TV Eye
Doing the aftermath
By Belinda Acosta, Fri., Nov. 12, 2004
My e-mail has fallen silent post-election. Leading up to Nov. 2, my inbox was flooded daily, each message more earnest than the one before it.
Vote or die!
Don't lose hope!
Take back the country!
Since Nov. 2, the tone has been different. When I ran into friends in public, our postelection comments were sometimes subdued, sometimes loud and exasperated, but always dismayed. Postelection e-mails were offering alternative interpretations of voter statistics, and limp words of encouragement not to lose hope. It was all very depressing. But it wasn't until I compared my life to that of Zainab, an elder Afghan woman eking out an existence outside Bamiyan (where the Taliban destroyed the ancient Buddha statues), that I realized I had nothing to complain about. That's not to say I'm not worried about what four more years of W. will bring, but when compared to Zainab, who survives on little more than dirt, water, and unfathomable courage, I realized I should be ashamed of myself if whining about the outcome of the 2004 presidential election is all I can muster.
Zainab is one of several women featured in Afghanistan Unveiled, the next film in the Independent Lens series airing Tuesday night. It's not enough that Zainab testifies in heartbreaking detail to the atrocities the Taliban inflicted upon her people, but her doing so as a woman with such conviction – knowing full well that speaking out could cost her life – made me remember the choices I have.
Afghanistan Unveiled is an oral history project taken from two distinct perspectives: that of the rural Afghan women who share their stories, and that of the women filmmakers discovering newfound freedoms in the post-Taliban era. The filmmakers, many of them in their late teens, are some of the first Afghan women journalists to be trained at the AINA (meaning "mirror" in Farsi) Afghan Media and Culture Center in Kabul, and the first female journalists to be trained since the retreat of the repressive Taliban regime. While many documentary filmmakers adopt an objective distance from their subjects, the AINA filmmakers are sometimes as moved by the stories they hear as viewers are – perhaps more so. These are their countrywomen. AINA filmmakers candidly capture one another's reactions, weaving them into the master narrative. While Western viewers may sniff at this break from the "objective eye," it also prompts viewers to look face to face into the eyes of so-called "collateral damage" (most caused by the Taliban, but a good portion caused by U.S. bombing raids). In doing so, Afghanistan Unveiled makes viewers realize how objectivity keeps those of us living comfortably in the West ignorant of real suffering, and therefore free of any sense of responsibility.
In the end, the AINA filmmakers come to fiercely embrace the gravity of their role as female journalists. As filmmaker Mehria Aziz says, "I will never accept that ignorance and intolerance should hide my face ever again." Wise words, no matter where in the world you find yourself living.
Afghanistan Unveiled airs Tuesday, Nov. 16, 9pm on PBS.
What Else Is On?
If medicinal laughter is what you crave in the wake of W.'s "mandate," tune into the Cartoon Network's newest addition to its Adult Swim lineup, Tom Goes to the Mayor. With a "limited animation" style using filtered stills, voiceovers, and layered images, Tom Goes to the Mayor takes viewers to the fictional town of Jefferton, where newcomer Tom Peters tries to be a good citizen, bringing one idiotic idea after the next to the crackpot mayor. Whether it's bear traps for child safety or Tom marrying all the dogs in town, the results are calamitous and uproariously funny. Tim Heidecker and Eric Wareheim, who provide the voices of Tom Peters and the Mayor, created the toon. Guest voices include Bob Odenkirk, Jack Black, Jeff Garlin, David Cross, Michael Ian Black, and others. Tom Goes to the Mayor premieres Sunday, Nov. 14, 10:30pm on the Cartoon Network.
Not as funny, but kind of cool: Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi. J-pop comes to cable in this new Cartoon Network cartoon featuring Japanese pop stars Ami and Yumi, jointly known as Puffy AmiYumi. Blending live action with animation and catchy J-pop tunes, Puffy AmiYumi travel the universe in search of fun, adventure, and the meaning of cool. Hi Hi Puffy AmiYumi premieres Friday, Nov. 19, 6:30pm on the Cartoon Network.
