As an Arab-American woman, I am of course aware that the title of my book is an ethnic slur. Indeed, I selected the title to highlight one of the novel's major themes: racism. In the tradition of Dick Gregory's autobiography Nigger, the Jewish magazine Heeb, or the feminist magazine Bitch, the title is rude and shocking, but it is not gratuitous. Besides the fact that the main character must endure taunting about her ethnicity (including being called a towelhead), so much of the novel's plot is fueled by the characters' attitudes toward race.
I was not contacted by any organization or group when my novel was released in 2005. I don't know if this was because no one had heard about my book, or because they didn't feel it would have as much of an impact as a film. Having lived in a world in which my book has existed without protest for the past three years, however, I feel I have at least some view onto what to expect from the public in terms of a response. The bottom line is, never once have I encountered anyone who didn't understand the seriousness of the word "towelhead" and all its implications.
This is not to say that I don't find these concerns legitimate -- I absolutely do. We live in a racist society, one in which people continue to use ethnic slurs to delineate those who are different than they are. Realistically speaking, though, these people are neither the audience for my book, nor for the film. They will continue to use whatever language they wish whether or not a movie called "Towelhead" is released. For this reason, I am pleased that Warner Bros. is standing by the title.
Towelhead, like its many cousins -- nigger, spic, gook, etc. -- is an ugly word. The job of the artist, however, has been, and always will be, to highlight that which is ugly in the hopes of finding something beautiful. This charge, by necessity, will at times put the artist at odds with admirable groups such as CAIR. The solution, it seems to me, is not to force the artist to alter his or her work, but instead to use the occasion of that work as an entry point for meaningful debate and discussion.
ALICIA ERIAN -- In addition to Towelhead, Erian wrote a book of short stories called The Brutal Language of Love. She is currently working on a memoir.
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As a gay man, I know how it feels to be called hateful names simply because of who I am. Therefore, I felt it was important to retain the title of Alicia Erian's novel, in which she so effectively dramatizes the pain inflicted by such language, something many people of non-minority descent never have to face. I believe one of the unintended consequences of forbidding such words to be spoken is imbuing those words with more power than they should ever have, and helping create the illusion that the bigotry and racism expressed by such cruel epithets is less prevalent than it actually is, which we all know is sadly not the case.
ALAN BALL -- "Towelhead" is written for the screen and directed by Alan Ball, Academy Award-winning writer of "American Beauty," and creator of "Six Feet Under" and "True Blood."
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One of the ideas conveyed in the film is that we all make assumptions about each other, without knowing, based on racial stereotypes. It was our goal in releasing "Towelhead" to help make this point.
Some of our past releases, like "Paradise Now," were extremely controversial and elicited demands that the film not be released; "Good Night, and Good Luck." drew criticism from some as well. Warner Bros. supported the release of these films then, as they do now of "Towelhead," as a medium to create dialogue and support the expression of ideas, as controversial or as unpopular as they may be. We apologize for any offense that is caused by this title but support Alan Ball and Alicia Erian in this effort.
WARNER INDEPENDENT PICTURES
Since 9/11, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has received thousands of hate incident reports against Muslims, Arabs, and those perceived to be such. CAIR continues to see a strong trend in hate incidents and discrimination targeting Muslims, Arabs, Sikhs, even Hispanics. To this day, CAIR receives reports of mosques being vandalized, children being confronted with slurs such as "terrorist" or "towelhead" at school, and women wearing the Islamic headscarf having difficulty landing jobs.
It is against the backdrop of these pervasive anti-Muslim and anti-Arab attitudes in our society that CAIR chose to contact Warner Bros. regarding its film Towelhead.
On August 21, representatives of CAIR's Greater Los Angeles Area chapter attended a screening of Towelhead that was arranged by Warner Bros. After seeing the film, CAIR chose not to comment on its content, but made a specific request that Warner Bros. change the title to Nothing is Private, the title under which it was originally released.
