Review of Towelhead (2008) by Richard F — 16 Jun 2009

'american beauty', 'six feet under' and 'true blood' writer alan ball makes his directorial debut in this thought-provoking film about a 13-yr-old christian lebanese american girl named jasira (played by independent spirit nominee 18-yr-old saudi arabian/mexican actress summer bishil), who lacks the ability to create and establish appropriate sexual boundaries thanks to clueless parents played by maria bello and lebanese armenian peter macdissi. the film is based on a novel written by Alicia Erian, whose father is copt egyptian. I would expect several parents will want to lock up their daughters until they're 30 after seeing this film, lol! summer bishil is so convincing as a 13-yr-old, the sexual scenes are disturbing and likely to make one uncomfortable. toni collete is a concerned neighbor whose husband has spent time in yemen. she reaches out to jasira. eugene jones III plays a fellow student she is forbidden to see because he's black. meanwhile, aaron eckhart is a married neighbor enamored with her beauty who hires jasira to babysit his obnoxious son. the film has its funny moments which are a welcome break from the disturbing scenes.

The t-word title drew expected controversy from muslims, arabs and sikhs (who likened its offensiveness to the n-word) which is discussed on the dvd with alan ball, the pregnant author, bishil, macdissi and reps from CAIR and SALDEF. alan ball discloses his homosexuality in an attempt to illiuminate his sincerity and relate his experiences as a scorned minority to open up the conversation.

(on a side note, many sikhs loved the sikh character in spike lee's 'inside man.).