"2012" Director feared fatwa-spares the Kaaba

[parishioner]

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-roland-emmerich-fatwa.html


When I interviewed director Roland Emmerich a few months ago about his upcoming disaster flick "2012," the first question I asked was, "Why do you like killing the world?" His response: "It makes for a good story."

Over the past fifteen years, Emmerich has crafted some great tales about global doom, featuring some spectacular scenes of destruction. He had aliens zap the White House in "Independence Day," he let a massive lizard flatten New York City in "Godzilla," and he sent killer tornadoes through downtown Los Angeles in "The Day After Tomorrow."

For "2012," Emmerich set his sites on destroying the some biggest landmarks around the world, from Rome to Rio. But there's one place that Emmerich wanted to demolish but didn't: the Kaaba, the cube-shaped structure located in the center of Mecca. It's the focus of prayers and the site of the Hajj, the biggest, most important pilgrimage in Islam.

"Well, I wanted to do that, I have to admit," the filmmaker told scifiwire.com. "But my co-writer Harald [Kloser] said, 'I will not have a fatwa on my head because of a movie.' And he was right."

Emmerich went on: "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."

Traditionally, a fatwa has meant religious opinion by an Islamic scholar or imam. The term has gained currency in the West after Iran's Ayatollah Khomeini issued a death sentence in the form of a fatwa against British author Salman Rushdie for alleged blasphemies in his book "The Satanic Verses" in 1989. As a result, the Indian-born writer was forced into hiding for most of the '90s.

Emmerich has no qualms about wrecking other major landmarks, however. The massive dome of St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican rolls on top of a crowd of churchgoers. The huge Christ the Redeemer statue that looms over Rio de Janeiro disintegrates. And, of course, the White House gets crushed when a wave drops the aircraft carrier John F. Kennedy on top of it.

The director was also reportedly approached by people hoping to get their famous landmarks trashed, like Taiwan's Taipei 101, which is the tallest completed building in the world. There's no word yet if that structure will meet the same on-screen fate as the Vatican and the White House. "2012" opens nationwide on November 13.

Not than anyone really cares about this lame movie, but I'm confused as to why the director had no qualms with destroying Christian symbols but doesn't touch the Kaaba. What is this fatwa and why are we afraid of it? Is a fatwa like the "black spot" of the islamic world?

[chadbag]

He does not want crazy radical muslims trying to kill him.

Probably more than you really want to know: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatwa

[LOKNLOD]

Not than anyone really cares about this lame movie, but I'm confused as to why the director had no qualms with destroying Christian symbols but doesn't touch the Kaaba. What is this fatwa and why are we afraid of it? Is a fatwa like the "black spot" of the islamic world?

Statistically speaking, it's because he's much, much less worried about the chances of a Christian packing a mid-80's Benz full of diesel and fertilizer and ramming it into the side of his house because some imam on the other side of the world is upset that he computerized an image of a building and then computerized it being destroyed.

[thopkins22]

http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/movie-talk-roland-emmerich-fatwa.html



Not than anyone really cares about this lame movie, but I'm confused as to why the director had no qualms with destroying Christian symbols but doesn't touch the Kaaba. What is this fatwa and why are we afraid of it? Is a fatwa like the "black spot" of the islamic world?

Because generally Christian leaders(at least the modern ones) don't demand that their followers kill someone for producing entertainment they don't like. Even from the extremists you generally have to be an abortionist or something. Many sects of Islam however have proven themselves to be so radical that they would kill and riot over a cartoon that none of them saw and nobody else in the world cared about.

Would you willingly endanger your own life and the lives of your friends and family for an insignificant scene in a fictional movie? I would hope the answer is no.

Should we hide our heads any time the name Muhammad comes up? Clearly not. But I'm not going to blame anyone(particularly a writer/director of fictional works,) for not taking personal risks. Maybe I'd applaud him for taking those risks, but who can blame him for shying away?

[parishioner]

So this fatwa carries a lot of weight then. Im just trying to explore the severity of what this type of thing brings. I didn't know if it was legitimate or just a blow smoke up the ass kind of thing.

[thopkins22]

So this fatwa carries a lot of weight then. Im just trying to explore the severity of what this type of thing brings. I didn't know if it was legitimate or just a blow smoke up the ass kind of thing.

They can indeed be serious. Ten years ago chances are that you'd be just fine with an unlisted phone number and not traveling to Saudi Arabia. But with as much hatred towards the west as exists today? Why take the risk over something insignificant? Would anyone here have noticed or cared that he didn't blow up Mecca if it hadn't been pointed out?

[parishioner]

I guess I am more frustrated with the fact that we have to dance around these types of issues. Its ridiculous to me that they would care about something like that when the entire film is about the whole world coming to an end. Where is the logic in taking offense to something like that. You would think they would take it for what it is and not a personal attack and hell they would probably enjoy it since they would get to see the white house demolished. Since you can't reason with these people, I guess the director did the right thing erring on the side of caution.

