Boycott 2012

By Katie Smith

Apparently terrorist appeasement is all the rage these days and Hollywood is no exception. Doomsday enthusiast Roland Emmerich, director of 2012 who also directed similar films such as Independence Day, The Day After Tomorrow, and to a lesser extent Godzilla, has made yet another literally earth-shattering film that leaves the entire world in shambles....except the symbol of Islam, of course.

In his latest doomsday film, 2012, Emmerich explores the what-ifs of the end of the world as predicted by the Mayan calendar and a bunch of new-age nuts. As is Emmerich's M.O., tidal waves strike, volcanoes erupt, planes fall out of the sky, the earth crumbles, buildings fall, people die, etc. He destroys everything from the White House to the Vatican. Yet, when it's all said and done, there is one thing left standing: The Kabaa.

The Kabaa is a structure in Mecca with a cubic base and two slender towers, and is considered to be the most sacred site in the Islamic religion. According to Islamic law, all Muslims must participate in the Hajj, a pilgrimage to Mecca to walk around the Kabaa, once in their lifetimes as long as they are financially and physically able.

Stating that he is against organized religion, Emmerich crumbled Christ the Redeemer, bulldozed the Basilica of St. Peter, and slaughtered the Sistine Chapel. Yet, he chose to spare the Kabaa. Pardon me, but when did Islam become an unorganized religion? Why not crush the Kabaa and stick it to all the world's religions?

"Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit," Emmerich says. "But my co-writer Harald said, 'I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie.' And he was right. We have to all, in the Western world, think about this. You can actually...let...Christian symbols fall apart, but if you would do this with [an] Arab symbol, you would have...a fatwa, and that sounds a little bit like what the state of this world is. So it's just something which I kind of didn't [think] was [an] important element, anyway, in the film, so I kind of left it out."

Then why make the movie at all? If you're so painfully afraid of one small group's reaction to your art, then don't be an artist.

For those that don't know, and I'm guessing Emmerich is one, a fatwa is a Muslim scholar's interpretation of Islamic law. It has no legal ramifications. It simply means a Muslim scholar has decided someone has broken Islamic law. A fatwa is 100% meaningless to 99.9% of the world.

Still, it is extremely disturbing that anyone would willingly appease potential terrorists because they fear something so benign as a fatwa. Not only does it show a complete lack of courage, but it sends the wrong message to everyone. First, it tells artists that they should be afraid to express themselves freely and fully. Second, it gives preferential treatment to one faith over others. Last but not least, it lets Muslim terrorist crackpots know that without even slight intimidation, that the world is ready to succumb to their threats and bow to them in fear.

Because of this, artists, Christians, Jews, politicians, and anyone who believes in freedom should boycott this film. For a whole host of other reasons, Muslims should boycott it. Simply stated, Roland Emmerich is afraid of Muslims and tells the world that they should be too. Through his blatant expressions of fear, this director states Islam is something to dread, that Muslims are a daunting, war-loving people, that Muslims should not be given equal treatment, that hateful people must be placated and appeased, and most shamefully of all, that the small percentage of Muslim terrorist wackos in this world are representatives of the entire Islamic faith.

If you value your creativity, your faith, your freedom, do not give money or support to those that willingly sell these most precious values to the highest threat! Do not refuse to create out of fear! Do not give up your faith! Do not lose your freedom! Boycott 2012!


Sources:

“Fatwa.” Wikipedia. .

“Kabaa.” Wikipedia. .

Lee, Patrick. “What even Roland Emmerich won't destroy: an Islamic Landmark.” Sci Fi Wire. 02 November 2009. .

“Ronald Emerich.” Internet Movie Data Base. .