Another Islamophobic feature in disguise

The 2020 feature ‘After Love' by a UK-born filmmaker of Asian descent is another ploy to depict Islamophobia through the issues of identity and religion.   

The flick, which premiered at the 2020 London Film Festival, narrates the story of a female convert, Mary, who is married to a Muslim man and her life undergoes a drastic change when she realizes that the Muslim husband she loved so much had a son in another relationship with a French woman. 

She only knows this bitter fact after her husband's death. Up to this point, there would be nothing so strange, but the flick takes a new turn when the Muslim husband, named Ahmed, is depicted as one being caught in a cultural rift, torn between his Pakistani heritage and the influences of the West. 

The revelation is featured in a way to win the uninitiated viewers' empathy, particularly when she questions her marriage as well as her own decisions and identity as a Muslim convert woman.

The casting for Mary, played by British actress Joanna Scanlan, is quite wise as a non-Muslim who wears hijab and is betrayed by her Muslim husband. Such depiction clearly shows how the movie industry in the West tries to demonize Muslims, even giving a warning to the non-Muslims who are wishing to convert regarding the perils of making such decision.

This is how a sugarcoated depiction of Islamophobia directed by Aleem Khan goes on the silver screen to construct the ill-formed and counter-intuitive reality of Islam, which is a religion of peace, security, compassion and mercy.    

AG/AG