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Some years ago, Bridget Jones asked Salman Rushdie where the bathroom was after a failed attempt at joining him in a real conversation. I was thrilled to see him, along with Jeffrey Archer and others, in one of my favorite movies.
Rushdie is one of the few great writers who also makes a good television guest, and so I get to see him every once in a while on THE COLBERT REPORT and REAL TIME WITH BILL MAHER. Part of his political appeal is, of course, that his writing made him a political figure when he was issued a fatwa in 1988 after the publication of THE SATANIC VERSES.
What was "wrong" with that book? Well, the reference to THE SATANIC VERSES is a reference to the Prophet Mohammad's writings. Like many prophets of his time, Mohammad took dictation from an angel (1). One day, the angel appeared to him and said that the previous visit from an angel was actually Satan in costume. The verses Mohammed transcribed from that encounter are the "satanic verses." Rushdie raises the question: how can we ever be sure that all of the other angel encounters were genuine? Good question, actually.
A fatwa means that Rushdie can be executed without trial or consequence in any Islamic country and 
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that anyone who kills him will be a hero. Rushdie lived as an exile for quite a long time, but has outlived the man who issued the death warrant. Attempts on Rushdie's life have decreased significantly over the last twenty years, although he still receives death threats.
While Rushdie played himself in BRIDGET JONES'S DIARY, he was portrayed by an actor in a INTERNATIONAL GUERRILLAS, a Pakistani film produced a couple of years after the fatwa was issued. I have not seen the film, but Rushdie has and I've heard him talk about it. Apparently, the film Rushdie is a drunken playboy who kills and tortures Muslims (sometimes by reading his books aloud). Apparently, the Pakistanis who made the film also thought Rushdie lived in a tropical area where he wore those white short suits so popular among film bad guys.
Britain attempted to ban the film, as they felt it encouraged the fatwa and therefore was not protected as free speech (as it was libel hate speech). Rushdie told them not to ban the film for two reasons.
First, he believes in free speech. As a censored author, he doesn't want other authors censored.
Second, he knows that banned texts actually get more attention. So he shrewdly allowed it to 
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be shown without a fight and maybe three people outside of Pakistan have seen it now.
Rushdie's most recent film appearance was not as himself. I was surprised to see him in Helen Hunt's THEN SHE FOUND ME, which I watched for the Colin Firth quotient. The film was taking its course and Helen Hunt's character went in for an obstetrician appointment and there was Salman Rushdie! Although it never happened in any of his scenes, I can't help picturing Rushdie between Helen Hunt's legs now.
Rushdie didn't steal the film (Bette Midler did), but this first foray into playing a character was fine. Rushdie has always wanted to be an actor and is currently married to an actress so we can expect to see him in more roles.
Will we ever see him adding an Oscar to his many writing awards? Well, we didn't think we'd be giving one to Whoopi Goldberg or Cher.
I'm ready to see Rushdie as a superstar, especially if it encourages other authors to entertain me in multi-media.
I'm looking at you, Margaret Atwood.
(1) Prophets of our time are presumably locked up in institutions, where they may or may not continue to take dictation.
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| Comedies with Dr. Karma |
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Dr. Karma discusses all things comic, from the classics to what may become classics. Laugh with, but not at, her, please.
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| Karma Waltonen |
Dr. Karma is a silly, nerdy know-it-all, but in a good way. She brings all her overeducation to discuss that which truly matters: comedy. As some famous guy once said: “And if I laugh at any mortal thing, ‘tis that I may not weep.” Or something like that.
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