As brown people we constantly urge greater authenticity in fiction films about brownistan. But authenticity comes at a price, as the producers of The Kite Runner movie have found out as some people are alleging that it may endanger the life of one of the main actors in the film. [SPOILER ALERT]
The novel The Kite Runner was written by an Afghani-American from Fremont about two boys growing up in Kabul: a wealthier child (the protagonist) and his servant who is also his best friend.
The producers of the movie went out of their way to try to make the movie as authentic as possible. They filmed in nearby Kashgar (in China, for security reasons), filmed in the vernacular, and they tried to use mainly local kids.
The problem comes because a critical scene in the novel involves a rape, in particular the rape of the protagonist’s best friend. This made the father of the actor playing the best friend uneasy:
“When I told them I would not let Ahmad Khan take part in this film, they said: ‘We won’t film that scene’,” … [the father] says. [Link]
However, what the producers did was to shoot the scene without showing very much:
Because this key scene was filmed in a non-explicit way, it seems that at the time Ahmad’s father did not even realise it had happened. I called up one of The Kite Runner’s producers, Rebecca Yeldham, in Los Angeles… “The scene contains no nudity. It’s rendered in a very sort of impressionistic way. But it’s also important in being faithful to that story - that there’s no confusions that the attack in the alley that took place on that child was a sexual violation…” [Link]
She also denies that the father was promised that the scene would be removed. Still, even this compromise has touched off a controversy over whether the scene should be included at all, and whether even this indirect shooting of the scene will endanger the safety of the actor involved:
“This scene, in an Afghan context, can be interpreted as a dishonour to one community, to one ethnicity,” … [a local human rights advocate] says. “In a tribal society, people don’t distinguish between fictitious or real things.” That means that a piece of fiction or a joke could be taken with deadly seriousness. [Link]
The actor is also quoted as saying he is afraid he will be shunned by others who believe he has been raped. Advocates for the families say they have been exploited.
The producers think that this is a big misunderstanding, fanned by internet rumours, and that it will all blow over once people see the film:
… she says the fears - which have spread to expatriate Afghans using internet chat rooms - are based on a mistaken belief that the scene in the film is explicit while, in fact, it was filmed discreetly in deference to Afghan feelings.“We don’t believe the kids’ lives are at risk. We don’t believe we’ve put them in that position,” she says. But the producers’ concerns are such that they have just decided not to release the film in Afghanistan - although DVD versions are bound to circulate there.[Link]
Some of the other actors are asking for the scene to be cut, while the writer has simply said that he is “very concerned.”
It’s hard to see a way out that will make all parties happy. Can you make a film in a society where some people don’t recognize the difference between fiction and reality?
Related posts: The Kite Runner
See also: Save the Kite Runner Boys, a website that claims to be advocating for the children.
