WASHINGTON (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - In welcome news for American Muslims, after years of producing negative portrayals of Muslims and Islam in Hollywood films, a new action film has arrived that might provide the most positive portrayal of Muslims in a major studio production to date.
Directed by Martin Campbell, Vertical Limit, a movie released during the holiday season, and one of the top-grossing film releases of the holiday season, has been highly acclaimed by film critics as one of the best movies of the year.
The movie is set on the eastern border of Pakistan in a story that revolves around a group of mountain climbers attempting to scale K-2, the second highest mountain in the world, in order to rescue a woman, a sister of one of the climbers, trapped in one of the crevice’s of the mountain.
Sudanese actor Alexander Siddig, of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine fame (Dr. Julian Bashir), plays the role of Kareem, a devout Muslim and experienced climber among a group of volunteer climbers, most of whom are motivated by money or revenge.
“It was a rare opportunity to play a Muslim character who is genuinely good, rather than a stereotypical terrorist or religious fanatic,” said Siddig about his role in the movie.
In one scene, Kareem was rolling out his prayer rug to pray when a fellow climber starts to mock him. Patiently, Kareem told him that everyone will eventually die and that he prays because it is what one does before one dies that really matters.
