Honor Killing Omitted in Weinstein Movie at Iranian-American Group’s Insistence
According to London’s Guardian [1] and a press release issued by the National Iranian American Council [2], the NIAC forced significant changes in the upcoming movie “Crossing Over [3].” The movie’s plot featured an Iranian family, and all scenes relating to an honor killing and the phrase “family honor” were removed after “ongoing conversations” with the director.
If “significant changes” were not made, the NIAC threatened that the film would “generate serious backlash against the Iranian American community.”
After the complaint, the producer “immediately contacted” the NIAC and “agreed to take its concerns into consideration.” Even more surprising was how much access and influence the NIAC had over the Weinstein film starring Sean Penn and Harrison Ford (my emphasis throughout):(Creeping shariah)
NIAC later submitted its analysis and suggestions to the production team, which changed elements of the script and even re-shot certain scenes. The final product, the director says, does not include any reference to “family honor” and does not depict an honor killing.
continue reading at….http://creepingsharia.wordpress.com/2008/08/17/hollywoods-weinstein-caves-deletes-honor-killing-from-movie/
I work in NIAC’s office in DC and I wanted to make sure I corrected a few inaccuracies in the post above.
1) NIAC is not a religious organization in the least and its officers, board members, and staff come from all religious backgrounds. The title to the piece is absolutely misleading. NIAC is an Iranian American organization and so your title should reflect that.
2) your use of the word “threatened” leaves the impression that NIAC promised retribution if the film was produced. In fact, as any objective reading of that quote would clearly show – NIAC stated that the movie would in fact ‘threaten’ the Iranian American community. Production of such a unfounded story would have had horrible repercussions for the million-strong Iranian American population that is one of the most well-integrated immigrant communities in the United States.
3) You have also chosen not to publish any of the links nor explanations that NIAC provided – namely that there has not been a single instance of an ‘honor killing’ in the Iranian American community since the first wave of immigrants arrived in the US in the 1960s. In fact, even in Iran today, despite the myriad human rights abuses that occur, ‘honor killings’ are extremely rare unlike in other countries in the region.
I hope you choose to inform your readers with facts rather than innuendo in the future.