Kite Runner movie fiasco

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6992751.stm

In a country and culture where honor is held in such high regard that lives are lost in keeping it safe, the directors of Kite Runner- a movie based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini- put the lives and honor of one of the young actors and his family in an extremely precarious position.

A little background is necessary before I delve in to the legal and humanitarian issues of it all. The book, for those who have not read it, contains the witnessing of a rape by the protagonist of the book of his servant and friend, by a psycopath. Keeping in mind that Afghanistan has been wrestling with Talebanisation for the past forty odd years, and has only recently been half emptied (read: bombed) of its civilian population in an American quest for 'democracy and modernity' (American style), topics such as sex are still largely taboo. And rape is...well...it is a sexual activity despite the lack of consent. Therefore to write about it with fictional characters is one thing, to picturize it on a child, that too an Afghan child, we can only start to imagine the repercussions.

To make matters worse, the father, Ahmed Jaan, of the young actor, Ahmed Khan Mahmizada, on whom the rape scene is filmed, claims he was never told about the scene, and once picturized was assured by the director that it would be cut from the movie. Ahmed Khan also claims he was unaware of the rape scene when he agreed to be a part of the movie. The producer, Rebecca Yeldham, denies the director promised Ahmed Jaan that the scene would not be filmed or would be cut from the final reel. She also claims that the scene has been filmed in a non-gratuitous and discreet manner, while also maintaining the so-called integrity of the book and making it clear that the incident is clearly sexual.

That brings us the legal problems first. Despite not having a filming background, I do know that everytime a film is made for commercial purposes, a release form has to be signed by those being filmed with knowledge of how the film will be used and what they will be portraying in the movie. If the person being filmed refuses to give their consent, the movie-makers cannot legally release the movie.

Although the BBC news article does not mention release forms, it does raise a lot of questions, for instance, did the actors and their parents know exactly what was going to be filmed? If they did not, and assuming they signed release forms, are those legally enforceable? Also, since the scene is being shot on a minor, his parent's consent is mandatory. In the Yoo Ess of Ay these details would be stringently enforced. In Afghanistan, who cares? take advantage of naivety and ignorance. After all, what's a little rape scene on a 10 year old when he is already undergoing the hardships of living in a country being bombarded by the noble super powers. They can deal with it.

But imagine the hue and cry if this took place here. People would be up in arms about the exploitation of a minor. Oh and if the producers were muslims/arabs/brown/not your typical blue-white-and-blonde American, there would be some more culture bashing.

And what can the Afghan family do? hope that the bbc news article enraged enough people to protest about this? Wait for the movie to come out, only to become outcasts in their community? sue the deep pockets?

While this story will probably fizzle away for us soon, the incidents will and have impacted a child and his family, and is not merely a story for them, but bitter reality. They have yet again been taken advantage of, and their voices will again go unheard unless we join our voices with theirs and make it one voice so loud that it cannot be ignored.

The bbc article gives more details, and I am sure you will find more travesties of justice when you read it. This is a very superfluous view of the issue. Feel free to leave comments, disagreements and corrections