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Did you spot it in X2?

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Terrafamilia

unread,
May 10, 2003, 5:07:22 PM5/10/03
to
So you comic nerds and fanboys think you're eagle-eyed at spotting movie
minutiae?

HA! You've got nothing on these guys.
http://www.arabnews.com/Article.asp?ID=26024

From what I've read, this group has a habit of getting upset at things.

Ciao,

Terrafamilia

tphile

unread,
May 10, 2003, 5:34:45 PM5/10/03
to

Its nice to see Bagdad Bob is alive and well and working in L.A.
He will do great as a Hollywood Movie Critic


tphile ;)

tphile

unread,
May 10, 2003, 5:53:17 PM5/10/03
to

and they don't give muchevidence either.
I assume villain in the opening scene refers to the closeup of William
Stryker examining the White House desk.
He is wearing what looks like a class ring (westpoint?). but that was
pretty damn quick to see any details.
He also wore and American Flag pin in his lapel. I'm not sure about any
wedding ring.
Thats all afaik

Its kinda unlikely that Nightcrawler is wearing rings ;P

tphile

Brian Doyle

unread,
May 10, 2003, 8:21:04 PM5/10/03
to

"tphile" <tph...@cableone.net> wrote in message
news:3EBD74CD...@cableone.net...

> I assume villain in the opening scene refers to the closeup of William
> Stryker examining the White House desk.
> He is wearing what looks like a class ring (westpoint?). but that was
> pretty damn quick to see any details.
> He also wore and American Flag pin in his lapel. I'm not sure about any
> wedding ring.
> Thats all afaik

Stryker _is_ wearing a ring with some sort of symbol on it, I noticed it
when I watched the movie, and I thought it might be a Hellfire Club trident,
but it seems unlikely all things considered


Jeremy Henderson

unread,
May 10, 2003, 9:50:49 PM5/10/03
to
On Sat, 10 May 2003 21:07:22 GMT, Terrafamilia <terraf...@irtc.net>
wrote:

And rightly they should over this, as William Stryker is clearly a
Muslim stereotype. Why just look at his Middle Eastern name and
appearance! Not to mention that awful, exaggerated Arab accent!
_______________________________
Life's a lot like a freak show.
Nobody laughs when they leave.

Jeremy Henderson

unread,
May 10, 2003, 9:57:08 PM5/10/03
to

Hmmm...a controversy that could force many fans to rush back to the
theater to watch the film again. And this Muslin organization
specifically says they don't want people to boycott the movie, because
they want people to see the filmmaker's prejudice firsthand.

You know, if i was the suspicious type...

One Truth

unread,
May 11, 2003, 1:22:03 AM5/11/03
to
Terrafamilia <terraf...@irtc.net> wrote in news:3EBD6A53.103B1DD7
@irtc.net:


I was wondering if someone would talk about this here. Let me say that I
am a Muslim and I totally disagree with what that guy said. I saw the
movie and I looked specifically at that symbol. It was NOT the word for
Allah. I just had a long email conversation with the head of that
organization Najee Ali. If someone wants to read it I can post it here.
When you see the way he proceeded to insult me and assume things about
me, try to reconcile that with the fact that he is the head of a
supposed religious organization.

Most folk in this group seem like intelligent people so let me just say
don't judge the rest of us Muslims by this guy. From the looks of his
website (http://www.projectislamichope.org/) he is one of those 'Louis
Farrakhan - everything is a Jewish conspiracy' type of people.

I already had a long thread about this here
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?
s=e879e030d7cebf59a8c3e3511a9c394e&threadid=33683994&perpage=20
&pagenumber=4 under the username 'shakafell'. Although the conversation
eventually descended into an argument about film interpretation.

I have half a mind to post my emails with this guy on the net and expose
what kind of person he really is.

BlakGard

unread,
May 11, 2003, 2:12:04 AM5/11/03
to

I've always found it best to let crazy people talk while you ignore them.

-=[ The BlakGard ]=-
"Somewhere there's danger;
somewhere there's injustice,
and somewhere else the tea is getting cold!"

One Truth

unread,
May 11, 2003, 3:03:09 AM5/11/03
to
blak...@aol.comix.net (BlakGard) wrote in
news:20030511021204...@mb-m04.aol.com:


Yes but when people in the media start to listen to crazy people like
him and spread his message then you have a problem.

M. Zaiem Beg

unread,
May 11, 2003, 3:17:51 AM5/11/03
to
On Sun, 11 May 2003, One Truth wrote:

->I was wondering if someone would talk about this here. Let me say that I
->am a Muslim and I totally disagree with what that guy said. I saw the
->movie and I looked specifically at that symbol. It was NOT the word for
->Allah. I just had a long email conversation with the head of that
->organization Najee Ali. If someone wants to read it I can post it here.
->When you see the way he proceeded to insult me and assume things about
->me, try to reconcile that with the fact that he is the head of a
->supposed religious organization.

Being that I am also Muslim and I specifically went to the movie
today (third viewing...hey, an excuse is an excuse) to see the symbol on
the ring, and how that is *so* not the lettering for Allah, I would be
interested in seeing what this guy's rationalization was. Maybe he
doesn't know how to read Arabic?

If nothing else, you could email it to me (if you felt comfortable doing
so, of course) if you didn't want to post it here.