[thopkins22]

I guess I am more frustrated with the fact that we have to dance around these types of issues. Its ridiculous to me that they would care about something like that when the entire film is about the whole world coming to an end. Where is the logic in taking offense to something like that. You would think they would take it for what it is and not a personal attack and hell they would probably enjoy it since they would get to see the white house demolished. Since you can't reason with these people, I guess the director did the right thing erring on the side of caution.

Muhammad would never allow his people to die from blasphemous Mayan tales.;) The whole notion already ticks them off.

[SteyrAUG]

Can we just blow it up in real life and call it even?

[kwelz]

Hey I look forward to seeing this movie. I love seeing the world get torn up in various and creative ways.

[MPi-KMS-72]

I guess I am more frustrated with the fact that we have to dance around these types of issues. Its ridiculous to me that they would care about something like that when the entire film is about the whole world coming to an end. Where is the logic in taking offense to something like that. You would think they would take it for what it is and not a personal attack and hell they would probably enjoy it since they would get to see the white house demolished. Since you can't reason with these people, I guess the director did the right thing erring on the side of caution.

You wouldn't think someone would take offense at political cartoons (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jyllands-Posten_Muhammad_cartoons_controversy)either but there is(was?) a bounty on the heads of the Danish cartoonists who made those Mohammed cartoons too. It is a different mentality...
http://www.brusselsjournal.com/files/Mohammed-drawings-newspaper1.jpg

[Spiffums]

As if being an American wasn't enough reason for a rag head to hate you.

[QuickStrike]

That movie looks REALLY lame. According to real mass extinction cycles, we aren't in any danger for at least a couple million years...

Not as disgusting as the SAW movies but still..

[MPi-KMS-72]

See also Theo van Gogh (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_van_Gogh_(film_director))

[DrMark]

FWIW, this story was forwarded to me at work under the subject line "terrorism works."

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Can we just blow it up in real life and call it even?

Hee, hee, giggle, giggle. Now that's funny.


Not to take it too far off track, but I've never understood why we have such problems with enemies that cringe at the sight of a side of bacon or a used tampon.

Who could ever have a problem with 'torture' that included Baco's Bits? That's not torture, that's a salad bar. Spread some honey on a guys junk and walk him into a pigery. Drop some hungry boars in kevlar into the A&P-stan mountians for the winter.

Sorry, been couped up at home the last few days.

[Rider79]

Can we just blow it up in real life and call it even?

Exactly what I was thinking.

I give the director credit for at least saying this:


Emmerich went on: "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.

[Honu]

we should blow it up with dirty pig tampons tied to slabs of bacon and strapped onto more pigs :)

get a whole bunch of the terrorists and shave em bald and put them in the blast range

[Gentoo]

It speaks volumes about the kind of situation we are in. The elephant in the room that noone will discuss (because it isn't politically correct) is that the western (Judeo-christian) world has mentally and culturally evolved and progressed, while the Islamic world is still stuck somewhere in the dark ages. These people are 12th century tribesman with Kalashnikovs and RPGs.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

It speaks volumes about the kind of situation we are in. The elephant in the room that noone will discuss (because it isn't politically correct) is that the western (Judeo-christian) world has mentally and culturally evolved and progressed, while the Islamic world is still stuck somewhere in the dark ages. These people are 12th century tribesman with Kalashnikovs and RPGs.

and petro dollars, chalets in Vail, lobyists in Washington and sympethizers in universities.

I can't eat a pulled pork sandwhich in Medina.

[ChristisKing]

Christianity is a peaceful religion unlike that head removal squad that lives in the middle east and around the world.
Now I know someone will say in the name of Christianity people have died but usually it was because of Muslims, but not always. Any of those inquisitions that took place back in the day were bad too. The problem with that argument is those inquisitions were head hunts for a king or a ruling theocracy.
No it doesn't make it better but different. Muslims have written in there holy book to kill muslims or enslave them, Christians don't.

That said destroy our monuments cause we really don't care enough to threaten you with death.

[LegalAlien]

Can we just blow it up in real life and call it even?

http://i410.photobucket.com/albums/pp186/LegalAlien1949/ahmed.jpg

Silence!!!!!

I get a Fatwa!!!!

I KILL U!!!

;)

[SteyrAUG]

Christianity is a peaceful religion unlike that head removal squad that lives in the middle east and around the world.
Now I know someone will say in the name of Christianity people have died but usually it was because of Muslims, but not always. Any of those inquisitions that took place back in the day were bad too. The problem with that argument is those inquisitions were head hunts for a king or a ruling theocracy.
No it doesn't make it better but different. Muslims have written in there holy book to kill muslims or enslave them, Christians don't.

That said destroy our monuments cause we really don't care enough to threaten you with death.

Not to mention Christians did it about 1,000 years ago and Muslims are still doing it today.

[FromMyColdDeadHand]

Do a directors cut where they have all the other stuff is being destroyed but the Muslim items are left alone and nothing happens to them. Then to paraphrase Mark Twain's sentiments of Cincinnati, just run a subtitle:


The devestation will reach the Muslim world in approximately 8-12 centuries.

[cschwanz]

completely off topic from the discussion, but about the same movie....

The day everyone is talking about in 2012, the end of world...my birthday.:D