Rating of
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The Kingdom: Action film issues cultural challenge
thyst07 - wrote on 10/19/07
The Kingdom, directed by Peter Burg, is everything that viewers expect from an action-packed, violent, crime-solving film- and a lot that they won't expect. Amidst a riveting crime investigation with plenty of danger and edge-of-your-seat thrills, The Kingdom also carries powerful cultural messages about diversity by challenging stereotypes about race, gender, and Middle-Eastern culture.
In the film, a terrorist attack on an American compound in Saudi Arabia kills over 100 men, women, and children. FBI Special Agent Ronald Fleury (Jamie Foxx) manages to get himself and his team (Chris Cooper, Jennifer Garner, and Jason Bateman) into Saudi Arabia to investigate the scene. With only five days to solve the crime, they find that they are unwelcome and their investigative efforts are severely restricted by the Saudi government. Fleury and his crew befriend Saudi Colonel Al-Ghazi (Ashraf Barhoum), who helps them gain the trust of the Saudi officials and access to the evidence that they need. The American and the Saudi investigators, equally committed to bringing about justice, cross lines of cultural difference in a cooperative effort to find the terrorists responsible for the attack. In a series of twists, turns, gunfights, and high speed car chases, the investigators find their way to a surprising and climactic confrontation with the object of their hunt.
Artistically, Berg offers what most viewers would expect from an action movie of this type. There were several gunfight scenes, an intense automobile chase, and plenty of good explosions, all coupled with a fast-moving camera style that gave the film a sense of urgency and tension. In between the action the script was for the most part effective, although a few of the humorous one-liners seemed contrived and distracted somewhat from the tone of the film. In my opinion, the thing that carried this film artistically was a cast of quality actors who lent their roles a great deal of depth and believability, particularly Foxx, Garner, and Barhoum.
The most impressive feature of The Kingdom, however, is that it makes a serious effort to embrace diversity and difference. While the film does run into a couple of problems in this area, overall it does quite well at challenging some of our culture’s stereotypes about people of color, women, and Middle Eastern cultures.
The leading role, Agent Fluery (Foxx) is a Black/African-American man who occupies a position of legitimate authority, provides good leadership, is diplomatic as well as compassionate, and is also a dedicated and loving father. He is a multidimensional character rather than a flat archetype like so many other roles of color that are seen on screen.
Agent Janet Mayes (Garner) challenges traditional gender roles in many ways. She is a woman who excels in a male-dominated occupation. She is mentally, emotionally, and physically strong, and works and fights alongside men without falling behind or expecting special treatment. When she is placed into a culture in which women are not accepted in such roles, she challenges the status quo not with words, but by embodying the opposite of what is expected of women in that culture.
The greatest challenge that the film takes on, and the one most central to the intended message of the film, is that of debunking our culture’s negative views and stereotypes of Middle Eastern cultures and the Muslim religion. The film shows scenes of daily life in Saudi Arabia- people at market, parents playing with their children, Muslim families praying together in their homes much like Christians do. One scene shows a group of teenagers in an arcade playing the same violent videogames that American kids play. Far from the over-zealous enemies that the media usually depicts, the Saudi Arabians in The Kingdom are presented as people who are very much like us- devoted to their country and to their families, outraged by acts of terrorism, and committed to peace and justice.
In relation to diversity issues, one problem stood out in the film. One of the characters made a derogatory comment about “queers.” The remark was intended to be humorous, but was by no means necessary to the development of the film or the character; any other funny line could have been used to the same effect. I was disappointed that this film’s efforts to embrace difference did not extend to differences in sexual orientation.
The Kingdom also contained some inaccuracies about Saudi Arabian culture; most notably that in reality, a foreign woman would not be forced to cover up in the presence of a Saudi prince, and would not be prohibited from visiting the prince’s palace. While it is important for films of this type to attempt to be as accurate as possible about other cultures, it is also important to recognize that no film is perfect. In the bigger picture of things, I did not feel that these mistakes distracted greatly from the intention of the film.
Apart from a few mistakes, I feel that the overall message of The Kingdom was a positive one about crossing lines of difference and uniting people of different races, genders, and cultures. The final scene of the film makes a strong statement that good and bad, we are more similar than we are different. The Kingdom manages to carry important social and cultural themes while still being entertaining and suspenseful enough to satisfy an action-seeking audience. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