--
M. Zaiem Beg zb...@iglou.com
The oh so very proud sponsor of the Pete Rose page at
baseball-reference.com


One Truth

unread,
May 11, 2003, 4:21:10 AM5/11/03
to
"M. Zaiem Beg" <zb...@iglou.com> wrote in
news:Pine.GSO.4.33.0305110313530.25273-100000@shell1:


As-Salam-mu-alaikum brother. Well his reasoning to me was that he had
the same ring and it looks exactly like in the movie. He later sent me a
picture of the word Allah as if I was unaware of what it looked like. I
told him it would be better to produce a picture from the film. Maybe
the studio will do so soon and prove him wrong.

I will post the email exchange here since you asked. Give me some time
to gather and format it properly.

Salam.

One Truth

unread,
May 11, 2003, 5:44:17 AM5/11/03
to
Here is my email exchange with Najee Ali, the head of Project Islamic
H.O.P.E. If you read the whole thing the truth will speak for itself.
Sorry if the formatting is messed up.


****I added some comments in asteriks like this****

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: One Truth
To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
Subject: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

Salam. I am a Muslim living in the US and I just saw this movie and
looked specifically

at this symbol for a while. It was on the screen for a long time and I
can tell you it

was definately NOT Allah. It was just a weird symbol. It did look a
little similar but

if you look closer you will see that it is something else. I think that
you should at

least watch the movie before you listen to second-hand accounts about
it. The movie has

a wonderful message about tolerance and you can interpret it
specifically for Muslims.
The attack at the beginning represents the 9/11 attacks. The mutants
represent

Muslims/Arabs who are blamed as a whole. And Stryker represents
Bush/Ashcroft/US

Government, not a Muslim.
We should be supporting films like this and not ask for apologies for
non-existent

hidden messages. Please watch the film and look at the symbol yourself.
It is NOT

Allah.
Salam.

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

ASA
I have seen the movie 3 times, and the ring says Allah I. Arabic, with a
picture of the

holy Kabbah on the side of it. If were wrong then why hasn't the studio
rebuked our

claims?

With Hope,
Najee Ali
National Director Project Islamic H.O.P.E
www.projectislamichope.org
"The Ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr".
-Prophet Muhammad( Peace be Upon him)

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Fwd: XMEN REVIEW BY PLAYAHATA .COM.

Release Date: May 2nd, 2003

Synopsis: The X-Men have opponents new and old to face this time around.
Magneto is

back, but there is also a threat to Professor Xavier's school for
mutants led by a

human named Stryker.

Bruce Banner Says: Overall: A-

If you guessed that I am a comic book fan, you would be correct but my
profile icon

probably gives me away. Again if you know the X-Men from your youth like
me you will

likely agree that the first X-Men was weak. Some believe that was
because 45 minutes of

the original footage was cut out. But X-Men 2 is Bananas! I felt 16
again. Most of the

older hip-hop generation grew up reading more books in their spare time,
especially

comic books, but I think the reading part helped our creative juices and
therefore it

is a big difference in the creative imagination and artwork of those my
age and those

coming up now in the entertainment industry. However this film is
perfect for the "now

generation" since it is shot at a blazing 24 frames per second. The now
generation

probably doesn't realize the deeper story or model that X-Men is created
after. The

perspectives of Charles Xavier and Magneto are the main forces that have
carried the

X-Men for the last 30+ years. It's the most "successful brand" in marvel
comics

including Spider Man. In essence the original creators patterned them
after the 2 most

popular figures the African-American community has ever known. Magneto
is Malcolm-X and

Charles Xavier is Martin Luther King. In actuality, very few consciously
realize this

paradigm that has been written about extensively. If you don't believe
me I got links

for you on the topic. Yes white liberals like Stan Lee hooked us up but
they couldn't

make them black, it would have been too obvious. It's too bad that
liberalism was not

apparent in the first 5 minutes of the film. That's when director Brian
Singer decided

to have the super evil antagonist (William Stryker) wearing a Muslim
insignia on his

ring while signing a brief. He's not a Muslim in the comic book series.
It was subtle

but it brings unnecessary controversy to an otherwise fantastic movie.
The fact that he

is Jewish will only magnify criticism. Singer is young, but at 36 he is
old enough to

know better. He must still be trying to make up for not being "Jewish
enough" when he

was young. Ironically, in his youth he was once part of the Nazi club in
New Jersey but

recently he was labeled as "young Hollywood's great Jewish hope" in an
interview. I

still can't believe he did something so dumb to such a great movie
especially since

"prejudice and bias" are the themes throughout the movie and has always
been in the

tale of X-Men. If the public overlooks this post 9/11 hate Muslim
propaganda it will be

a shame. It should be removed immediately and definitely should not be
in the DVD in a

few months. Movie goers should pay careful attention to the numerous
parallels between

the anti-war movement footage and the anti-mutant registration footage
that's just one

of the many ways that post 911 thinking has influenced this complex
comic creation. -

Nuff Said

[At its most abstract, the X-Men stories are an observation about human
xenophobia but

on the forefront its a question of which rode to choose between Malcolm
X and Martin

Luther King Jr.Need more analysis, try these.

http://www.shinyshelf.co.uk/article/3/st/590,

http://www.outlanders.fsnet.co.uk/tlh0506.htm

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: X-men more Hollywood propaganda, but i finally figured it out

ASA,
To the Muslims,

IM a huge X-men fan, so pay close attention. The first X-men movie last
year begins

with a Holocaust scene. During which Magneto discovers his powers. This
was very

interesting because it portrayed a Jewish Holocaust victim seeking
revenge on the

world, and drew comparisons between the Holocaust and the war on
Mutants.

And even though Magneto was supposed to be the villain in the first
movie, (the

director who is Jewish) created an explanation and even sympathy by
using the

Holocaust.

