The "Non-Citizen" in the US
Just seen the film 'The Citizen'. The movie relates the struggles immigrants have to often go through in the United States despite being good samaritans. At the center of the story is Ibrahim Jarrah (played by Khaled El Nabawy), who arrives in the US on the 10th of September and becomes caught up in a post-9/11 world that he and everybody were least prepared for. He is detained without any cause and kept in prison for six months. He gets released eventually, free from all charges, but does so after having suffered much at the hands of the government.
The movie brings to light the panicked reaction that the Bush administration gave after the September 11 attacks and the negative consequences that had to be born by innocent people like Jarrah. Every Middle Eastern, South East Asian or bearded immigrant was begun to be considered a terrorist. They were imprisoned for no reason, deported to unknown places and no record of their arrest was made. The people were, literally, made to disappear from the face of this Earth. While some called it a strong security measure that had to be taken in the interest of national security, others would call it sheer racism and a violation of the values of fairness, equality and justice that the US says it stands for.
In the film, Jarrah is a good guy. One who believes in Karma and 'what goes around comes back around' philosophy. He helps people whenever he can whether he knows those people or not. We see him fighting to rescue a white young man from a bunch of ruffians, he even helps his homeless friend-Micky. Micky, who is a thief, ends up ransacking the house Jarrah lives in. But when Jarrah's deportation trial begins, he is there to support him and apologizes for what he did on national t.v.
Jarrah believes that everything happens for a reason and that nothing is coincidental. And his theory is proven right after everyone whom he ever helped randomly gather to help him when the US government tries to send him back to his homeland in Syria citing that he is a national security threat. Diane whom he helped from her violent boyfriend provides him a home to live in. The young man he saved from being bashed up by ruffians provides him a job at an automobile showroom and an attorney to fight his case. The Indian grocery store owner, whom Jarrah taught to value family, collects public support for his cause and ensures that the issue is highlighted across the country.
The movie not only brought to light the unfair discrimination the immigrants in the US still have to go through but also showed that a good samaritan's good deeds never goes in vain. That, what goes around DOES come back around.
The movie brings to light the panicked reaction that the Bush administration gave after the September 11 attacks and the negative consequences that had to be born by innocent people like Jarrah. Every Middle Eastern, South East Asian or bearded immigrant was begun to be considered a terrorist. They were imprisoned for no reason, deported to unknown places and no record of their arrest was made. The people were, literally, made to disappear from the face of this Earth. While some called it a strong security measure that had to be taken in the interest of national security, others would call it sheer racism and a violation of the values of fairness, equality and justice that the US says it stands for.
In the film, Jarrah is a good guy. One who believes in Karma and 'what goes around comes back around' philosophy. He helps people whenever he can whether he knows those people or not. We see him fighting to rescue a white young man from a bunch of ruffians, he even helps his homeless friend-Micky. Micky, who is a thief, ends up ransacking the house Jarrah lives in. But when Jarrah's deportation trial begins, he is there to support him and apologizes for what he did on national t.v.
Jarrah believes that everything happens for a reason and that nothing is coincidental. And his theory is proven right after everyone whom he ever helped randomly gather to help him when the US government tries to send him back to his homeland in Syria citing that he is a national security threat. Diane whom he helped from her violent boyfriend provides him a home to live in. The young man he saved from being bashed up by ruffians provides him a job at an automobile showroom and an attorney to fight his case. The Indian grocery store owner, whom Jarrah taught to value family, collects public support for his cause and ensures that the issue is highlighted across the country.
The movie not only brought to light the unfair discrimination the immigrants in the US still have to go through but also showed that a good samaritan's good deeds never goes in vain. That, what goes around DOES come back around.
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