Commentary on news, politics, sports, religion, TV and movies
 Tom Tangney
Tom on KIRO Radio
Join Tom Tangney and the rest of the radio crew every day KIRO Radio.
About Tom Tangney
By day, you can hear Tom on KIRO Radio 97.3 FM, and by night, he sits in the dark, making snide comments about what he sees on the silver screen.
Help us build a Fisher House
Bonneville Seattle is raising funds for the construction of a second Fisher House at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Tacoma and we need your help.

Anti-Islam film prompts deadly uprising

September 12, 2012 @ 6:39 am (Updated: 7:13 am - 9/12/12 )

cedargrove
The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad. (AP image)

The U.S. ambassador to Libya and three other Americans have been killed in an attack on the U.S. consulate in the eastern city of Benghazi by protesters angry over a film that ridiculed Islam's Prophet Muhammad.

The movie is called "Innocence of Muslims" and 14 minutes of it, a random mish-mash of scenes, was posted on Youtube in July.

Made by a 52-year-old Israeli-American real-estate developer Sam Bacile, who reportedly raised $5 million for it, the film uses 60 actors and 45 crew members.

Bacile calls Islam a cancer and freely admits he meant for the movie to be provocative - he says he wanted to show Islam to be a hateful religion.

Initially, the most striking thing about this movie is how crudely it's done. The acting is atrocious, it gives wood a bad name, the backscreen projection (or green screen) is embarrassing, the action scenes are inept, and the dubbing is laughable.

The film is poorly produced. And that's what most of us in this country will see if we watch any of this. But what many Muslims in the Middle East see is outright blasphemy and it is offensive. It's bad enough for Muslims to have Mohammed even depicted by an actor, but what's depicted is even more offensive.

Fair warning: Here's a clip that many are going to find objectionable. In this scene, from what I can tell, the woman of the house commands a young Mohammed to enter her room. (Mohammed is later portrayed as sexually promiscuous, bloodthirsty, even seems to approve of child molestation.) This is pretty inflammatory stuff.

The filmmaker says he meant his film to provoke - I wonder if this is the reaction he wanted or expected. He's reportedly gone into hiding.

By TOM TANGNEY

You might also be interested in:

Clinton says Libya attack should shock the world

Anti-Islam filmmaker in hiding after protests

More Tom Tangney

MyNorthwest.com - Purpose of Comments statement
Bonneville Media encourages site users to express their opinions by posting comments. Our goal is to maintain a civil dialogue in which readers feel comfortable. At times, the comments can descend to personal attacks. Please do not engage in such behavior. We encourage your thoughtful comments which: have a positive and constructive tone, are on topic, are respectful toward others and their opinions. Bonneville reserves the right to remove comments which do not conform to these criteria.

Comments (199)


  • Add A Comment

  • TwoTrees wrote...
    Sooo.....
    September 12, 2012 6:14 am
    Mr. Bacile makes a crappy film about Islamist 'hate'. Islamists in Libya respond by killing four Americans. Regardless of artistic ability, it seems Mr. Bacile struck a chord of truth.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    Bacile is no better than slime he claims them to be...
    September 12, 2012 6:18 am
    By making and distributing such inflammatory garbage, Bacile has shown that he is no better than the way he describes Muslims to be. He has the right of free speech, but he also has the RESPONSIBILITY of being responsible for the inevitable reaction to his free speech. AND WHEN your free speech incites others to kill - YOU are resonsible for inciting that to occur. he's an idiot who can't add 1 and 1 to understand what the inevitable reaction would be.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kato1967 wrote...
    BS Sarge!
    September 12, 2012 9:44 am
    The religion of peace strikes again. This is the fault of the lunatic muslim killers, not the makers of some stupid film. If I killed someobody everytime my religion was insulted I'd be one of the worst mass murderers in history. No way this is justified - not even remotely.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • dquay wrote...
    Incites others to kill?????
    September 12, 2012 9:47 am
    Are you kidding me...The koran incites them to kill!! Don't be a fool!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • SassMcGhee wrote...
    Wrong
    September 12, 2012 1:31 pm
    That's like saying the rape victim is responsible for getting raped because she is a woman wearing a dress. How many times do Christians and Jews get blasted with hate and inflammatory rhetoric? Do we see this kind of thing when people say blasphemous things against Jesus? Nope. Not in 2012. Your logic is deeply flawed and naive.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • chellesbelles wrote...
    Seriously??
    September 13, 2012 1:58 am
    I believe in God, that doesn't mean that if you say something derogatory against Him that I have the right or responsibility to go blow up some people. I happen to believe my God can take care of Himself and if you choose to defame Him, He will take care of you without my help. Only a very insecure person would go around causing this kind of havoc over something somebody said or wrote. The only people/persons responsible for this reprehensible act are the ones who committed it. No one can 'make' you do anything. You are fully responsible for how you react to any situation. It's just like these crazy people who want to fight because 'you talked bad about my mama'...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • BocaBob1 wrote...
    Amen
    September 12, 2012 8:24 am
    This new bunch is so much better than the old Ah?
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Carlmania wrote...
    Islam is simply an Evil cult...
    September 12, 2012 8:29 am
    What do you expect from animals...
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • kata wrote...
    May not even be "Mr. Bacile"
    September 12, 2012 2:00 pm
    http://insidemovies.ew.com/2012/09/12/innocence-of-muslims-mystery-who-is-sam-bacile/
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Big Zipper wrote...
    irresponsible
    September 12, 2012 6:23 am
    Flat out irresponsible. This will fuel 5 more years of war and cost 1,000s of innocent young men to die. Idiot.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Roark wrote...
    So do we have to run everything by Islamic radicals now?
    September 12, 2012 8:44 am
    You are a coward. We have free speech in the USA and NO ONE can stop it! Period!
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Big Zipper wrote...
    NO but we should respect people and free religion
    September 12, 2012 11:10 am
    And if it causes our young men to die, its stupid.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zagnut wrote...
    http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/
    September 12, 2012 6:31 am
    http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/AboutSite.htm
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Zagnut wrote...
    And
    September 12, 2012 6:32 am
    http://www.thereligionofpeace.com/Pages/Statement-on-Muslims.htm
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    It Still is Irresponsible
    September 12, 2012 6:33 am
    We are dealing with people that are largely uneducated, with fragile governments that have emerged from long term dictatorships. It is unfortunate but we need to deal with these people with kid gloves if they are to emerge as responsible nations.