In the sequel, Magneto is not really perceived as the villain this time,
he saves the

X-men from a plane crash, and is perceived by doing what he does so his
race can

survive.

Col. Stryker, who is seen wearing the Muslim ring is the evil villain,
he has Magneto

beaten, drugged, and attempts to kill the President while creating a war
on Mutants.

This is very simple to those that are thinking through out this movie
and not just

being entertained.

Those anti Mutant protests, in the movie is not a parallel for us. Its
have nothing to

do with today's Muslims being persecuted.

The Mutants represent the Jews and their long history of being
persecuted because of

bias and intolerance. Col. Stryker represents the supposed evil of
Islam. If you doubt

this analysis. Then rent the first X-men. And then Watch the new X men
movie and

explain why Stryker has that Allah ring on with the Holy Kabbah on the
side of it.

The sad thing is Hollywood almost got away with this. Because after 9-
11, the Muslim

ummah is passive and too afraid to speak out and defend there faith,

Were more interested in just getting along with the powers that be, We
don't want to

publicly rock the boat. Even when this director Singer essentially spits
in our face.

The majority of the ummah cant react, to defend there faith.

I pray that Allah gives us all more strength and courage.

With hope,
Najee Ali
National Director Project Islamic H.O.P.E.
Los Angeles Chapter ( 323 ) 769-5267
p.o. box 43-A-122 L.A. ,Ca 90043
www.projectislamichope.org

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: One Truth
To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

I saw this film on a very big screen and the ring was so tiny I don't
know how anyone

even noticed it. But since I knew to look for it I stared at it for a
long time. It

looked more like a circle with a line through it. I don't see how anyone
could see the

Kabba on it. It was so small there was no room for anything else except
the symbol in

the middle.
I agree that there is a lot of anti-Islamic propaganda in many Hollywood
films but this

is not one of them. I find it strange that you can intrepret the message
of the film to

be completely opposite to the message I took away from it. X-Men stories
have always

been about acceptance of all people.
Talking about these hidden messages and demanding apologies only makes
us look bad. I

can almost guarantee you that the symbol did not say Allah. But I'm sure
if you keep

pushing the studio may eventually pull the ring out of their prop
department and we can

all see it.

May Allah guide all of us to the true path.
Salam.

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

ASA
PS
I SAW THE FILM 3 TIMES FOR MYSELF, I CAN GIVE YOU A HISTORY OF THE X-
MEN. YOUR

MISTAKEN IN YOUR ANALYSIS.

With Hope,
Najee Ali
National Director Project Islamic H.O.P.E
www.projectislamichope.org
"The Ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr".
-Prophet Muhammad( Peace be Upon him)

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: One Truth
To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

I can give you a history of X-men too. Including the fact that the
character of Ted

Stryker in the comics is a Christain preacher that was very close to
Jerry Falwell. In

fact Falwell was upset over the portrayal. I don't see how anyone could
think that the

William Stryker from the movie is a Muslim. He has a southern accent, is
a military

officer, works for the US government. Not exactly the first things that
come to mind

when you think of a Muslim.
As for my analysis, I certainly think it is more accurate than your
convoluted

conspiracy theory about Jews and Muslims.

Salam.

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

Yes, you just proved my point, styker is all these things, so why does
he have the

ALLAH ring on?

why don't you contact the film studio and ask them why, if IM wrong i
will apologize

to you brother. if IM correct i expect too hear from you

With Hope,
Najee Ali
National Director Project Islamic H.O.P.E
www.projectislamichope.org
"The Ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr".
-Prophet Muhammad( Peace be Upon him)

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

Salaams,
with all due respect your not me. I know what I saw, maybe you need
glasses? im not

sure. A matter of fact the reason im so sure is because i have the same
exact ring. And

just to make sure I have seen the movie 3 times, and sat in the front
row with my head

upsides down.

Why don't you contact the film dept. in 20th century fox, they will tell
you what the

ring says. It says ALLAH.

This Jewish director spit in your face and all Muslims, he is at home
laughing because

he fooled the majority of you all. This film was not about 9-11, Bush
and Ashcroft.

You should be grateful that everyone in the ummah is not sleep, and
demanding Islam be

respected.

With Hope,
Najee Ali
National Director Project Islamic H.O.P.E
www.projectislamichope.org
"The Ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr".
-Prophet Muhammad( Peace be Upon him)

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: One Truth
To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
Subject: Re: X2 and hidden messages of Allah

Well I was going to write more to you but I won't bother. After reading
some of the

articles on your website defending Michael Jackson and hip-hop music I
can see that you

obviously don't know what Islam is about. As real Muslims neither one of
us should even

be watching this movie in the first place. Or any other movie for that
matter. I know

it is wrong for me to watch it, but then I do not run a Muslim
organization and I do

not claim to represent Islam myself to anyone else.
I can guarantee you that more people will come out of this movie with a
message about

tolreance than about a hidden decoder ring with Allah on it representing
Muslims. In

fact I have seen many non-Muslim people talking about the 9/11 and
Muslim

discrimination parallels on the internet. So I was not alone in my
analysis.

----------------------------------------------------------------

****At this point I thought it was over but then he sent me some more
messages****

From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Fwd: X2 - Stryker's ring.

ASA
This is a link that a NON-MUSLIM, posted on a message board for the X-
men movie.
Since they weren't Muslim and couldn't read Arabic, , many of them said
the ring was

just a secret society or Masonic order ring.

Muslims should know what this symbol stands for. This is the symbol of
the ring that

was worn by the villain who attempts to kill the president of the U.S ,
the X-men and

everyone else.

