I wanted to see this film as late night entertainment, and I was shocked to see that this film not only exploited women in the prison system but also egregiously promoted the negative stereotyping of Middle Eastern and Islamic cultures so pervasive in Western popular media. The story is set in Turkey and involves a group of young female tourists who are falsely imprisoned on drug trafficking charges without receiving a trial and are maliciously raped and sodomized by sadistic prison guards. The hidden message I interpreted from this movie is that Turkey, the Arab world, and Islam are all lumped together as an evil boiling pot attempting to make stew out of innocent Westerners.(p)
In an apparent insult to both Islam and the Arab world, the prison warden is continuously shown drinking vodka with an Arab businessman who specializes in trafficking women to sheiks to satisfy their carnal desires. To an uneducated mind, this movie just builds to the popular misconception that anything from the Middle East is evil and repugnant and should be scorned. One of sad ironies to this movie is that Turkey is one of the few countries in the world to have elected a female to lead its people right at the time this sexploitation film was produced. The Islamic world has democratically elected two other women heads of state as well, something we have yet to see in the USA. Another irony is that Turks and Arabs are two different peoples with unrelated languages and cultures, yet the guards are shown throughout the movie conversing in Arabic.(p)
I hope film producers show a more understanding approach when dealing with sensitive issues such as cultural differences. While entertainment is the primary concern for moviegoers, responsibilty and accountability should be factors seriously considered when filmmakers wish to entertain audiences with movies like PRISON HEAT.
