MovieChat Forums > Zibahkhana (2007) Discussion > People are the same

People are the same

posted 14 years ago by Psy-Ko
5 replies | jump to latest

This film is great! It made me see that theres people in Pakistan who like the same gore/slasher/horror that I do. It made me see the kids are sneaking out to concerts and listening to music their parents don't like, just like american kids. It made me realize T-shirts & Jeans are worn all over the world. And it made me see not everyone in the middle east stops 3 times a day to pray. Different types of people within their culture, just like ours. I think we all know that if we stop to think about it but a lot of times we just generalize different cultures. I'm sure they do the same about us.

I am from small town America and we have started to see an influx of people from the middle east running our convenience stores, working at walmart, a lot of franchise owners and pharmacists, etc. I've seen a lot of prejudices against these people mainly because "they're taking our jobs" I try not to be a part of it although it does bug me sometimes when I can't find someone who speaks english. I try to judge the people as individuals though not as a group.

One thing that helped me do this was as a dept manager at walmart I had to interview a guy for a sales floor position. I was told he didn't speak English and we would wait until one of our other employees who could translate could be there. My first reaction was why are we interviewing a dummy who cant even speak the language? Well during the interview I found out that this "dummy" had been a bridge architect in his country and held many degrees. He had fled to America in a hurry and knew his lack of english was holding him back. He had already signed up for english classes and just needed a job to make a bit of money while he learned. Guess who felt like a dummy now! I gave him the job and he was one of the best workers we had!

I liked this movie because it showed the similarities of the young people, rebelling against the parents, listening to music the parents wouldn't approve of, lying to stay out all night etc. American kids should be able to identify with these kids.

I really try not to keep up with politics and such, don't watch much TV but I can't help but see some news and such. From whats shown I had a totally different picture of Pakistan. More of a backwards rural country where religion ruled. I'm thinking this is the picture most Americans get of Pakistan. I had no idea how things were in the bigger cities! I guess they probably even have McDonalds & Walmarts? That would be kind of sad actually.

I also didn't realize there were horror movies out of Pakistan, it seems the only foreign films that make it to America are the artsy fartsy ones. It's nice to know there's horror fans over there!

How big is the horror genre over there? Is it just a small following or is it an up & coming thing? I hope to see more coming from Pakistan as the genre seems to be dying (no pun intended) here. All we get are remakes, retellings, and reimagings!

Anyone on this board have suggestions of other foriegn (to americans) horror films I might like? I've tried the asian ones and they really arent my thing. A great vamp flick was "Let The Right One In", I cringe at the thought of an american remake. Thats about the extent of my foriegn film watching but would like to see more so any suggestions are welcom. English subtitles are a must though as I'm a typical american and don't speak other languages :)

[–] asif110_pk 14 years ago

Pakistan is NOT in the middle east by the way.

[–] Psy-Ko 14 years ago

Quoted from asif110-Pakistan is NOT in the middle east by the way.

You are right i guess and my apologies. Geography was my bad subject back in school. It also comes from what we are fed by the media and such. I think it is referred to as middle east on our TV a lot as well as Afghanistan, which I understand is not as well.

But in my defense can I point you to a page where they talk of redrawing the lines of "The Middle East"
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=3882

I haven't read it all yet because I wanted to answer your post but I will go back to it. seems back in '06 one of our illustrious leaders coined the phrase "The new middle east" and lines were redrawn to now include Pakistan & Afghanistan. Like said I may need to go read the rest. My guess is it never really was accepted or more likely the U.S. accepts it as the way it is but nowhere else. Either way I think it probably is where a lot of the confusion comes in, especially for those of us who aren't newshounds and only listen to the major stories. i'm sure back then "the new middle east" was used in news stories much and we heard it in reference to those countries so we learned it as that.

i take it Pakistan and the people, some anyway, do not like being identified as part of the middle east? Is it insulting or something? I ask because I honestly don't know. I never meant to offend anyone and you have taught me something today so thank you :-)

[–] jbbeverley 13 years ago

True enough, but rather the "Greater Middle East" lol
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Middle_East

[–] lunamuna 14 years ago

Yes its definitely not.. It's in South Asia. Its also beside India and Afghanistan. I don't understand why people are getting confused.

I wrote a big long post on another thread about this... I don't really want to repeat myself... Well anyway, I was just wondering why is that a lot of people in the West (not all, but a lot) have to see that people in other far away countries dress the same, act the same etc before we consider them deserving in respect?

"It made me realize T-shirts & Jeans are worn all over the world. And it made me see not everyone in the middle east stops 3 times a day to pray."
Ok so if people wear tshirts and jeans then they are 'normal'? Just bare in mind culture is relative. I know there is a subconscious idea in the West that we are superior to other regions of the world. Just because people don't act like us does not make them 'backwards' or less deserving of respect.
And furthermore, praying 3 times a day is not the norm for any Muslims that I know... Islam teaches that you should pray 5 times a day.

I don't want to criticise the OP... Or Americans or 'westerners' (I am one myself after all) because that would be a huge generalization. But I just hope to maybe give a different perspective and also to hopefully encourage some people to check out a world map..
Peace x

[–] Psy-Ko 14 years ago

Affyr - I answered lengthier in your other post as well. And above to the other poster about the "middle east" thing which I do apologize for my ignorance. just so you know I did go to google and look at some maps. Also know I have a hard time retaining geography :-)

I never said people there would be backwards or less deserving of my respect because they were different. Definitely didn't say it made them abnormal, it's normal for them, just wouldn't be for me. All relative right? I appreciate other cultures and do like to learn about them. Yet it is hard to relate to people without knowing them personally, we can't know how they think or feel. All we have is what our media feeds us, which is usually something very different from the way we live.

There has to be something there to identify with, to relate to, that makes people see them as people. Sometimes we can get that even from someone in their own countries traditional dress or maybe the emotions shown even if in another language. But especially for younger people I think they need to be able to relate to something, to identify with them before they take an interest in even wanting to know more.

I remember when the unrest in Serbia was happening I did keep tabs on it because of the net I had made a Serbian friend. We had common interests and I didn't even know where he was from and he didn't know where I was from until much later then when we started talking. It was the common interest that made us see each other as real people.

Hope that explains it a little better?