This just confirms what I said 20th Century fox, this Jewish director
can just SPIT it

the face of Muslims, after 9-11, the majority of Muslim leadership is
too afraid to

even QUESTION this and its right in front of there face. I cant wait to
organize the

protest at 20th century fox!!

With Hope,
Najee Ali
www.projectislamichope.org


Mr. Ali:

I hope this link comes through for you as this is the symbol I was
shown.

http://www.dartmouth.edu/~alnur/Personal%20Web%20Page_files/ALLAH.jpg

Also, I didn't think you would mind but I also feel the responsibility
to let you know

that I used some portions of your response to me in a posting pertaining
to the issue.

I felt that some of the comments were not very fair and maybe seeing
your response

would shed a little light for them, as it has for me.

I must say, I knew nothing of you or your organization before this came
to light. I

will now be more willing to "stick my nose where it doesn't belong" such
as this. Your

comments and patience with my questions has made me consider why I
believe the things

that I do. Those beliefs have not changed whatsoever, except for the
fact that I feel

that much stronger that they are the correct beliefs for me.

That symbol though, the only way I could see it being the one is maybe
shifting it

clockwise 45 degrees.

You sound like a very interesting person to speak with and I'd like to
think that we'll

have more to converse about after this. Man, I guess all the action
really is on the

Left Coast...:-) I'll have to leave it to my brother to experience as
I'm a man of the

Heartland.


Have a pleasant weekend, Najee

In peace,
Todd

----- Original Message -----
From: Naje...@aol.com
To: warlo...@hotmail.com
Sent: Friday, May 09, 2003 11:54 PM
Subject: Re: X2 - Stryker's ring.

Ps
is it possible you can cut and paste and send me the symbol of the
ring that was

posted once I look it I can tell you more about the ring!

With Hope,
Najee Ali
www.projectislamichope.org

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: One Truth
To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
Subject: Re: Fwd: X2 - Stryker's ring.

Yes I know what the word Allah looks like thank you. But until someone
shows a good

quality picture from the movie its doesn't matter.
And your comment about not being able to wait to organize a protest
pretty much sums up

what your motivations are.
But I think it all comes down to this. Ask yourself this question. How
many people do

you honestly think will see this tiny symbol and then walk out of the
theater having a

negative opinion of muslims? The answer is none. More people are getting
a negative

opinion about us from your call for boycotts and protest than from the
film itself.

Keep that in mind.

----------------------------------------------------------------
From: Send2Isl...@aol.com
To: One Truth
Subject: Re: X2 - Stryker's ring.

No you are wrong, and its sad you immigrant Muslims so are weak in your
faith, and

scared. to be real Muslims.

but im use to your kind you get over here to the U.S, change your name,
sell pork and

alcohol, and want to be good americans. your cowardice are a disgrace
to Islam and

musllims.

With Hope,
Najee Ali
National Director Project Islamic H.O.P.E
www.projectislamichope.org
"The Ink of the scholar is more holy than the blood of the martyr".
-Prophet Muhammad( Peace be Upon him)

----------------------------------------------------------------

****This made me really angry. So I just cut loose on him. BTW 'Hadith'
is the sayings and teachings of the Prophet. An example is in his
signature file.****

From: One Truth
To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
Subject: Re: X2 - Stryker's ring.

Excuse me? You don't even know the first thing about me. I was born in
this country and

spent my whole life here. Don't talk to me about weak faith. I find
myself having to

defend my religion to people because of your comments and others like
it. Now you call

me a coward and attribute things to me without even having met me or
knowing my name.

If you actually read some hadith instead of putting them in your sig
file maybe you

wouldn't go around insulting people and assuming things about them. I
guess people who

come here as immigrants and try to make a living for themselves are
worse than people

like you who are born here and defend the actions of a child molestor.


****Go to his site and you will see an article defending Michael Jackson
and saying that he is a victim of 'white supremacy'. You will also see a
lot of things about hip-hop music and how they don't get portrayed
fairly on a TV show. Why should any Muslim be concerned about how
rappers are portrayted on TV? What does that have to do with Islam? Are
these the opressed people that he wants to help with his organization?
****

And what are you doing even watching this film in the first place? This
is a movie were

the director and one of the actors are homosexuals. One of the main
characters is a

naked woman covered in blue paint. There are numerous scenes of people
kissing and

other activities. If you were really such a righteous defender of Islam
I think you

wouldn't even have watched this film at all, much less 3 times as you
say. You should

be condemning this movie and all other movies simply on their subject
matter.

And I have not seen a single other Muslim individual or organization
talking about

this. What I have seen is people all over the media and internet talking
trash about

ALL Muslims because of YOUR whining about subliminal messages and Jewish
conspiracies.

So why don't you and Louis Farrakhan go back to your million man marches
and rap music

and Michael Jackson and stop trying to speak for the rest of us Muslims.


****After sending this message I got an auto reply from AOL telling me
he had blocked my address. So I resent the message from another account
with the following addition.****

Wow. Blocking my email. That is certainly the action
of a devout Muslim. Can't stand someone who thinks you
are wrong? I was just gonna tell you to stop emailing
me anyway.

****That was Saturday afternoon. Haven't heard from him since.****

M. Zaiem Beg

unread,
May 11, 2003, 6:18:08 PM5/11/03
to
On Sun, 11 May 2003, One Truth wrote:

->Here is my email exchange with Najee Ali, the head of Project Islamic
->H.O.P.E. If you read the whole thing the truth will speak for itself.
->Sorry if the formatting is messed up.

