Last weekend, my father took me to see the independent documentary on Fordson
High School, which was the high school that he, my mother, and practically 90%
of my family attended, as well as the rest of the community of eastern
Dearborn.
Now, even though I did not have the honor of attending this high school (my family
moved to Dearborn Heights just after I finished eighth grade, thus being out of
district), me and my family do share a connection with the subject of this
movie, since we built our family in that neighborhood.
The subtitle is simple, accurately depicting what this
indie documentary is all about. Faith, Fasting, Football, and the American Dream.
Now I'm not going
to lie, when I was a kid I was pretty odd because apparently it was
abnormal in the neighborhood to be indifferent towards football. Why? Because the
neighborhood really did center on this high school, and thus centered on
football. Think of the town of Arlen from the cartoon "King of the
Hill" only one key difference:
Practically 90% of the population of this community is of
Middle-Eastern and Muslim descent. Including my family. This is what generally
separates this community from any other one. There are hundreds of other
ones that are either mostly Black, or Hispanic, or... who knows, maybe Jewish.
But this is the ONLY one that’s almost entirely Arab-American and Muslim.
When it comes to my relationship with my home town, I was a bit
skeptical about what this documentary had to offer. I was unsure if it was
worth seeing what exactly it had to talk about.
I didn't know whether or not it
was going to outlandishly build the ego of the school, or beautifully inspire
pride in it. I didn't know whether or not it was just going to be about the football
team, or just another person saying, "Hey, being Muslim is OK!"
again. For the hundredth time.
More importantly, would it show the area in a positive light, or a
negative light?
Well, I'm happy to say (speaking from an unbiased perspective)
that it was a pretty well made documentary. The intro was pretty compelling,
and made you think you were in the middle of a PROFESSIONAL game. Referee
constantly calling penalties on the team of protagonist, the coaches yelling,
and then the show really begins.
The film, directed and produced by Rashid Ghazi, starts out explaining the roots of the high school and
explores the interactions of the people in the community (after the opening of the football game).
It does an excellent job
of showing a pretty typical Arab-American family, following the routines of four of the players pictured above, during the holy month of Ramadan, where a Muslim must fast for 30 days, from sun rise to sunset (I knew the Quarterback! He was the Quarterback when I was in Little-league. He's taller than me now... I think I was taller back then... actually I think I knew most of them...).
It portrays the
Islamic faith in a fairly decent light as well, and the best part is that there
aren't any stereotypes! Because let's face it, when you're a kid like me
who's been surrounded by "your people" almost your whole life, you
are expecting to see them.
Now, one of the reasons I was skeptical about the film was that a
great deal had to do with football, and as I said, I'm not much of a football
fan or a fan of sports movies.
Sure, Remember
the Titans was good, but
everyone knows the formula for a sports movie now, and it gets mundane. Some
scenes of training, coach yells at the team by insulting and encouraging them, big game comes, they seem down at first, big half time speech, they win.
The second reason why I was so skeptic was that I didn't know
whether or not the movie would discuss an actual issue.
I mean, discussing an issue is what separates a documentary from
something good and interesting from a film that you sleep through in a history
class. If it was just going to go on and on about the greatness of
Fordson and how unique it was, then it would have been the same as
staying home listening to my dad reminisce about his days in high
school. Again. And again.
But luckily, it DID talk about issues, especially about events that
happened after September the 11th against the school, the argument of separating faith from the
school system, and stereotyping by non-Arabs as well as recalling a false
arrest made some time after September 11th against two young Arab men and former football players accused
of buying up disposable phones to trigger car bombings. Hate mail was also
shown that was sent to the school accusing the institution of pushing the
Islamic faith and being "non-American" (which of course, the institution doesn't and isn't).
While at first it does build up the pride of the school centered
community, it also educates the viewer about many issues that affect us all,
and releasing the film on the weekend of September 11th was rather ingenious play, since people do forget how that day affected those of Arab and Muslim descent just as badly as it affected the rest of America. Hell, do you have any idea what that was like for me in fifth grade? Being the only Arab Muslim in class? Sheesh...
After it takes care of those issues, it goes back to football, building up to what you would consider the climax. The Big Game. Fordson High School vs Dearborn High. Rivals as well as brethren.
And I do have to say, the way the whole film builds up to it is rather exciting. The director and editor does well to make you feel involved, even if you were part of the neighborhood and already saw that game two years ago. It still excites you.
I mean, I don't even like football, but I felt pretty amped
And, I have to admit, this documentary did make me feel a bit proud being connected to that community.
I was raised there They are my people. Can't change it. Might as well show it off a little.
My rating: 8.5/10. Go see the movie if you get the chance.
The only real thing that marked down the score was the little mini video portraits of the team members at the very end, such as standing in proud poses in their foot ball uniforms, ending with slowly raising their heads to face the camera. That was... kind of cheesy.
But other than that, good film. Definitely one to keep on your shelf.
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