As a flaming heterosexual and dyed-in-the-wool non-Muslim, A SINNER IN MECCA is a difficult documentary for me to review.
To begin, the reason for my wanting to watch this was due to the interest I have in Islam, from the perspective of a proud-to-be infidel. That I knew prior to viewing the movie that it was partially shot in Saudi Arabia, was another attraction. Not that I think Saudi Arabia is a great place to live but it's home to both Mecca and Medina, cities closed to infidels and to which it is said foreign diplomats are not even allowed to visit.
As an aside, the best book on Saudi Arabia I've read is by Gerald Posner, titled "Secrets of the Kingdom,' with Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Heretic" and "The History of Jihad" by Robert Spencer being two of the more important books on Islam I've read written by non-Muslims. Which is why I had to laugh when in voiceover narration we are told that the prophet Mohammed set out to promote peace. This is a half-truth at best if not a complete whitewash, as Mr. Spencer's well-sourced research shows the founder to have been the first militant jihadist and a brutal conqueror.
The premise of this documentary sounds intriguing -- a homosexual Muslim secretly records his Hajj, traveling to a land where Gays are forbidden and are known to be executed in public. The problem lies in that the doc is rather poorly filmed and feels more like the finished product of a meandering citizen journalist than a skilled filmmaker.
Although the human subject of the film is likable and makes for what I think to be a great role model for fellow followers of the faith (imagine if all Muslims -- nominal or otherwise -- viewed jihad the way this guy does, the world would be a much gentler place), I simply cannot praise A SINNER IN MECCA, being it places far too much emphasis on the subject's own lifestyle choice, as if homosexuals are the only ones mistreated in this sharia-compliant land. Consider, here is a country that for decades practiced slavery (of women and children), until abolishing this in and around the mid-1960s, and where women continue to be segregated and treated as chattel and are seldom seen in public.
One of the more disturbing images in the film (to me, anyway) shows a massive crowd of (apparent idol) worshippers circling a large structure, called the Kaaba. Interestingly, we learn that close to this site is a large shopping mall, one of the world's biggest, where inside a popular gourmet coffee franchise (more commonly known in the West) can be found. This to me was one of the more fascinating bits of info in the film, but alas the subject/director is too self-absorbed to ever venture too far from focusing on his sexual orientation, something of which he reveals his late mother did not approve of, a matter which seems to haunt him to this day.
Funny that there are apologists who twistedly regard those like Ayaan Hirsi Ali as being 'Islamophobic' and promoting a 'violent' reformation of the faith simply for their encouraging more tolerance and peace and for being rightly critical of theocratic totalitarianism and barbaric practices. By funny, I mean absurdly ironic, not humorous. I'm here reminded of the movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" that has the Al Brooks' character setting out on a tour of the Middle East with the aim of lightening the mood of somber and austere audiences, but to no avail. No surprise that A SINNER IN MECCA made me laugh only once, as explained above.
To begin, the reason for my wanting to watch this was due to the interest I have in Islam, from the perspective of a proud-to-be infidel. That I knew prior to viewing the movie that it was partially shot in Saudi Arabia, was another attraction. Not that I think Saudi Arabia is a great place to live but it's home to both Mecca and Medina, cities closed to infidels and to which it is said foreign diplomats are not even allowed to visit.
As an aside, the best book on Saudi Arabia I've read is by Gerald Posner, titled "Secrets of the Kingdom,' with Ayaan Hirsi Ali's "Heretic" and "The History of Jihad" by Robert Spencer being two of the more important books on Islam I've read written by non-Muslims. Which is why I had to laugh when in voiceover narration we are told that the prophet Mohammed set out to promote peace. This is a half-truth at best if not a complete whitewash, as Mr. Spencer's well-sourced research shows the founder to have been the first militant jihadist and a brutal conqueror.
The premise of this documentary sounds intriguing -- a homosexual Muslim secretly records his Hajj, traveling to a land where Gays are forbidden and are known to be executed in public. The problem lies in that the doc is rather poorly filmed and feels more like the finished product of a meandering citizen journalist than a skilled filmmaker.
Although the human subject of the film is likable and makes for what I think to be a great role model for fellow followers of the faith (imagine if all Muslims -- nominal or otherwise -- viewed jihad the way this guy does, the world would be a much gentler place), I simply cannot praise A SINNER IN MECCA, being it places far too much emphasis on the subject's own lifestyle choice, as if homosexuals are the only ones mistreated in this sharia-compliant land. Consider, here is a country that for decades practiced slavery (of women and children), until abolishing this in and around the mid-1960s, and where women continue to be segregated and treated as chattel and are seldom seen in public.
One of the more disturbing images in the film (to me, anyway) shows a massive crowd of (apparent idol) worshippers circling a large structure, called the Kaaba. Interestingly, we learn that close to this site is a large shopping mall, one of the world's biggest, where inside a popular gourmet coffee franchise (more commonly known in the West) can be found. This to me was one of the more fascinating bits of info in the film, but alas the subject/director is too self-absorbed to ever venture too far from focusing on his sexual orientation, something of which he reveals his late mother did not approve of, a matter which seems to haunt him to this day.
Funny that there are apologists who twistedly regard those like Ayaan Hirsi Ali as being 'Islamophobic' and promoting a 'violent' reformation of the faith simply for their encouraging more tolerance and peace and for being rightly critical of theocratic totalitarianism and barbaric practices. By funny, I mean absurdly ironic, not humorous. I'm here reminded of the movie "Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World" that has the Al Brooks' character setting out on a tour of the Middle East with the aim of lightening the mood of somber and austere audiences, but to no avail. No surprise that A SINNER IN MECCA made me laugh only once, as explained above.