Thank you. Tells me all I need to know about this guy.

EAC

unread,
May 11, 2003, 8:08:42 PM5/11/03
to
First of all, I haven't seen the sequel of the X-men movie.

But I would like to mention that people shouldn't give much attention
toward these 'controversial' things (the pro and cons of X2
anti-Islam), since it's only designed to provocate a fight or so
between people.


One Truth <1...@1.com> wrote in message news:<RXova.148$yJ4...@tornadotest1.news.pas.earthlink.net>...


> Here is my email exchange with Najee Ali, the head of Project Islamic
> H.O.P.E. If you read the whole thing the truth will speak for itself.
> Sorry if the formatting is messed up.
>
>
> ****I added some comments in asteriks like this****
>
>
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------
> From: One Truth
> To: Send2Isl...@aol.com
> Subject: X2 and hidden messages of Allah
>
> Salam. I am a Muslim living in the US and I just saw this movie and
> looked specifically
>
> at this symbol for a while. It was on the screen for a long time and I
> can tell you it was definately NOT Allah. It was just a weird symbol.
> It did look a little similar but if you look closer you will see that
> it is something else.

I haven't seen the ring, so I don't know on how similiar or how
different it look like.

But even if it look 'a little similiar', if it's already look
similiar, wouldn't it give people the wrong impression?

The question is, how did the producers managed to leave it even if
it's a little similar? I mean that the producersquickly 'erased' out
the WTC buildings out of their movies (though a LOT of people would
love to see the beloved memorials in movies now that they were no
longer exist in real life), can't a little ring be change?

> The movie has a wonderful message about tolerance
> and you can interpret it specifically for Muslims.
> The attack at the beginning represents the 9/11 attacks.
> The mutants represent Muslims/Arabs who are blamed as a whole.

I haven't seen the movie, but the analogy of the mutants ever since
the days of the comic books are always toward Jews, not Muslims or
Arabs. Many people have written many notes regarding mutants as Jews,
you can search for their notes.

Though I don't know if in the movie they changed so that the mutants
reflect Muslims or Arabs or even different people in general.

> And Stryker represents Bush/Ashcroft/US Government, not a Muslim.

Haven't watch the movie. Don't know.



> We should be supporting films like this and
> not ask for apologies for non-existent hidden messages.

There might be 'hidden hidden message'. The question is, is this
'hidden hidden message' good?

Sure that the X-men movie told that even mutants are people too,
but... the devil also speak of 'tolerating' people.

Not that tolerating people is a bad thing, but, oppressing people for
not tolerating people, now that can be a bad thing.

Remember, the devil is capable of potraying bad as good and vice
versa.

So... The 'hidden message' of X-men is that you should tolerate
people, the question is, what is the 'hidden hidden message'.

> In essence the original creators patterned them after the 2 most
> popular figures the African-American community has ever known.
> Magneto is Malcolm-X and Charles Xavier is Martin Luther King.

Problem, do you know who is really Malcom X?

> Including the fact that the character of Ted Stryker in the comics
> is a Christain preacher that was very close to Jerry Falwell.

Here's another problem, he look similar to a preacher.

Perharps he's made as an analogy of a cruel aggresive religious
person?

If he's made analogious to a preacher or even a mu'min, and the
mutants are Jews. Does this mean that he's meant to represent
anti-Jews?

> I can guarantee you that more people will come out of this movie
> with a message about tolreance than about a hidden decoder ring
> with Allah on it representing Muslims. In fact I have seen many
> non-Muslim people talking about the 9/11 and Muslim
> discrimination parallels on the internet.

Short term and initial impression might be toward 9/11, since it
happened recently. And I think that the producers might have initially
meant to look at it that way at first glance.

But... What is the REAL hidden message? Remember, they don't called it
'hidden' for nothing you know. It might have imprinted directly into
your subconcious mind and you don't even know it conciously. A 'hidden
hidden message' is harder to detect that a 'hidden message'.

> More people are getting a negative opinion about us
> from your call for boycotts and protest than from the film itself.

I get the impression that's exactly H.O.P.E.'s intention really is, to
create negative opinions. And I also get the impression that H.O.P.E.
might have collaborated with the X-men movie producers to make the
movie more famous.

> ****This made me really angry. So I just cut loose on him.

I get the impression that he intentionally wanted to make you angry.

> BTW 'Hadith' is the sayings and teachings of the Prophet.

Welll... An Hadits is not only restricted to the sayings and teachings
of the Rasulullah (God's messenger). Only that some Hadits contain the
sayings and teaching of Rasulullah, these are refered to as Sunnah
Rasulullah.

Hadits, a general term, like "X-men".

Sunnah Rasulullah, a specific term, like "Wolverine".

Wolverine is an X-mem, but an X-men doesn't necessary have to be
Wolverine.

An X-men comic book is a comic book about the X-men, an X-men comic
book that potray Wolverine as the main character is a comic book about
Wolverine.

Terrafamilia

unread,
May 11, 2003, 10:10:42 PM5/11/03
to

One Truth wrote:

> Here is my email exchange with Najee Ali, the head of Project Islamic
> H.O.P.E. If you read the whole thing the truth will speak for itself.
> Sorry if the formatting is messed up.

<snippage of e-mail back and forth>

Even assuming for the sake of argument that the ring in question really did
display the symbol for Allah, why automatically assume that Singer
deliberately put it there for some underhanded purpose? Disney has had
trouble in the past with some animators thinking they are real cute by
putting in naughty stuff in amongst the background illustrations, such as in
The Little Mermaid.

