Similar to the power dynamic in Hang Time, with the sister persuading the main character to compete in the basketball tournament, I thought it was very interesting that Amine had so much influence over his older brother, Tahir. Early on in the film we see Amine take charge in tracking down his missing father. He is the one to quarrel with one of his soccer mates who questions the father’s integrity. Later on it is Tahir who guides Amine into a room with their mother to inquire about their father’s whereabouts. Normally, we would think these roles to be reversed: the eldest is the responsible one who seeks out (controversial) family affairs in order to pass that information on to their younger siblings. Later on in the movie it is Amine who convinces Tahir to skip class for the purpose of searching for an image of their father (discovered by Amine) through the reel of film.
Amine is the more vocal and active sibling in the pursuit of his father, and once they are sent to the Muslim school, is the main one focused on returning home. Maybe it is Amine’s young age that accounts for his behavoir. As a young child raised by his mother and his “much-loved father”, the family structure that he has grown up in is important to him and he wants to protect that security. Or maybe it is because young children are naive and cannot get past illogical concepts. We see this when Amine looks up the word irresponsible, and concludes that it means– if someone is not responsible, than someone else is, which, if you did not know any better, is a legitimate explanation for the word. Amine is a rational decision maker; he is being abused at the Muslim school– so he persuades Tahir to run away, he believes he saw his father in a film– so he convinces Tahir to go look through a reel of film in search for an answer to his suspicions. Relatinf to pop culture, we can see in the show, Kids Say the Darndest Things that children are honest and, for the most part, only formulate sensible explanations to new or complex situations (My father dissapeared. My father looks like the man in the film. My father lied to us about his job. My father is a movie actor.) As we stated in class, they find a way to make teh nonsensical, sensible. And, ironically enough, the behavior of the children on the show can be attributed to their limited exposure to popular culture. After their minds are influenced by the media their thoughts ont hsi same new and complex situation will probably change accordingly.
Filed under: Uncategorized | Tagged: Abouna, Children, Hang Time