    I hope Sam Bacile is proud of himself. He'd might as well go over himself and preach jihad in one of the more violent mosques.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • DesertRez wrote...
    Complete crap
    September 12, 2012 6:37 am
    This article merely perpetrates the fake cover story of our two embassies being attacked, our ambassadors killed and dragged through the streets, and the flag being replaced by an Al Quaida flag. All of this JUST HAPPENS to be on Sept 11 in two countries that JUST HAPPENED to have their secular governments taken over during the Arab uprisings by extreme Muslim terrorists. How does our government and media respond? By apologizing for a crappy film that is protected by the first amendment of the constitution. November cannot come fast enough.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Seattle is a cesspool wrote...
    Bravo DesertRez...
    September 12, 2012 6:45 am
    I'll give you some props before the Lib hounds pounce on you for being mean to their "everybody loves me" President.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Roark wrote...
    Amen Brother
    September 12, 2012 8:47 am
    DesRez is 1000% right! It was going to happen anyway. They could look in any American media on any given day and find an excuse to attack and kill us. We need a president with the guts to call this what it is, a religious war against America and Israel. If we don't we won't be here in a few years.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Basso wrote...
    I know....
    September 12, 2012 6:38 am
    Let's keep appeasing these fanatics. So we should just all keep our opinions to ourselves lest we "upset" the fanatics. Where was the USMC in the first place, did they not kill one invader? Watch the current administration do nothing about this except lip service. This was over a film, what a bunch of babies.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • HLC wrote...
    Those people will never stop killing us.
    September 12, 2012 6:39 am
    Their religion of peace will not allow it.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    Their religion of peace will not allow it.
    September 12, 2012 12:11 pm
    And your religion of hating them will insure that the killings will be perpetuated.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tlmbrt wrote...
    @FormerMarineSgt
    September 13, 2012 1:55 am
    Why don't you live THERE, you idiot! No killings will be perpetuated if we wipe them out first. Islam is a vile scourge and a danger to the world.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • tlmbrt wrote...
    @FormerMarineSgt
    September 13, 2012 1:59 am
    So, you are saying they are justified in killing us because we "hate" them? If we just loved them, they would like us and leave us alone, right? You are another self-hating apologist. Get a clue before it's too late.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Rick W7PSK wrote...
    As long as the Applogist is in office
    September 12, 2012 6:46 am
    and supports the Muslim Brotherhood. This will keep happening.

    He learned a few things in 20+ years under reverend wright. Too bad his plan is working and America as we knew it will cease to exist if he gets 4 more years.

    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Gar57 wrote...
    Oh for allah's sake Rick.....
    September 12, 2012 7:13 am
    get a grip! You're starting to sound like Chuck Norris.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • Drool wrote...
    Ah, Yes...the Apologist Meme.
    September 12, 2012 7:28 am
    Good thing Reagan never apologized for anything...oh wait a minute...check that.
    { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }
  • { "Thumbs Up":"1","Thumbs Down":"-1" }