Someone in the prop or wardrobe department could have either thought it was
a cool looking ring without knowing the significance of the symbol, or
knowing the significance have used it as some ill-considered and tasteless
joke. All without Singer's awareness.

To wail on Singer without first getting some better information seems
designed more to elevate ones own profile than to deal with the problem,
assuming there even is a problem in the first place. And attacking first
naturally puts the studio in a defensive position and allows the attacker to
claim some sort of victory regardless of the response. If the studio doesn't
respond it is uncaring and contemptuous and therefore automatically guilty,
if it responds by denying the charges it is just covering its rear and
trying to conceal the truth. If it makes any sort of apology, even if not
admitting to any guilt, the attacker claims total vindication.

Ciao,

Terrafamilia

M. Zaiem Beg

unread,
May 12, 2003, 3:14:49 AM5/12/03
to
On 11 May 2003, EAC wrote:

->First of all, I haven't seen the sequel of the X-men movie.
->
->But I would like to mention that people shouldn't give much attention
->toward these 'controversial' things (the pro and cons of X2
->anti-Islam), since it's only designed to provocate a fight or so
->between people.

You may be right, but I think this guy really honestly believes what he is
saying. Note that he didn't want a boycott; in his press release, he
*wanted* Muslims to see the alleged intolerance.

"In the meantime, we are not asking for people to boycott the movie in
theaters as it will give them an opportunity to see Singers intolerance
and prejudice."

The problem with that is that anyone who can read Arabic that goes to see
the movie looking for the ring will find that there is no Arabic on said
ring, and that is most certainly does not spell out "Allah". Most Muslims
have at least a passing knowledge of Arabic and most can even read and
write Arabic, even though they may not understand it. (It's akin to
reading and writing in Latin. If someone put Latin script in front of you,
you could read it aloud. You might not know what you're saying, but you
can read it. That's the case for many Muslims who come from non-Arabic
speaking parts of the world -- one can read the Quran aloud, but may not
necessarily be able to understand what they are reading.)

Besides, Allah is the most common Arabic word you can find. It's easy to
recognize, especially if you're looking for it. No Arabic-reader in their
right mind would see that and think, "That says Allah!"

If he wanted a fight, he would stage a boycott. Lots of people will jump
on the boycott bandwagon even though they haven't seen a movie, since they
don't want to put money in the person's pocket.

This guy is just crazy.

One Truth

unread,
May 12, 2003, 4:11:53 AM5/12/03
to
digi...@hotmail.com (EAC) wrote in
news:6482ad0.03051...@posting.google.com:

SNIP


>
> I haven't seen the ring, so I don't know on how similiar or how
> different it look like.
>
> But even if it look 'a little similiar', if it's already look
> similiar, wouldn't it give people the wrong impression?
>
> The question is, how did the producers managed to leave it even if
> it's a little similar? I mean that the producersquickly 'erased' out
> the WTC buildings out of their movies (though a LOT of people would
> love to see the beloved memorials in movies now that they were no
> longer exist in real life), can't a little ring be change?
>
>

Actually after seeing the movie again I can tell you that I am 99.999%
sure that the ring does not say Allah. It really doesn't look similar at
all. It is just a circle with a line thru it.


>
>> The movie has a wonderful message about tolerance
>> and you can interpret it specifically for Muslims.
>> The attack at the beginning represents the 9/11 attacks.
>> The mutants represent Muslims/Arabs who are blamed as a whole.
>
> I haven't seen the movie, but the analogy of the mutants ever since
> the days of the comic books are always toward Jews, not Muslims or
> Arabs. Many people have written many notes regarding mutants as Jews,
> you can search for their notes.
>
> Though I don't know if in the movie they changed so that the mutants
> reflect Muslims or Arabs or even different people in general.
>
>

Yes I already had a long discussion about this elsewhere. I wasn't
saying that the movie was made specifically about Muslims. I was just
saying that that is one *possible* interpretation you can come away
with. I'm sure Jews and Christians and gay people and others will all
come away with there own interpretations. But since I am a Muslim I saw
it from my point of view.


>
>> And Stryker represents Bush/Ashcroft/US Government, not a Muslim.
>
> Haven't watch the movie. Don't know.
>

Again just my personal interpretation. Also happens to be shared by
other people too.

>> We should be supporting films like this and
>> not ask for apologies for non-existent hidden messages.
>
> There might be 'hidden hidden message'. The question is, is this
> 'hidden hidden message' good?
>
> Sure that the X-men movie told that even mutants are people too,
> but... the devil also speak of 'tolerating' people.
>
> Not that tolerating people is a bad thing, but, oppressing people for
> not tolerating people, now that can be a bad thing.
>
> Remember, the devil is capable of potraying bad as good and vice
> versa.
>
> So... The 'hidden message' of X-men is that you should tolerate
> people, the question is, what is the 'hidden hidden message'.
>
>

The hidden message I was talking about was just the ring, not anything
about the story. As a said I don't think the ring says Allah at all so
it is all a moot point.


>
>> In essence the original creators patterned them after the 2 most
>> popular figures the African-American community has ever known.
>> Magneto is Malcolm-X and Charles Xavier is Martin Luther King.
>
> Problem, do you know who is really Malcom X?
>
>

Well that quote is from Najee Ali himself, but I actually do agree with
it. Again we are not the only ones who see it that way. Many fans do and
so did the makers of the first film and also Stan Lee himself
acknowledges that those two characters could represent MLK and X. Again
just a *possible* interpretation. Doesn't mean that is exactly what the
creators intended.

