When Movies Attack: ‘Innocence of Muslims’ and The Power of Film

As many of you are aware, late tuesday night, a protest outside the consulate in Benghazi turned to violence, resulting in the death of three Americans, including Ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens. The protest, and subsequent violence, was the result of the anger brought forth from an American film titled Innocence of Muslims. The anti-Islamic film, whose unknown creator is currently in hiding, mocks and insults the Prophet Muhammad.Most people agree that film has the power to inspire us, to enrich our lives, and to open our minds to new thoughts and ideas.  Unfortunately, the magic of film can be used for nefarious purposes, as shown with the events of Tuesday.  Upon first reading about this news there are several points of view that can be brought from this tragedy.

First, one could say that this film should not have been created in the first place.  The filmmaker, who goes by the name Sam Bacile, had to have known that this would not sit well the the Islamic community. Even though after watching clips from the film on YouTube, and seeing that it looks like a low-budget pile of garbage, it’s still perpetuating hate. It’s also probably a safe assumption that the filmmaker had no idea it would cause all this.

The other way of viewing this is that Bacile has the right to make any film he wants, regardless of who it might offend.  Wouldn’t it be in the best interest of the Muslims to not react with violence when something like this comes out, since that only further supports the negative connotations Westerners feel about them? There are plenty of films that come out on a yearly basis, that ruffle some feathers, but to say someone can’t make a movie that parodies this subject or that, is unacceptable.

What are your thoughts on this? Should filmmakers simply employ some self censorship when it comes to their work, or should they have free reign to create whatever they want? Comment below.

Further Reading:

Deadline compiled a great article trying to track down and profile the identity of the creator of Innocence of Muslims- Click Here
CNN Posted an article titled Six things to know about attack that killed Ambassador Stevens- Click Here