Mohit Mokal

Response Paper
Islam and Modernity
Movies Reviewed
- East is East (1999)
- West is West (2010)

For the purpose of this course, watching the two movies showed
the vast cultural differences not only in one family, but also in two
different parts of the world. In the first movie, the family of Mr.
Khan is shown to live in Manchester, England. The middle class
English society during the 70s, where the people spoke English and
listened to rock music, where indulging with the other genders
during the usual times of the day and at parties, is a most common
practice. The women are liberal and have a sense of
independence, and also follow a modestly western fashion. The
children of Mr. Khan, ranging from about 23 to 9, are all shown at
different points in their life. How in their time of childhood and
teenage, their religion and culture exchanges with the modern
English society. Some of them practice Islam quite strictly while

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they all are to some degree non-practicing Muslims, only born to a

Muslim father.

A very important point in the childrens lives is when their eldest

brother, who is above the age of marriage, is subjected to being
married, and whilst under pressure from his father he succumbs to
the marriage up until he is physically present at the altar and is
asked the question whether he wishes to be married. He runs,
because he realizes the gravity of the act hes about to perform,
under the pressure brought on him by his father, forcing him to get
married to a Muslim girl. The eldest son is later shown to be a
homosexual and a fashion designer, which is completely
unorthodox in a Muslim household, and hence we notice a point in
his life where he couldnt live under the pressure of religion and on
the other hand ones sense of self, of identity, and freedom. His
father Mr. Khan, renounces him to be living anymore, and declares
to any one who mentions him that his eldest son passed away and
is no more alive, since even he hosts a sense of hostility to the
ideas his eldest son valued, like freedom, of sexual choice, of
profession, the freedom to live by liberal principles, which is

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drastically against the idea of Islam, which literally translates into

submission.

A drastic comparison, the second eldest son who is extremely

religious, doesnt drink, doesnt indulge with females, and does his
prayers religiously all times of the day, is also fighting a battle
within him when he faces a situation to whether lie to his father or
protect his brothers, a choice to make from a superior authority
and his siblings his brothers. He chooses a middle path, refusing to
identify the one responsible gets caught in the cross fire and is
subject to intense physical violence, and in the effort to calm her
husband, even the wife, Mrs. Khan the second, gets subjected to
domestic violence by the hands of Mr. Khan.

While on the other hand, his younger brother, the third eldest son,
is a complete rebel in all his ways. He doesnt pray, he doesnt
dress traditionally, has a girlfriend, and sneaks out and goes
clubbing at night, like any average teenager during the days. He
lies to his parents almost on a regular basis, to get away and do
what he wants anyways, without being vocal about his views. He
when faced with a similar dilemma, however much more

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personally, decides to speak out to his father, and sabotage the

items bought by their father as wedding preparations for his third
and fourth sons.

The fight between religion and self is beautifully carried into the
sequel. Where after a point of about 5 years, the movie focuses on
the youngest son, the father Mr. Khan, and his first wife and family
in Pakistan. Mr. Khan is shown to send money to his family for the
last 30 years in his effort to take care of them, however they were
abandoned since in a little closer observation, Mr. Khan being a
devout Muslim wanted to have a son, but his first wife delivered to
him 4 daughters and maybe that was a reason he took another
wife and when she delivered him 5 sons and a daughter, he
thought of them to be a closer family as they would be carrying on
the name of Mr. Khan.

A very orthodox and traditional approach to children and genders

are observed in the movie, by Mr. Khan. He although not being
able to justify his actions to himself, or his first wife, feels guilty
and that he let down both his families, where his children are
rebellious and hate him and his ways. Leaving a legacy of the true

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good Jahangir Khan who was raised in his Islamic culture on the
farms in Pakistan, decides to take his most rebellious child, the
youngest one to Pakistan; for two reasons, to make him a more
devout Muslim and embraces his fathers indigenous culture, and
become more obedient and disciplined.
As he is fooled into coming to Pakistan for a month, his father
intended to leave him there for a much longer period, in fact their
second eldest son, is already residing with his first family in
Pakistan. Sajid, the youngest son realizes his fathers intention and
does what he does best, rebelled and ran away for a while. But
soon in a foreign land, he made a friend his cousin from his family,
and a mentor, a Sufi who is Mr. Khans acquaintance who helps
Sajid open his mind and accept the contrasting change in his life.
The movie shows how with time and much experience, Sajid
changes the way he speaks, starts dressing in traditional clothes,
becomes a much more part of the family than anyone wouldve
expected. His embrace to the culture, when not forced as a religion
but an experience, the true feeling of a pure religion, especially the
influence of Sufism gives him a fresh view of the village life.

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From attending day school, wearing shirts and blazers and having
the immense sense of individualism, Sajid adapts and accepts the
slow live in the village, grazing sheep, ploughing fields, bathing
cows and buffalos in the river, became his day to day life. He even
became sensitized to the idea of women not being causally
interacted with. In one instance, he tries to look for a bride for his
elder brother in Pakistan. He gets a sense of responsibility to his
family and society, which is amongst the few things Islam teaches,
the sense of a larger community, the Ummah.

In conclusion, the movies provide a great insight into the cultural

differences two starkly different places such as England and
Pakistan display, the society who reacts to people from other
cultures, and most importantly, the life and experiences of mixed
cultured families. The effort one makes to balance different
cultures, how people learn to draw boundaries, and how the
carrying on of tradition and identity of a community translates
through generations. Personally, I liked West is West, better than
East is East, since the character of Sajid has so beautifully learnt
from new experiences, and grown as a personality, with a much

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purer and deeper understanding of self and the acceptance of

multiple cultures.