Roach Damascus

My main criticism of this movie is that it pulled its punches when it came to Islam, and resolved the tension of the plot with a Fairy-tale, Deus Ex Machine style twist. But you can't have everything. I don't understand how anyone can simultaneously criticise the director for being amateurish, AND for glorifying the sexualisation of pre-teens, with that painfully unsubtle ending with the oh so obvious symbolism that shows Amy rejecting both her Islamic 'roots' and the 'decadent' European culture she lived in, showing outfits representative of each other side by side. There are also brave moral watchdogs raising 'concerns' about the treatment of the young actress. That is certainly a conversation worth having. Yet from the research I have done points to the conclusion that every care was taken to ensure the mental health of the actress. Amy the character was adrift, with no-one to tell her what was wrong. She had to figure that out for herself. The Actress no doubt knew. Also, if you want to have this conversation, you should at least be consistent, and watch Taxi Driver, and sort out in your own mind why you think that is not just as bad, or why or why not it deserves a pass. Scorsese did not even direct Jodie Foster - he left it up to De Niro. One thing that really struck me, was how oblivious these young girls were, to the actual significance of what they were doing. It rings true though. These girls were innocent, mimicking without understanding. This rings true though. It is pedophiles and pedophile apologists who try to say that pre-teens have a libido, or understand sex enough to consent. The Director did her homework, and depicted, as far as I can tell things that actually are happening, that girls that young ARE doing, without understanding. No-one can explain to me how it is possible to be permanently scarred by something not inherently traumatic, that you don't even understand. Much of the outrage about this movie seems to be from people that did not watch it, or who just want to shoot the messenger.