GIO: Your commentary seems to exemplify the necessity of anyone serious about cinema and its criticism to actually read something as thoughtful as the work you have routinely provided for this site, as apposed to giving too much credence to a star system or, dare I say it, a thumb up a thumb up or a thumb down.
Your assessment of the picture seems torn between what you claim is its stereotypical (to the point of being funny) depictions of life in a particular setting and culture, and what you also find, ultimately, to be transcendent filmmaking. The mixed response of the audiences in your two screenings seem right in line with your own critiques. I suppose you would say this picture contains multitudes that, while not being mutually exclusive, also do not balance into quite a cohesive whole. Having not seen it yet, I can only wonder if that may have been the director's point. In fact, you assume a lot of certainty over the many ways "we" think and feel regarding Muslim culture and people, though I feel obligated to suggest that you could have dialed back a bit on what you claim everyone in the West is thinking regarding our fellow human beings to the East. I would love to know what the director would say in response to your critiques regarding her own depiction of Muslim and Saudi culture (great point about the paradox regarding the sale of girls bicycles and laws against riding them).
OMER M. MOZAFFAR: Thank you so much for your wise comment. As for the thumbs up/down, and the star system, and thoughtful critique, each has its place. Roger used to frequently complain about the limits of the thumbs and the star system.
Regarding my depiction of us Westerners, I'm glad that you caught on to my caricatures; they were intentionally over the top. The implicit point was that "we" usually caricature "they" while exploring our own complexities, so I decided caricature "we" and look at the complexities of "they" as depicted in the film.