Afghan Star (2009)

The most interesting thing about this documentary that takes a look at an "American Idol"-type show was the information that Afghanistan, just a couple of decades ago, was quite westernized. It was more than a little jarring to see shots of school campuses where the women wore feathered hair and knee-length skirts -- they looked just like students at my college in the late '80s. The fact that the population has been stripped of rights they formerly held was so shocking that I almost couldn't process it. Yes, I'm appalled at myself for somehow just assuming that "they're used to it...it's awful, but that's the way it IS there," when most of the adult population can remember clearly that it wasn't always like that.

Still, the movie itself wasn't as compelling as I believed it would be. The glimpse inside the culture was fascinating, but seeing it almost as a side-story as we follow around some of the contestants (who are probably some of the least "average" citizens there) made the whole situation feel preposterous.

B-