MovieChat Forums > Where in the World Is Osama Bin Laden? (2008) Discussion > What was Morgan trying to accomplish wit...

What was Morgan trying to accomplish with the orthodox Jews?

posted 16 years ago by seni-2
36 replies | jump to latest

I'm trying to figure out why Morgan tried to interview the orthodox Jews of Me'ah Shearim.

I've been there and before going we were told that they are a small group of ultra-orthodox Jews who live by every letter of the Jewish law. People who drive through their neighborhood on Saturday can expect to be pelted with stones. They don't like being photographed, bothered and Israelis simply leave them alone to live their lives. They are in fact very accommodating if you are interested in learning about their culture.

Then Morgan came along and thought they could shed some light on the war on terror. These people are the most inappropriate people to interview on the subject and all it did in the film was confuse people and put Jews in a bad light.

How many threads have been started on these boards where people lump all Jews into this group of people. I was especially set off by one saying, "No wonder the Germans hated the Jews." Well we know some people are ignorant, but this film is supposed to educate the ignorant. This scene confused more people than it educated. Basically we saw that Morgan was not accepted in a neighbourhood and didn't now why.

Morgan, documentaries are supposed to educate, not display how unusual you think the behaviour of a small group of people is. Did you bother to investigate why they behaved that way? Did you find out how they could have been more accommodating to you? Or maybe you could have researched the different groups of people who live in Israel to find a more appropriate group to interview.

My experiences in Meah Shearim were better, because I was a guest in their neighbourhood and I followed their rules and treated them with respect.

Here's a little reading about the neighbourhood...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meah_Shearim
http://www.tourism.gov.il/Tourism_Eng/Tourist+Information/Jewish+Themes/Jewish_Sites/Meah+She%E2%80%99arim+jew.htm

[–] neowannabe2000 16 years ago

Of course, during that incident, there is the other Jewish man who explains to Morgan that they aren't all as rowdy as what he saw, although you make a good point that despite that, it didn't necessarily create a good image...

[–] 16 years ago

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[–] xoltrix2000 16 years ago

Hi there. I totally understand that this part of the film may or will be perceived as a negative side of Israeli people but still, Morgan did film more or equal amount of people who like and agree with OBL or his inhuman mission of violent and psychological terrorism.

You have to admit though, this film had showed -I would say- a good portion of what is out there, and there is good, and bad, be it angry, sad, happy or whatever. The point is, no one is perfect, and I believe that this film had shown me that almost everyone who is affected and afflicted by these terrible situation really wants this problem to end, they are just lost or doesn't know how.

All people are different, but but are equal. Just different opportunities. I really wish that people could just stop the fighting together and do the one phenomena that every human is capable of, and that is forgiveness.

[–] zeroevildarkcool 13 years ago

NOT CONFUSING AT ALL. THE VIDEOS TELLS IT ALL. IF YOU DONT LIKE IT. DONT BE IT. YOU'RE MAKING YOURSELF LOOK BAD YOU JEW.

[–] psu190 16 years ago

No one else acted the way they did with ignoracy. Yelling and then forming a mob of people yelling and throwing things. The one orthodox jew totally got in his face as he leaving. I guess that's how they act when a foreigner is in there land. Seems like they were the ones with bad attitudes and filled with bigotry.

Would I rather be feared or loved? Um.. both. I want people to be afraid of how much they love me.

[–] seni-2 16 years ago

No. That's how they act when they are being filmed. They were pretty hospitable to me. There are huge signs all over the place saying that it is not a tourist area and to not take photographs.

It's not a tourist area and I'm sure they feel like animals in the zoo when people walk by their homes and take pictures of them.

Spurlock didn't explain this in the movie and because of it, everyone thinks the way you do.

I can't defend what these people say, but I do know they are isolated in their ultra-orthodox lifestyle, and as a result are bigoted towards outsiders.

Honestly, I don't know how interviewing the Me'ah She'arim residents had anything to do with Spurplock's ojective for the film. Trust me, they don't know where Bin Laden is.

[–] alicetiner-1 16 years ago

seni-2

I just finished watching this movie. To tell you of my background, I am an international universtiy student in the US from Turkey. I am raised a muslim, but I chose to be an atheist, although I accept Islam as my culture, because I was raised in it.

When I watched this movie I had a very similar impulse that you had, when the imam in Saudi Arabia mosque said outrageous things about the West, United States and Israel. As a matter of fact, couple days before I left my home country to study in the US I went to a very famous mosque in Istanbul (Yeni Cami, if you wanna look it up) just to take pictures to show the Americans where I come from. The imam of that mosque said to the people that students that went to Westernized high schools (like the one I went to) are cursed and serving Satan or something similar (it has been 5 years now, I have a hard time remembering.) and I was outraged by those comments, just as I did watching this movie. Hence, the movie showed a fair amount of people who argued that Osama Bin Laden was their hero and he was working to save Islam and Muslims etc.

