The 1991 film Not Without My Daughter was criticized for its portrayal of Iranian society. Filmed in Israel, it was based on the Pulitzer-nominated autobiography by Betty Mahmoody. In the book and film, an American woman (Mahmoody) traveled to Tehran with her young daughter to visit her Iranian-born family of her husband. Mahmoody's husband then undergoes a strange transformation in Iran, ranging from an educated and sophisticated citizen to a backwarded and abusive peasant, eventually deciding that they will not return to the United States. Betty is told that she can divorce him and leave, but their daughter must stay in Tehran under Islamic laws. Ultimately, after 18 months in Iran, Betty and her daughter escape to the American embassy in Turkey.
Several Western critics, including Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun Times and Caryn James of The New York Times, criticized the film for stereotyping Iranians as misogynistic and fanatical. According to Ebert, the film depicts Islamic society "in shrill terms", where women are "willing or unwilling captives of their men", deprived "of what in the West would be considered basic human rights." Further, Ebert says, "No attempt is made - deliberately, I assume - to explain the Muslim point of view, except in rigid sets of commands and rote statements." Ebert then contends,
| “ | If a movie of such a vitriolic and spiteful nature were to be made in America about any other ethnic group, it would be denounced as racist and prejudiced. | ” |
According to Jane Campbell, the film
| “ | ...only serves to reinforce the media stereotype of Iranians as terrorists who, if not actively bombing public buildings or holding airline passengers hostage, are untrustworthy, irrational, cruel and barbaric. | ” |
The film was also criticized in Iran. A 2002 Islamic Republic News Agency article claimed that the film " smears... against Iran" and "stereotyped Iranians as cruel characters and wife-beaters." In a Finnish documentary, Without My Daughter, film maker Alexis Kouros tells Mahmoody's husband's side of the story, showing Iranian eyewitnesses accusing the Hollywood film of spreading lies and "treasons." Alice Sharif, an American woman living with her Iranian husband in Tehran, accuses Mahmoody and the filmmakers of deliberately attempting to foment anti-Iranian sentiment in the United States.
Read more about this topic: Anti-Iranian Sentiments, In The United States, Hollywood's Depiction of Persians or Iranians