The word "towelhead" is a racial slur used against people of Muslim faith or Arab origin, and increasingly against members of the Sikh community. Although the studio believes that, by using such a title, it will generate discussion and debate on the derogatory term, this anticipated advantage will be offset by a greater harm in the form of more exposure and acceptance of the derogatory expression, essentially desensitizing people to the vulgarity of the term.
CAIR places high value on free expression and exchange of ideas, a freedom that enables us to challenge public misperceptions of Muslims and other minorities and to work for the collective betterment of our society. Part of CAIR's work involves supporting media endeavors that seek to address injustices and improve human relations in our communities.
If the goal is to have a positive effect, it is important that the ideas be expressed in a way that is socially responsible and does not undermine the very purpose for which the expression was intended. Regardless of the artistic motives behind the film's intent to expose and battle racism, the title of the film has failed that test.
Here is why: although the filmmakers argue that the title of the film will prompt a discourse on the derogatory term, a look at the film's synopsis shows the coming-of-age story of an Arab American teenager. The film's website states: "In private, however, she conducts her sexual awakening with all the false confidence that pop culture and her neighbor's magazines have provided. The result is a funny, dark, bold and harrowing look at the confusion and misguided exploration of youth..."
After watching the film, CAIR representatives held the view that the story revolves around the sexual exploration of a young teenager, set in intensely graphic scenarios. Racism is an element explored in the film but is in no way the focal point. Additionally, considering the film's limited release, many people who are exposed to this slur through advertising materials and movie trailers may never even see the movie nor realize its intent to challenge racism.
While we at CAIR disagree with Warner Bros.'s decision not to change the title, we remain committed to working with Warner Bros. and other studios in helping to portray an accurate image of Islam and Muslims.
CAIR is the largest Muslim advocacy group in the United States, with 35 offices in the U.S. and Canada. As an advocacy group, CAIR representatives seek to present the American public with true information about Islam and Muslims, bring Americans together in the spirit of brotherhood and cooperation, and strengthen the values of equality and justice that our founding fathers believed in.
Council on American-Islamic Relations, Greater Los Angeles Area
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We understand why certain Muslim, Arab and Sikh groups find any use of the word "towelhead" disturbing given its offensive and derogatory use as an ethnic slur. So, to see a feature length film debut with the title "Towelhead" is more than just startling, it's provocative. Using an ethnic slur as the title of a film is controversial, but in this case, it's clearly meant to put the film's theme of racism front and center.
At its core, the film's plot is about a young Arab-American teenager's difficulty fitting in and being accepted in a suburban Texas town while the first Gulf War rages on. We watch Jasira struggle simultaneously with her obsession with sex, her bigoted Army reservist neighbor who preys upon her, and her abusive and racist Arab father. What she faces from kids at school and her neighbors is stereotypes and racism so severe it hits her to the core. More than once Jasira is called "towelhead," "sandnigger" and "cameljockey." Jasira also faces assumptions about who she is based on her Arab heritage. The use of such painful racial slurs in the film and in its title have been used in countless other films which expose racism. And so, the title "Towelhead" brings to light the racism and bigotry so many people face around this country.
After viewing a screening of the film, we at the Muslim Public Affairs Council raised our concerns not about the title, but about the film's explicit and disturbing content. The overall image of Arabs created by the film just adds to the skewed portrayals we're all too familiar with. Central to that is Jasira, who reinforces the stereotype of the helpless and victimized young Arab woman who can't save herself and so can only be saved by some kind white neighbors. We understand that the title is shocking, but we're more disturbed about the sexual content of the film than the title, which seeks to bring attention to the timely issue of anti-Arab bigotry.
Muslim Public Affairs Council
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The word "towelhead" is a crude, derogatory, and xenophobic reference to individuals who wear turbans and is ordinarily used as a slur against Arabs, Muslims, Sikhs, and South Asians. Its use as a mainstream movie title is an attempt by Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Warner Independent Pictures to capitalize on the term's shock value.
One of the unfortunate ironies of marketing a movie with the title of Towelhead will be to reinforce the popular misconception that people who wear turbans are necessarily Arab or Muslim. The point that appears to have been missed in the course of prescreening this film is that the overwhelming majority of Americans who wear turbans at all times in accordance with their faith–and who suffer hate crimes and discrimination and verbal abuse because of it–are followers of Sikhism, the fifth largest religion in the world.
