PrintAugust 6, 2007
Movies at war
The left-dominated movie industry will not take on the Jihadis. But that does not mean an independent movie cannot be made. The Passion of the Christ succeeded in spite of all the forces marshalled against it.
The following idea is derived from watching Amistad and Amazing Grace. Movies about slavery abound but none of them mention the source and origin of African slavery or the religion that condones and practices it to this very day.
We have an opportunity. Stephen Decatur was the first US naval hero (John Paul Jones was pre-Constitution but not to nit pick, Decatur was at least the 2nd hero). We have no movie celebrating Decatur or any recent movie at all about the "...shores of Tripoli...". The proposed movie can not only depict Decatur's derring do (lots of action shots) but can also oscillate back and forth between the ships/ the desert/ the Bey's palace/ the US Capitol making clear the war's meaning and motive.
Historical background can be worked in about the Muslim treatment of white Europeans enslaved by the Barbary Pirates, the forced conversions of American sailors and the defense by the Bey of Algiers (when he was confronted by the American ambassador over the abduction of American sailors) that it was his "right" as a Muslim to enslave Christians. Koranic passages supporting slavery could be contrasted with the Biblical passages being used at the very same time by Wilberforce to oppose slavery.
It's all here, the whole story just waiting to be told. It just has to be told honestly and without whitewashing. How can we get this started?
