Not Without My Daughter

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“Not Without My Daughter” In the film “Not Without My Daughter”, released on January 11, 1991, by director Brian Gilbert, Betty Mahmoody (Sally Field) is an American woman married to "Moody" (Alfred Molina), an Iranian-American living in the United States. When Moody informs her that he wants her and their daughter, Mahtob (Sheila Rosenthal), to visit Iran with him to go see his side of the family, Betty is reluctant because of the country's harsh treatment of women. When the family arrives in Iran, Betty discovers that her husband plans to stay in the country for good, and has no intention of letting her or Mahtob return to the United States. In this film, there are many sociological perspectives that can be used to analyze the events of this film. Some may agree with what was done, and say that this is the way of life there, while others may strongly disagree and be disgusted by the whole concept based on the fact that they grew together in a different society. But overall, the film presents a multicultural couple with the husband being Iranian and the wife is an American. The husband suddenly decided to bring his family back to Iran and live there. The wife gets lured to come to Iran and then she can’t leave the country because her husband is controlling their finances, has her passport and refuses to give it back. Mahtob loves being with her father and his family, but she starts to Page 2 wonder why she can’t be with her mother at night, alone or going to the market. Moody sends someone of his family to be with her at all times, unknowingly of them. Moody doesn’t even let Betty near Mahtob’s school, thinking she will try to take her and escape. In the end the wife struggled, but escaped with the daughter to Turkey and then back to the USA. There are several scenes throughout the film that can be looked at in different sociological perspectives. One
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