My name is khan is an Indian movie revolving around the life of+ Rizwan Khan. Rizwan Khan is an Indian, Muslim man who lived in Mumbai with his family. Rizwan was diagnosed with autism at an early age which is why he got more attention from his mother. In the light of this, his brother grew very jealous and caused a lot of tension in their relationship and Zakir eventually moved to San Francisco and started his own firm and khan continued living with his mother. He moved to San Francisco to live with his brother and work at his company after his mother passed away. While working he met and fell in love with Madrina, “who was a Hindu divorced woman that had a 6-year-old son, named Sameer”, and he eventually married her. Their life seemed perfect until 9/11 happened. They started experiencing discrimination. Sam began to experience bullying at school and one day he got into a fight with some students and was beaten to death. Madrina started blaming Rizwan’s name( they had taken his last name after getting married) for her son’s death and she told him that he was a terrorist. She then proceeded to tell him that he was a mistake and that he needed to get out of the house. When Khan asked her what he had to do in order for her to believe him she told him that he had to go to the president of the United States and tell him that his name was khan and that he was not a terrorist. I chose this movie because it taught me some of the most important things in life: determination, forgiveness, devotion, and true love.
One of the main things that were emphasized in the movie was determination. Khan never saw autism as a hindrance that kept him from fulfilling his goals. He didn’t give up on his relationship with Madrina and their marriage after his brother opposed it because he knew that they could work things out. He didn’t worry about the long journey that he had to go on to prove his point and love to his spouse. He never got tired from his job as a door to door salesman even though he faced a lot of rejection. And most importantly, he proposed to Madrina many times and he got rejected but when she told him that he had to show her a place she had never seen he spent days looking for one until he found it and married the woman he loved. We can face many hardships in this world and they can keep us from doing many of the things we love but overcoming these difficulties, moving forward and looking at the bright side of things is one of the greatest things a human can do.
I used to be someone who always held grudges and never forgave people very easily but when I saw this movie I was shocked by how lenient Khan was. He was bullied when he was young because of his condition yet he never spoke poorly about the kids who bullied him. His brother chose to leave the house because he hated the amount of attention that Khan got from his mother but Rizwan never thought that his brother gave up on him or hated him. When his wife told him to go to the president of the united states and tell him that he was not a terrorist he didn’t think that she gave up on their marriage easily because understood that her actions were driven by the grief of losing her son. After he was released from prison, he didn’t resent the policemen even though he was beaten up countless times by them because they thought that he was a terrorist. This made him a happier, better person and he didn’t just spend his days dwelling over the past. Seeing these things made me realize that holding grudges was just a waste of time and that forgiving is a good thing for both parties.
Another thing I learned from this movie was devotion. Throughout the whole movie, Khan never lost his faith in Allah(god) or the people around him. He didn’t convert to different religion after he started experiencing discrimination and he never doubted his belief even after his wife kicked him out the house. There were also many scenes in the movie that showed him praying or reading verses from the Qur’an. This taught me that if a person truly believes in something they will accomplish it and the people who disagree with them will never be fo meaning because a person’s own self is their hardest critique.
And lastly, this movie was a representation of how powerful love can be. Khan’s journey was not lead by hatred or dismay but by the love that he had for his wife and god. Whenever he was called a terrorist, he never used violence to solve the problem. He talked to them without raising his voice or using vulgar words. When the policemen arrested him thinking that he was a terrorist he didn’t hit them or curse at them he only told them that he was not and that they have to believe him.
My name is Khan was my choice of text because it had many important lessons embedded in its story. To me, it was more than just a movie that had a happy ending. This film was a telling of the other side of 9/11, the side that many people don’t focus on.