FOUR LIONS

IDIOTS UNDER THE INFLUENCE

Terrorism is one of those words that elicit a distinct reaction in everyone who hears it. It’s a hot button if there ever was one. I would dare say that when an American reads or hears the word “terrorist” images of falling towers, grainy videos of hooded hostage holding Muslims, and a certain long bearded, recently(?) deceased, trust-fund kid come straight to mind. These images have become so pervasive within the media that they overshadow and incidentally simplify any actual discourse on the true reason for terrorism and the people are who have been dubbed terrorists. This approach to the topic of terror has convinced us all of a fiction; terrorists are not people; they’re cartoon villains.

 Ironically, the responsibility for the defictionalization of the realities of the world often falls into the purview of the creative arts, especially in the fields of fiction and film. In the case of Christopher Morris’ directorial debut Four Lions, the task of casting a human light on the concept of terrorism rests on the shoulders of a straight-up, farcical comedy.

Four Lions is the story of three young Brits of Middle-Eastern decent (and one angry Islamic white boy) who have decided to become suicide bombers for the Mujahedeen. They do all of the things one would expect a radical Jihadist to do: they travel to Pakistan to attend training camp, they make explosives, and they videotape themselves claiming responsibility for the devastating bombings they’ve yet to commit. This would be some delicate subject matter to tackle if this film didn’t stay so true to its comedic tone, but this farcical approach softens this edgy content to a point where the filmmakers are able to enter into any situation they wish. We can easily enter into the inner working of the radical Muslim world as long as the Muslims behave in a manner reminiscent of the Marx Brothers or the idiots from Dumb and Dumber.  

Watching Four Lions is an odd and oftentimes confusing experience. It is a comedy about a very serious subject, and while you will find yourself laughing at the absurdity of these characters’ behavior only to realize what you are laughing at and find yourself considering the reality of it. Some may have trouble swallowing this somewhat contradictory approach, but I do think that the result succeeds in serving a higher purpose.   Morris and his collaborators aim for the laughs first, but they use the funny to lubricate the audience and force them to consider the reasons why one might be fooled into such extreme actions as declaring Jihad and blowing oneself up in a crowd of people. Their success in this endeavor is due in part to the careful crafting of characters that are just like you, or somebody you know, or somebody you used to be before you grew up and realized that inclusion in some group is not intrinsic to your identity or destiny. These guys are not treated like sick individuals or radical idealist, but like hip-hop wannabes or football fans. They are Jihad nerds. More like gamers or Trekies than soldiers.  It’s not they who create the climate of radicalism; they are just the ones who fall for the idea and get their buddies to do the same.

Everyone is susceptible to influence in one way or another. Often, those who influence are so influential because they are able to tap into the human instinct to want to belong. Sometimes it’s something relatively harmless like a music movement or fashion. Other times it’s something more severe. The characters in Four Lions don’t seem to be into this terrorist thing because they’re overtly religious but because it’s something for them to identify with. They only speak of the deeper beliefs that fuel what we think of as the motivation for Islamic martyrdom in passing, as catch phrases or prods for peer pressure.  The intellectual Islamic elitists who feed them these lines are not the ones blowing themselves up; they’re the ones getting the brainless sheep (like these characters) to do it. It’s no accident that one of the many bumbling incidents in this film involves the explosive destruction of a man and a sheep, as well as the inability to distinguish one from the other in the bloody aftermath. Morris and Co. are saying in no uncertain terms that the act of killing yourself along with a score of innocent bystanders  can be blamed as much on the influencer as the influenced, with the influenced being as much a victim as those victimized by the act itself. We are all susceptible to this kind of sway. Maybe you and I don’t blow up buildings, but many of the things we are convinced to do on a daily basis are equally destructive in subtler ways. This train of thought is the reaction that Morris and Co. are going for with Four Lions. That and a lot of laughs.     

I’ve heard it said before that comedy is the great humanizer. I would say that with Four Lions that is certainly the intention. It’s a film that successfully takes one of the more generalized and generic characters in our modern narrative-the ‘terrorist”-and turns him back into something real. It’s this realization that may make it easier to understand one of the things that’s so wrong with the world. Four Lions is a comedy with a higher purpose; a satire that lives up to the influential potential of cinema. And it’s damn funny.

Check it out now on Netflix Instant.