>
>> Including the fact that the character of Ted Stryker in the comics
>> is a Christain preacher that was very close to Jerry Falwell.
>
> Here's another problem, he look similar to a preacher.
>
> Perharps he's made as an analogy of a cruel aggresive religious
> person?
>
> If he's made analogious to a preacher or even a mu'min, and the
> mutants are Jews. Does this mean that he's meant to represent
> anti-Jews?
>

I was talking about the original comic. In it he is not represented as a
preacher, he IS a preacher.

>
>
>> I can guarantee you that more people will come out of this movie
>> with a message about tolreance than about a hidden decoder ring
>> with Allah on it representing Muslims. In fact I have seen many
>> non-Muslim people talking about the 9/11 and Muslim
>> discrimination parallels on the internet.
>
> Short term and initial impression might be toward 9/11, since it
> happened recently. And I think that the producers might have initially
> meant to look at it that way at first glance.
>
> But... What is the REAL hidden message? Remember, they don't called it
> 'hidden' for nothing you know. It might have imprinted directly into
> your subconcious mind and you don't even know it conciously. A 'hidden
> hidden message' is harder to detect that a 'hidden message'.
>
>

Again there was no hiddem message, other than about tolerance for all
people.

>
>> More people are getting a negative opinion about us
>> from your call for boycotts and protest than from the film itself.
>
> I get the impression that's exactly H.O.P.E.'s intention really is, to
> create negative opinions. And I also get the impression that H.O.P.E.
> might have collaborated with the X-men movie producers to make the
> movie more famous.
>
>

I don't know about the collaborating with the producers, but if you look
at the groups record you will see it has a long history of calling for
boycotts of one TV show or movie after another.


>
>> ****This made me really angry. So I just cut loose on him.
>
> I get the impression that he intentionally wanted to make you angry.
>
>> BTW 'Hadith' is the sayings and teachings of the Prophet.
>
> Welll... An Hadits is not only restricted to the sayings and teachings
> of the Rasulullah (God's messenger). Only that some Hadits contain the
> sayings and teaching of Rasulullah, these are refered to as Sunnah
> Rasulullah.
>
> Hadits, a general term, like "X-men".
>
> Sunnah Rasulullah, a specific term, like "Wolverine".
>
> Wolverine is an X-mem, but an X-men doesn't necessary have to be
> Wolverine.
>
> An X-men comic book is a comic book about the X-men, an X-men comic
> book that potray Wolverine as the main character is a comic book about
> Wolverine.
>

Fine, but I was just giving a simple explanation for non-Muslims and
didn't want to get into the details and history of hadith.

One Truth

unread,
May 12, 2003, 4:31:10 AM5/12/03
to
Terrafamilia <terraf...@irtc.net> wrote in
news:3EBF02E9...@irtc.net:

SNIP SNIP


>
> To wail on Singer without first getting some better information seems
> designed more to elevate ones own profile than to deal with the
> problem, assuming there even is a problem in the first place. And
> attacking first naturally puts the studio in a defensive position and
> allows the attacker to claim some sort of victory regardless of the
> response. If the studio doesn't respond it is uncaring and
> contemptuous and therefore automatically guilty, if it responds by
> denying the charges it is just covering its rear and trying to conceal
> the truth. If it makes any sort of apology, even if not admitting to
> any guilt, the attacker claims total vindication.
>
> Ciao,
>
> Terrafamilia
>
>


Actually the best thing the studio can do is to produce the ring itself
or a still-frame from the film. Since Mr. Ali is absolutely convinced as
to what the ring says he will look like the fool that he is after the
whole world sees what it really is. If he wants to claim victory over
the fact that he got the studio to respond at all then so be it. I don't
think he will come out of looking to good when he is proven wrong.

Unfortunately he has almost gotten his way already. If you look at all
the articles that have been written in the media, you will see that they
all assume that the symbol is there. The only question is whether or not
the studio will remove it from the DVD. Look at how IMDB.com reported
it:

The head of the civil rights group Project Islamic Hope has denounced
the producers of X2: X-Men United for a scene in which the film's
villain is seen wearing a ring bearing the description "Allah." "It's a
major slap in the face to Muslims worldwide that this portrayal be made
when the X-men in the comics and movies have always fought against
prejudice in society," said Najee Ali in a statement. He called the
scene, "another case of Islamic phobia in Hollywood which has always
demonized Arabs and Muslims."

They are basically accepting as fact that the ring says Allah. So you
are right that the studio is backed into a corner. But I still think the
best thing they can do is to produce the symbol for everyone to see.
This is why I can't stand people like him.

You know if there was an anti-Islamic message I would be the first to
speak out against it. There was a case with Nike a few years ago when
one of their shoes had markings on it that bore an uncanny resemblance
to the word Allah. It wasn't intentional of course. But I supported the
drive to remove it. But I will also speak out against Muslims who are
wrong about anti-Islamic messages like Mr. Ali. The reason I got so
riled up over it was because the film has a wonderful message about
tolerance, but he got the exact opposite message and used it to spread
more hate.

