Disputing a Call for Balance in ‘Not Without My Daughter’
Re Sheila Benson’s Jan. 11 critique of “Not Without My Daughter”: It is ridiculous that she calls the film an “unrelenting anti-Islamic polemic.” To criticize it as unbalanced is akin to criticizing World War II films because they do not paint Germans in a good light.
The Islamic regime in Iran is repressive, and to expect a film about such to also take time to show “good Muslims” to balance out the bad is naive, if not downright ignorant.
Films, or good films at least, must take a point of view. In the case of this film, that point of view is Betty Mahmoody’s. Equal time is a wonderful concept for political campaigns; it has no place in dramatic storytelling.
As for Benson’s contention that there are no references to the “virtues to being an American-born wife under Islamic law,” I think any filmmaker would be hard pressed to even fabricate one.
ANTONY RICHARDS
Los Angeles
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