Basically what I am trying to get at is that Spurlock's depiction of that specific conservative Jewish neighborhood didn't go against the main theme of the movie that there is good, bad and ugly in all cultures at some point. Even though he didn't put down in words in the documentary what he was trying to get at was the universiality of humanity (of the human condition), faced with a bunch of close-knitted and interrelated political and social problems, that in the essence we all share the same kinds of motivations in whichever issues we find to be important in our lives. So in the light of this kind of approach, saying that he depicts them in a wrong way is being unjust to his effort. But of course, you may definitely disagree with me.

I hope I helped you a little bit in understanding what his objective was in going to Me'ah She'arim as part of this movie.

Take Care.
Ali

[–] seimus006 16 years ago

just becouse they are orthodox Jews doesnt give them a right to stone people or yell at them. They should respect other people´s culture just Morgan should have respected them. Mabey he didnt know that he couldnt film, they should have told him

[–] p0p0p0p 16 years ago

They sure told him alright, by pushing and screaming at him. How civil.

[–] seni-2 16 years ago

http://www.someworldpics.com/main.php?g2_view=core.DownloadItem&g2_itemId=3208&g2_serialNumber=2

Did he need a bigger sign?

[–] matt_g187 15 years ago

They seem like a bunch of up-tight w4nkers. All the other Jews/Israeli's were champs & easy going people.

Sure filming might not be the best idea in that area, but they have no right to pushing, throwing objects and yelling at people. I think this film continued with the typical vibe and was good to see what can happen in certain cultures & areas.

[–] Guardia 15 years ago

That sign refers to womens' clothing and is irrelevant to the argument.

Do not write here

[–] simon-648 15 years ago

to Seni-2

"Honestly, I don't know how interviewing the Me'ah She'arim residents had anything to do with Spurplock's ojective for the film. Trust me, they don't know where Bin Laden is."

Well, maybe you didn't get that part of the film. He didn't come there, to ask where Bin Laden is, but to get an idea of what the conflict in Israel-Palestine is. As we saw earlier in the movie, a Hamas councilman in Bethlehem explained, that Al-Qaeda adobted the Palestine issue, and without this issue, they wouldn't get any attention on the global level.

Of course Morgan had to show the other side, of that conflict. The jewish fundamentalists in Israel, that is.

[–] bing-57 13 years ago

> It's not a tourist area and I'm sure they feel like animals in the zoo when people walk by their homes and take pictures of them.

Well, that's going to happen when you purposely present yourselves as human oddities.

Of all the people he met during the film, those people were the absolutely most horrible people ever.

--
What Would Jesus Do For A Klondike Bar (WWJDFAKB)?

[–] 13 years ago

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[–] betterretardedthanemo 15 years ago

I think it was supposed to show that even 'Western' religions have hardliners, but it wasn't very well executed/ Morgan is a douchbag.

[–] svenbertil12345 15 years ago

That is how Jews really are: Hateful and despicable. But most of them are smart enough to put on a show when the goyim can see them.

[–] seni-2 15 years ago

So, "Pathfinder" was racist, hey?

[–] haladay 15 years ago

Scene was interesting to see, but felt like one of those scenes that only help the people that want to boycott this movie. I can see one of them saying, "See, they cast Jews in a negative light while the muslims are shown as better." I think it hindered his arguement about human nature.

On a side note, that old guy that pushed Morgan was a moron. Did he really think he could take Morgan on, or the cop for that matter? The younger guy that did all the yelling came off to me as trying to act like a leader, like a loud mouth message board poster.

[–] SOUTH_PAW 15 years ago

i think the english speaking world is too used to the zionisist approach. english speakers are generally used to an arena that is very sympathetic towards jews, and wants to feel bad for them, bringing up the holocaust a million times. the english speaking media generally portrays one side (zionist) and not the other. what we are seeing now in the response to the film is completely different, and shows two sides. so english speakers are not used to it.

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[–] seefomatic 15 years ago

The larger lesson to be drawn from the display of disparate ethnicities/cultures/religions is that ALL people share, among other values, one singular defining human value: the idea that they need to cling to a group, and that their group is the best.
The more we realize that this isolationist tendency is something we have in common with everyone, the readier we'll be to take the first step towards sharing our common human experiences (which comprise the bulk of our lives anyway)
Cheers/Peace

[–] nymets710 15 years ago

Is this neighborhood the same place Sasha Baron Cohen went to in Bruno? I remember him getting chased out

am i hero? I really can't say. But yes. - Michael Scott