Excuse My French

 

Excuse My French

The film Excuse My French directed by Amr Salama is about Hany, an Egyptian boy raised in a Christian household. When his father dies, Hany's life changes completely and the most drastic change is the change of school from a private school to a public school. This new school is a completely different and new experience from what he knew. Hany faces new challenges and obstacles that he has never had before such as bullying and religious and personal identity issues.

The main issue discussed in this film is religious identity since the problem that affects Hany the most is being a minority. Hany came from a private school that is very different from a public school. Due to economic problems, Hany's mother is forced to put her son in a public school where the majority of students are Muslims. He identified that as a problem and decided to hide it because he believed that if he said he was a Christian, they would reject him and harass him. Indeed, when they found out, they rejected him and bullied him, and even his best friend, who was Muslim, stopped talking to him. The problem of religious minorities in the Arab world is complicated and is influenced by historical, political, social and economic factors.

Religious minorities in some Arab countries throughout history have had to face discrimination and marginalization. In the film, we see this when Hany's mother arrives with a cross necklace, and everyone is shocked when they discover that Hany is a Christian. After this, we can see the rejection that Hany suffers from his peers. However, in adult life, belonging to a religious minority can be even more complicated since not only would have to face rejection from society, but factors such as employment, political representation and access to education are also affected. Today, we can see how society has opened up to accepting religious minorities, but even in countries that remain more conservative, religious minorities face a series of challenges.

 At the end, Hany decides to embrace the values that his parents taught him and not feel ashamed of it since throughout the film we see how Hany felt guilty for hiding his faith and it is normal since he is hiding a big part of who he is and therefore failing himself. This film can impact many who are in the same situation, especially children, not necessarily from the Arab world but from any other part of the world too. Children who struggle daily with peer pressure and wanting to fit in. Personally, I was also a child and a teenager, and I also went through the stage of wanting to please everyone in a public school (in the United States) where the behavior of most of the students was not in line with the values that my parents taught me at home. This film teaches us that no matter what others say, we should always be ourselves and not hide our personalities and ways of thinking which is what makes each of us different and unique.