Introduction
The Stoning of Soraya M. is a true story regarding a horrific injustice tale set in Iran about a book by a French Iranian journalist. It is directed by an “Iranian-American” filmmaker. The Stoning of Soraya M actually puts on a good face and, therefore, it appears to be a morality story regarding the religious extremism, misogyny and the deadliness of the highest inaction. The central essay about the film is about how not stoning women to death is admirable (Sahebjam: 30). The film is based on a true story regarding a woman coming from a small village in Iran who was framed for adultery by her own husband and eventual stoned to death by people in the town square. Death through stoning is something that occurs in the world. However, the circumstances in Soraya M are really depicted with a broad brush to the extent that no truth can be revealed at all.
The Stoning of Soraya M. can be termed as being a misrepresentation and objectifying of the Muslim woman. However, the movie merged as being an incredibly moving extraordinary moral courage and womanhood in the face of injustice. Through Zahra, Soraya’s aunt, viewers are able to see a Muslim woman who not only uses her mind and conscience, but also uses her voice for long term positive impacts. The case of Soraya, therefore, depicts a story which is dipped in a “state of emotional horror” that measures the subjectivity and the rights through western epistemologies. Rather than just making a straight adaptation, the screenplay in the film by Nowrasteh and Betsy his wife is actually aimed at being a representative of the practice which commonly happens in various nations. Their intention was therefore to show the impact of mob mentality and also the irreversible nature that is sometimes associated with it when it reaches at a critical mass.
In order to give visual authenticity to the film, its producers made a risky decision by opting to film it in the Middle East whereby stoning was allowed as a punishment by the Sharia Laws. As a result, the harsh realities regarding life in the third world nations in the 21st century are truly portrayed in the tiny village’s primitive buildings which are completely isolated from its adjacent neighbour. It is also through Zahra that the viewers are able to see a woman who uses her conscience, minds, and voice through facing up to what is known as the “men of religion”. It is also through her constant prayer and references to the almighty God that that ultimate justice is used in symbolizing true Islam as opposed to a version which is followed by the men in the film who actually used religion for their own personal and selfish gains (Montalbano:15). In the movie, Zahra is therefore depicted as being both physically strong and fearless especially when she slapped the mayor of the area and spiritually when she asserted that God was great after aiding the journalist to escape unhurt with her story.
through Zahra’s articulate and passionate voice, the stereotype regarding the voiceless Muslim women is well countered. For instance, Zahra is depicted as being not only a world-wise woman, but also depicted as being an educated and independent woman who was never afraid of speaking her mind up or afraid of any authority. This is because she exposes to the world Soraya’s tragic story not only in a move aimed to be against Islam, but also against the men who are keen to misinterpret religion in order to institutionalize “cultural patriarchy” and misogyny. Soraya, the women who is innocently stoned to death due to mere suspect by her husband aimed at covering up his own personal motives is depicted as being a courageous and strong wiled woman though not as strongly assertive as her own aunt.
The Stoning of Soraya M. as a film depicts a sense of womanhood that is shared with the women who gather in order to support Soraya and also speak out against the stoning incident and burry Soraya’s remains during the dead of the night. In the film, the vital issue of moral hypocrisy and patriarchy is highly brought to the fore via the behaviour of the “village mullah” who is a complete fraud and whose religious vigour is eventually offset through his past references and how he is blackmailed easily into going alone with Soraya’s husband’s plans. On the other hand, the women on the other hand are depicted in the movie with lots of moral integrity. It is therefore through this radical opposition prevalent among women and men that it comes too polarizing and problematic thus portraying a picture that indeed, women and men are bitter opponents and therefore they can never be on the same side. Nowrasteh therefore attempts balancing this through the use of some few women characters in the film that support the decision made by men and even the Village Mayor who is also trapped between his different roles of being a leader and his own personal sense of moral righteousness (Montalbano:25).
It can be correctly ascertained that The Stoning of Soraya is a very strong indictment against both the double standards and hypocrisy which is reflected by some of the Muslim communities in the world regarding women and men. Despite the fact that the movie cannot be termed as being Islamophobic, it doesn’t objectify the Muslim women as being both helpless and meek creatures. Despite the fact that most of the characters in the movie are just rather one dimensional, the movie is still so powerful with its main message that abuse of any form should never be tolerated in the society and that even any individual who is kindly disposed is capable of being swayed through mob mentality (Sahebjam: 39). Watching the moving or film and then eventually assigning entire blame to the Middle East and the Muslims alone would be missing a critical point since that would imply ignoring the wider implications regarding the whole story. This is because cruelty and abuse happens in various forms around the world and therefore failure to stop it means that we shall also stand to be blamed just like those people who are known to instigate it.
In conclusion, The Stoning of Soraya M. is a brazen approach that could not be less like the discreet style which resulted to the contemporary cinema in Iran rising to international acclaim. The film easily gets people talking because of the theme that it contains. It was quite unfortunate that fellow villagers turned against Soraya when her husband wrongly accused her of adultery.
Works Cited
Sahebjam, Freidoune, “The Stoning of Soraya M.”, New York, Arcade Publishing, 2004.
Montalbano, Dave, “The Adventures of Cinema Dave in the Florida Motion Picture World”, New York, Xlibris Corporation, 2010).