One Truth

unread,
May 12, 2003, 5:09:22 AM5/12/03
to
"M. Zaiem Beg" <zb...@iglou.com> wrote in
news:Pine.GSO.4.33.0305120306210.24298-100000@shell1:

> On 11 May 2003, EAC wrote:
>
> ->First of all, I haven't seen the sequel of the X-men movie.
> ->
> ->But I would like to mention that people shouldn't give much
> attention ->toward these 'controversial' things (the pro and cons of
> X2 ->anti-Islam), since it's only designed to provocate a fight or so
> ->between people.
>
> You may be right, but I think this guy really honestly believes what
> he is saying. Note that he didn't want a boycott; in his press
> release, he *wanted* Muslims to see the alleged intolerance.
>
> "In the meantime, we are not asking for people to boycott the movie in
> theaters as it will give them an opportunity to see Singers
> intolerance and prejudice."
>

SNIP

> This guy is just crazy.
>
> --
> M. Zaiem Beg zb...@iglou.com
> The oh so very proud sponsor of the Pete Rose page at
> baseball-reference.com
>
>
>

I didn't even think about that but you are right. He WANTS Muslims to
see the film just to get them angry and to start some type of coflict.
All just for his own personal glory. Its ridiculous. Thats why we should
be speaking out against him.

Michael Pastor

unread,
May 12, 2003, 7:35:07 AM5/12/03
to

"One Truth" <1...@1.com> wrote in message

news:dHIva.260$yJ4...@tornadotest1.news.pas.earthlink.net...


> digi...@hotmail.com (EAC) wrote in
> news:6482ad0.03051...@posting.google.com:
>
> SNIP
>
>
> >
> > I haven't seen the ring, so I don't know on how similiar or how
> > different it look like.
> >
> > But even if it look 'a little similiar', if it's already look
> > similiar, wouldn't it give people the wrong impression?
> >
> > The question is, how did the producers managed to leave it even if
> > it's a little similar? I mean that the producersquickly 'erased' out
> > the WTC buildings out of their movies (though a LOT of people would
> > love to see the beloved memorials in movies now that they were no
> > longer exist in real life), can't a little ring be change?
> >
> >
>
> Actually after seeing the movie again I can tell you that I am 99.999%
> sure that the ring does not say Allah. It really doesn't look similar at
> all. It is just a circle with a line thru it.
>
>

Which, IIRC, is a Hellfire Club logo, but it's a pitchfork.

--
michael j pastor

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/encyclopediagalacticadcu

© 2003 michael j pastor This post is intended solely for the Usenet
newsgroups

"I just want to know how much of the stuff sold on Ebay is being sent
off-planet." - S.T. Weed


Michael Pastor

unread,
May 12, 2003, 8:46:02 AM5/12/03
to

"One Truth" <1...@1.com> wrote in message
news:qhMva.300$yJ4...@tornadotest1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> "Michael Pastor" <michael...@hotmail.com> wrote in news:b9o184$kv788
> $2...@ID-174457.news.dfncis.de:

>
> >
> >
> > "One Truth" <1...@1.com> wrote in message
> > news:dHIva.260$yJ4...@tornadotest1.news.pas.earthlink.net...
> >> digi...@hotmail.com (EAC) wrote in
> >> news:6482ad0.03051...@posting.google.com:
> >>
> >> SNIP
> >>
> >>
> >> >
> >> > I haven't seen the ring, so I don't know on how similiar or how
> >> > different it look like.
> >> >
> >> > But even if it look 'a little similiar', if it's already look
> >> > similiar, wouldn't it give people the wrong impression?
> >> >
> >> > The question is, how did the producers managed to leave it even if
> >> > it's a little similar? I mean that the producersquickly 'erased'
> out
> >> > the WTC buildings out of their movies (though a LOT of people would
> >> > love to see the beloved memorials in movies now that they were no
> >> > longer exist in real life), can't a little ring be change?
> >> >
> >> >
> >>
> >> Actually after seeing the movie again I can tell you that I am
> 99.999%
> >> sure that the ring does not say Allah. It really doesn't look similar
> at
> >> all. It is just a circle with a line thru it.
> >>
> >>
> >
> > Which, IIRC, is a Hellfire Club logo, but it's a pitchfork.
> >
>
> I think you are right! When I was watching it the first time I remember
> thinking it looks like a trident or pitchfork. I didn't know that was
> the symbol of the Hellfire club. Thats probably what it was. Hopefully
> this issue will be put to rest soon.
>
> And now that I think about it more I can see how that might look similar
> to Allah. Take a look here
> http://www.dartmouth.edu/~alnur/Personal%20Web%20Page_files/ALLAH.jpg


Oh absolutely then! And I bet the reason why the movie studios haven't
responded is because it would ruin the surprise that Stryker was a member of
the Hellfire Club, and that his son Jason (who bears a striking similarity
to Mastermind in powers, and whose body has not been found yet) could stand
to inherit his seat.

~consul

unread,
May 13, 2003, 7:33:10 PM5/13/03
to
One Truth wrote:
> Actually the best thing the studio can do is to produce the ring itself or a still-frame from the film. Since Mr. Ali is absolutely convinced as
> to what the ring says he will look like the fool that he is after the whole world sees what it really is. If he wants to claim victory over
> the fact that he got the studio to respond at all then so be it. I don't think he will come out of looking to good when he is proven wrong.

I wouldn't bother. If he asked about in the beginning, saying that he thought that the
word was on the hand of an evil character, then I'd show. But when he goes off on his
attacks about the jewish director and the nazis, then he's off the deep end and not to be
encouraged.
--
and so I said, "Verdammte Scheiße...! Die Alte brennt!"
till next time,
Jameson Stalanthas Yu http://www.dolphins-cove.com
dedes...@dolphins-cove.com.invalid

Peter

unread,
May 15, 2003, 4:17:41 AM5/15/03
to
In article <RXova.148$yJ4...@tornadotest1.news.pas.earthlink.net>, One
Truth <1...@1.com> wrote:

Damn I'd love to hear this guy's thoughts on the second season of 24.

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