The title of this film appears to be gratuitous not only in light of the fact that the underlying story is largely concerned with issues of sexuality but also because it was formerly called Nothing is Private. We do not believe that Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Warner Independent Pictures would seriously consider marketing a movie with the title Nigger, Gook, Kike, or Faggot and accordingly cannot understand why it is appropriate to use another similarly destructive and degrading racial slur as a movie title.
According to the filmmakers, "one of the unintended consequences of forbidding such words to be spoken is imbuing those words with more power than they should ever have." As Sikh Americans, and as individuals who have been demeaned as "towelheads" in the course of our own lives, our objective is not to forbid the use of offensive words in fictional dialogue when such dialogue serves a higher purpose; at the same time, we can attest that "towelhead" is a powerful slur, and it is precisely for this reason that its use as a movie title can be understood and explained primarily as a marketing ploy.
We are disappointed that Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. and Warner Independent Pictures have decided to exploit a slur as a movie title, and we hope that they will make concerted efforts in the future to draw more focused attention to the festering problems of racism, hatred, and ignorance in American society.
The Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund
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The concept of cinema can be described as 'the cultural transmission of symbolic forms' which include actions, utterances, images and texts and are embedded in structured social contexts which involve relations of power. These forms are produced by subjects and are recognized as meaningful constructs. As a form of entertainment, it also plays ‘a leading role in shaping attitudes and ideas, including political ideas’. In-depth studies of Arabs and Muslims in Hollywood films over the past eighty years have found that out of the nine hundred films examined, only five percent of all the movies (approximately fifty movies) debunked the barbaric image of Islam.
There are very few films that show Islam in a positive light. Dr. Rubina Ramji, Film Editor for the Journal of Religion and Film, is one the scholars who has researched the images of Islam in Hollywood films. Dr. Ramji screened Towelhead at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival and found that this film is indeed one of those few that promote different faiths and the challenges faced by these groups in America, while offering a much more balanced representation. Using the derogatory term "towelhead" as the film's title, in the context of this film, provides a different meaning to the term, one that encourages viewers to observe these challenges first-hand and to better understand how Muslim characters have been stereotypically displayed in previous films.
By bringing forth the racist attitudes which have arisen about Muslims living in America, Towelhead openly reveals projected fears about difference and offers a constructive, yet difficult, approach to bring forth understanding. We, the undersigned scholars, have spent years researching and understanding the impact that cinema has had and continues to have on various religious groups in American culture. We hope that the true intentions of the semi-autobiographical novel, written by Alicia Erian, who has encountered such racism as an Arab-American, will continue to be accurately reflected in the film Towelhead, by leaving the title as is—a thought-provoking and difficult term that needs to be deconstructed.
Dr. William Blizek, Founding Editor, Journal of Religion and Film; Professor of Philosophy and Religion, University of Nebraska at Omaha
Dr. Amir Hussain, Associate Professor of Theological Studies, Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles; Author of Oil and Water: Two Faiths, One God (2006)
Dr. John Lyden, Professor and Chair of Religion, Dana College; Chair of the Religion, Film, and Visual Culture Group of the American Academy of Religion; Author of Film as Religion: Myth, Morals, Rituals (2003)
Dr. Rubina Ramji, Film Editor, Journal of Religion and Film; Professor of Religious Studies (Islam and media), Cape Breton University
Rev. Danny Fisher, Doctoral Candidate, University of the West
Tony S. L. Michael, Assistant Professor, Religious Studies/Biblical Studies, Atkinson Faculty of Liberal and Professional Studies, York University, Toronto
Dr. Andrew H. Trotter, Jr., Center for Christian Study, Virginia
*** The above statements represent the personal views of the signatories and are not attributable to any particular organization.
Host Alan Ball, Peter Macdissi, Summer Bishil and Hussam Ayloush, CAIR (Council on American-Islamic Relations)
Host Alan Ball, author Alicia Erian and Rajdeep Singh Jolly, Legal Director, SALDEF (Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund)