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| Cast
of Real World season 11, Chicago. |
The
Hits
Khalid
Khannouchi: In the world of sport, Muslims had something to
cheer about this week as Moroccan-born American runner Khalid
Khannouchi won the London Marathon. He topped his own record with a
blistering time of two hours, five minutes and 38 seconds in a race
that boasted the finest field ever for a London Marathon. Aside from
Khannouchi, Kenya’s Paul Tergat and Ethiopia’s Haille
Gebrselassie provided stiff competition. In the end, Khannouchi was
able to hold off Tergat who finished just 10 seconds behind.
According
to the BBC, upon finishing the race, Khannouchi kissed the ground
and said a quick prayer. In a post-race interview with BBC,
Khannouchi was the consummate champion, praising God for his win and
being quite self-effacing. Said the runner: “Thank God I had the
strength at the end to take it.”
Gore
Vidal: In the post-9/11 socio-political climate, it has become
increasingly difficult to be critical of American policy, both
foreign and domestic. Thus the task of watchdog has fallen on those
American writers and commentators whose position is strong enough to
withstand the onslaught of accusations from those conservative
corners that are in lock step with President Bush.
Gore
Vidal, the popular novelist and cultural commentator, has stepped to
the fore with his new book Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace.
In it, Vidal forwards several essays that challenge the jingoism of
this new era. He stridently takes the case for greater vigilance
over basic civil rights and civil liberties and provides broader
context for the war on terrorism, attacking America’s heavy-handed
approach.
The
Miss
MTV’s
Real World: It seems that there is simply always more to say
about MTV; and though “Hits and Misses” has targeted MTV quite a
bit in the past, it will continue to do so as long as MTV offends.
The culprit this week is the Real World, the network’s flagship
reality television show in which young 20-somethings shack up in a
co-ed environment to engage in just about every vice conceivable. In
its most recent installment, the show introduced viewers to Ali, the
boyfriend of one of one of the show’s female subjects. Far being
the paragon of Islamic propriety, Ali turns out to be an oversexed,
manipulative male, much in the way of most other oversexed,
manipulative males one would expect to find on MTV.
To
put it plainly, we’ve got to get some better Muslim characters on
television.
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