, but half-way through I realised it was simply not worth my time. The film is too stupid to get riled up about. Wildly partisian work can be both clever and entertaining, this is neither. Come on, Wilders uses the portrait of Dutch musician Salah Edin when aiming for Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Dutch regisseur Theo van Gogh. Both men are Morrocan-born Dutch so I guess it's all one terrorist sauce, huh? Have fun with that lawsuit, Mr Wilders. Fitna is nothing but pathetic drivel.
For more background reading, I don't know how much space he was given in the news world wide, go here:
How a Film Triggered a Global Panic [Spiegel]
'I don't hate Muslims. I hate Islam,' says Holland's rising political star [Guardian]
A Dutch Antagonist of Islam Waits for His Premiere [New York Times]
Fitna (film) [Wikipedia]
I expected to be angry watching Fitna. Another movie demonising Muslims, yay. I think the real reason no channel wanted to show the film was because it was dumb, so so dumb. That was probably the most heavy-handed, boring and offensively stupid piece of propaganda crap I have seen in a while. I have seen Nazi-, Communist-, Fundamentalist Christian- and Islamist propaganda; Fitna ranks right up there in the category of most WTF inducing nonsense. Don't believe me, judge for yourself. It's online in both Dutch and English at LiveLeak. [a word of warning: lots and lots of violence, blood and upsetting images. also, you may want to turn down the sound about 6:30 minutes in during and for ten seconds after the off-screen decapitation scene. the sound effects almost made me throw up, and I have a fairly high threshold for nasties.]
I started writing a detailed evisceration of the whole mess, but half-way through I realised it was simply not worth my time. The film is too stupid to get riled up about. Wildly partisian work can be both clever and entertaining, this is neither. Come on, Wilders uses the portrait of Dutch musician Salah Edin when aiming for Mohammed Bouyeri, the murderer of Dutch regisseur Theo van Gogh. Both men are Morrocan-born Dutch so I guess it's all one terrorist sauce, huh? Have fun with that lawsuit, Mr Wilders. Fitna is nothing but pathetic drivel.
