Where am I?
I start most of my posts with the source of my inspiration, and this topic came to me at 4:17 am in the morning as I was falling asleep thinking of how great of an author I wanted to become. Then it hit me, what am I to write about? Philosophical rants and humanity's faults compressed between two hard covers isn't what people want to read. We don't want to be reminded of our vices and our responsibilities. And that is why we read fiction: because we want to escape reality for a while, and think about other people or other creatures. And then a second wave of realization hit me like a strong aftershock and I thought to myself, even if I wrote fiction, my characters would be so out of this world because they hardly appear in any other fictitious work. What characters? Us, Muslims.
I have noticed that Muslims are barely present in pop culture. We aren't in fiction books unless written by Muslim authors for Muslim readers (with a few exceptions). We especially aren't in dystopian books. So what? Is there an undercover conspiracy we will all be wiped out before the year 2100? We aren't in movies unless we are selling oil, committing crime or being involved in acts of terrorism (with a few exceptions). We aren't in comedies unless we are made fun of. We are not in TV shows that depict daily lives of people (with a few exceptions, those exceptions being when we are portrayed as suspicious criminals). We aren't present in schools in movies and TV shows while every other minority gets represented with and without their sad stereotypes.
We aren't that hard to write about or act out. A few dietary restrictions, no cursing, no gossiping, no lying, no flirting, no tight clothes. There you have it. Ideal Muslim teenager. Tries to appeal to the mind and heart of zer friends with the way ze leads zer life. Is confident, can't stand injustice, and performs selfless acts on a daily basis. Can make jokes and have fun as much as any teenager but can also lead intellectual conversations and discuss the importance of life. Is not perfect, makes mistakes -- because is human (SHOCKER!). We can be incorporated into any story, I guarantee it.
If you cannot find actors to play in your movies, you might as well ask one of us and we will do it. We do have acting talent in our community. After all, Muslims are only 1.6 billion of the 7 billion population of our globe, a mere 23%. In USA, we are a minority with a small number of roughly 2.6 million people. (Source)
So I decided to change pop culture and introduce some strong Muslim characters. (Belle dreams big #2) And I hope more people join in. If you aren't familiar with our lifestyle, I am certain you can befriend a Muslim and ask zer if you have questions. In the end, the life of a writer a movie maker and a public artist always contains large amounts of research and first-hand experience.
Lots of highlighters
~Belle