My Name is Khan and I am not a terrorist Movie

Throughout time, there has always been a class of people that have been scapegoats. This group of people unifies the rest of society as they direct their hatred towards the group. In America, for example, over time, scapegoats have been Irish, Germans, Poles, Jews, Japanese, and the Russians. They all had their turn being scapegoats. These people were going about their daily lives and found that one day they had become defined as a member of that group, and were branded with all of the stereotypes and prejudices that had been formed about that group.

In order to break through the stereotypes and prejudices, it is helpful to see what the world is like from their side. If we get to know the Germans, we find that they are not all alike. We find that some of them supported Hitler while others did not. Even soldiers in the U.S. Army fighting against Germany were subject to discrimination simply for having a German heritage.

Today in America, and throughout the world, that scapegoat group is the Muslims. A group of terrorists performed acts of unspeakable horror, and because they share the same religion as the terrorists, they are now branded as terrorists as well. Instead of fighting terrorists, the world has decided that the war is against Islam. Some people will be sure to include the word Radical in front of Islam, but do not bother to define the term radical and fail to distinguish the radicals from the millions of ordinary people who practice the faith.

The movie, My Name is Khan, shows the story of one man in America who becomes defined as a terrorist simply because of his faith. By watching this movie, we can learn what it is like to be a Muslim in America.

In the movie, My Name is Khan, a Muslim boy grows up in India. He acts a little odd, but his mother pushes him to learn life skills. She tells him that there are good people and bad people in the world. Their religion doesn't dictate whether they are good or bad. His mother dies, and he moves to America to work for his brother, selling beauty supplies to salons. There he discovers that he has Asperberger's Syndrome; he is a high functioning autistic. He meets Mandira, a Hindu single mother and falls in love with her. They marry and live happily practicing their separate faiths in their storybook romance.

Then 9/11 happens and their world is turned upside down. They are no longer just a couple trying to do well in America. They are Muslims. Even though Mandira and her son are practicing Hindus, they have a Muslim last name, and they too are branded as Muslims, and as terrorists. In a fit of anger, Mandira tells Rizwan to tell the world that he is not a terrorist. She tells him to tell the president.

He sets off in the journey on his mission. He does not understand the magnitude of his message; he knows simply that he must do it to win his wife back. In seeking forgiveness and love lost, he travels across America with peace and compassion, and he inspires the hearts and minds of the entire nation.

The movie has two superstars, Shah Rukh Khan who plays Rizwan Khan, and Kajol Devgan who plays Mandira. The two have been the lead couple in many love stories. This movie is not a normal Bollywood movie. It is not a musical, and there is no singing and dancing. The beautiful musical score is very spiritual, and includes songs of the Hindu, Muslim and Christian faiths.

Like all Bollywood movies, this one is very emotional, but the drama is not over the top. The emotions fit the situation. There are happy times, sad times, and angry times. I know many Muslims who would do what he did in Wilhelmina, Georgia.

The characters speak both English and Hindi, so you will need to watch the subtitles to get all of the dialogue.

I really enjoyed this movie and have watched it several times.

The key to overcoming stereotypes and prejudices is to get to know the individual people that belong to other cultures. Instead of defining them as members of a particular group, we can find that there are good people and there are bad people in the world, and they come from all religions.