JEDDAH, 1 March 2004 — Amidst growing controversy kicked up by an $80-million Hollywood movie due out next week, the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has written to Disney’s chairman expressing concern that the movie, “Hidalgo”, negatively stereotypes Muslims and Arabs, and demanding the removal of the “True Story” tag line that is touting the production.
“Hidalgo”, released under Disney’s Touchstone Pictures label, stars Viggo Mortensen and Omar Sharif. The so-called “incredible true story” of a 5,000-km horse race across the Arabian Peninsula shows an American cowboy hero called Frank T. Hopkins pitching up in Aden in 1890 with his American mustang to compete against a hundred Bedouin riders on their Arab steeds. There are no payouts for the winning jockey of the desert horse race called “Ocean of Fire”.
Disney says the movie is based on historical fact, and scriptwriter John Fusco claims to have carefully researched the story. But there is no source that points to the existence of such a race or tells of an American called Hopkins and his horse “Hidalgo” ever placing boots and hooves onto Arabian sand.
Arab News was the first newspaper to question the historical basis of the film in a series of articles last May.
Dr. Awad Al-Badi, director of research at the King Faisal Center for Research and Islamic Studies, is an authority on Western travelers to Arabia and has traveled the world in search of their records. He has little time for imposters.
“The idea of a historic trans-Arabian horse race ever having run is pure nonsense... simply from a technical, logistical, cultural and geopolitical point of view,” Dr. Al-Badi says.
A schoolchild could take a rule and draw a straight line from the start line in Aden across Arabia. Three thousand miles would have the riders trotting through Istanbul to a finishing post somewhere in Romania. Even a circuitous canter around the coast of Arabia would put the finishing post north of Armenia.
“Since they are claiming it is a true story, it’s astonishing that neither Disney nor their scriptwriter have even bothered to check records in established museums and archives or tap a single credible academic,” complains Dr. Al-Badi.
Now there are concerns, raised by CAIR, that the film “may contain scenes and dialogue that would serve to stereotype Muslims and Arabs and create a negative impression of Islam in the minds of moviegoers.”
One scene shows an Arab rider committing suicide after falling with his horse. Another scene is described in the script as: “A filthy market place that thrives between the mosque and crumbling dry fountains. The drifters here seem a cross between Arabian Nights beggars and the thieves of Hugo’s 18th century Paris. Hopkins has replaced his hat with a headscarf up to his nose. He rides with Jaffa and Aziz slowly through the foul-smelling crowd of men selling baskets, severed monkey hands and small crocks of brackish water.”
Within days audiences will find out whether the scenes have survived the final cut.
“Given the growing prejudice against Islam, Muslims and Arabs, we believe a film with this type of dialogue and imagery could have a negative impact on the lives of ordinary American Muslims and Arab-Americans,” says Ibrahim Hooper, CAIR’s National Communications Director, in his letter to Disney’s Michael Eisner.
Disney have been quick to respond to CAIR, saying Muslim consultants were involved at peak filming stages to ensure the film is culturally appropriate and respectful. It claims some of the dialogue and scenes have been toned down from the earlier script version but stubbornly clings to Fusco’s script as “factually based”.
“We sincerely hope that anti-Muslim and anti-Arab bigotry will not be added to historical inaccuracy in a film that is being marketed to families,” says Hooper. He has asked Disney for a pre-release screening of the film for representatives of CAIR’s Los Angeles office. “It is our duty to defend both the image of Islam and the well-being of the American Muslim and Arab-American communities,” says Hooper.
US media outlets too are beginning to question the factual basis of “Hidalgo”. A Feb. 17 Los Angles Times article, “Long Trail of Lies”, states: “Disney may tout ‘Hidalgo’ as ‘based on a true story,’ but, according to a headstrong posse of fact-finders, the only thing Hopkins ever galloped across was the vast plains of his imagination.”
