Speech Is Only Free For Some

 Religion is threatening to destroy free speech and choice in the UK .....

The Lady Of Heaven

..... that's the only conclusion one can draw from the news that a few hundred protestors, have been able to stop the Cineworld chain from screening the film 'The Lady of Heaven'.

Apparently more than 120,000 signed a petition (without seeing the film, naturally), and the Bolton Council of Mosques called the film "blasphemous" and 'sectarian' (without seeing the film, naturally .... and why sectarian if its pro-Islam?).

The Usual All Male Protestors

 

The self elected leader, Asif Patel said the film was "underpinned with a sectarian ideology" and "misrepresents orthodox historical narratives and disrespects the most esteemed individuals of Islamic history" (without him seeing the film, naturally). The email adds: “In Bolton, we are a very diverse community and are very respectful of each other’s culture and honour our community cohesion" .... but not our history of free speech, presumably ... just the right of one culture to impose its values on us. 100 men (women not allowed?), turned out to protest against the showing of the film.

The film has been banned in Iran, where it was believed it may cause ‘divisions among Muslims’. Other countries such as Pakistan, which called it ‘sacrilegious’, and Egypt have also followed suit in banning the movie (without seeing the film, naturally). 

The Multi-Racial Casting Has Upset Some Critics

Although certain characters are CGI created (so no actor or actress could be targeted), Muslim critics have said the depictions of caliphs Abu Bakr, Umar, the wife of the Prophet, Aisha, and other negative characters as being black as this ‘stems from the racial bias against darker skinned people’. It has to be noted that this type of woke type casting of white historical or mythological characters, as black, has caused offence in other cultures as well

In June 2022 in a statement, Cineworld said: “Due to recent incidents related to screenings of ‘The Lady of Heaven’, we have made the decision to cancel upcoming screenings of the film nationwide to ensure the safety of our staff and customers.” i.e death threats from adherents to the religion of peace.

But a House of Lords peer Baroness Claire Fox also criticised calls to cancel the film. "Same 'I Find that Offensive' cancel culture arguments now being used far beyond campus activism. Disastrous for the arts, dangerous for free speech, a lesson to those who argue identity politics are no threat to democracy."

Apparently it is the first time the Muslim prophet has been depicted in film, and follows the story of his daughter Fatimah. In the USA, where the film has been released (no censorship or threats to free speech nonsense there), a New York Times review says the film is hardly about Fatima, whose face is shrouded throughout, whilst The Guardian says 'for a film that aims to promote religious diversity and freedom of thought, its metronomic alternation between time frames, narrative slavishness and laughable coda have a suffocating sense of orthodoxy.'

Apparently many Sunni Muslim critics (without seeing the film, naturally) fear that it has a Shia bias in its portrayals of certain events (it was written by a Kuwaiti Shia cleric living in London), and this is a driver for much of the protests, although Shia Iran has banned it, after Shia scholars condemned the storyline due to its 'historical inaccuracies'. 

In all truthfulness it was hardly going to break any box office records, and would have been forgotten about within a week if not for the ignorant protests ... a bit like Salman Rushdie's Satanic Verses.