“
There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception” – Aldous Huxley
"Most of the mistakes in thinking are inadequacies of perception rather than mistakes of logic." - Edward de Bono
The above quotes give a sense of my exact feelings about how we live our lives.
I was invited to attend the premiere of the movie
Confessions Of A Gambler by Rayda Jacobs, which is based on a book by the same name. I had never read or heard about the book until last week when I wrote the article on the book
The Madams. I accepted the extended invite to attend the premiere because the picture just intrigued me.
I was really curious about what the book is about and obviously, to see how true my perception of the Muslim faith and people are. I have lots of Muslim friends who willingly tell me what I ask but the perception Americans planted in my head has always warped the information. My late aunt was married and converted to Islam but I feel I clung to what was comfortable for me at that time and did not really see what was real.
Most people have this idea of Muslim people and how “holier than thou” they are; no “sin” as in the eyes of the Christians, how the women are always silently walking about covered in clothes that do not show anything except sometimes the teeny weeny eyes and all the junk we get fed by watching too many American movies and news. We don’t really get to know the people as people – we label them and put them in a container. We assume the silent woman that kinda stands out in the crowd (but completely ignored and invisible) has no problems or qualms like all of us. Then we allow our perceptions take over and we pity them for living such a hard life; hidden and completely in the dark, not allowed to do anything except worship their husbands like we have seen in movies such as
Not Without My Daughter.
NOW, this book and movie takes away all these perceptions; we finally have a sneak peak at the Muslim women who are normal like everyone and how they deal with death and loss, infidelity, AIDS, homosexuality, in-law relationships and obviously gambling. One thing that I knew (also perceived) and was made clear to me in the movie is the Islam faith; the Muslim have a love for God and worship wholeheartedly. And yes, there is a bit of swearing in the movie but it doesn’t take away the message the movie has to send out. There is a lot of LOL moments in the movie.
Not to give away a lot from the movie but there is a scene where Abeeda, the main character, and her friends are having a gals day – and are in the Jacuzzi making fun of one of them for falling pregnant at her age (they are in the late 40s and early 50s) and they decide to go to the casino after lunch; before they hit the road, they take their prayer mats out and pray!
During Q&A Rayda Jacobs, the writer, producer, director and actress in the film explained that she wrote the book to put a light into the people that perceive the Islam faith in a negative light, knowing that as a Muslim woman it would be ideal for her to do so. If a person of another faith had written such a book, they would have been lambasted! I agree, and I commend her for such excellent work. You, Ms Jacobs, stand out as an inspiration to every woman and girl child in South Africa.
I
highly recommend the movie to anyone that loves South African Movies with a real story to tell, those who are curious of the Muslim faith followers and those who have read the book – This movie is excellent!
There is a
sneak preview today (1 April 2008) at Nu Metro Hyper, there will be a Q&A with the writer, director and producer Rayda Jacobs (the filmmaker) and light refreshments at a normal Nu Metro fee of R27.50 a ticket. No need to rsvp.
You can catch the movie at
Nu Metro Cinemas from 04th April 2008.
Sweetie my baby, thank you my dear for extending the invite. I really appreciate it. While I had hoped to meet Jenny Crwys-Williams so she can call me "sweety darling", I "met" Mama Zanele Mbeki, Akin Omotoso, Gerry (Williams - how I love to call her) Rantseli-Elsdon and "Slu" from Isidingo. Such fun! Since my camera is AWOL I could not capture the memories but got autographs on my copy of the book.