I saw the movie A Mighty Heart about the kidnapping of Daniel Pearl. I thought the title of the movie referred to Danny Pearl but after seeing the film, I think the title is meant to refer to his wife Mariane, now raising their son as a single mother.
Asra Nomani complained that she thought the film was “A Mighty Shame” although she says that she didn’t mind that her own role in the events had been reduced in the film to a small almost incidental supporting role but that she didn’t like that her friend Danny seemed to have a “cameo” in his own movie. But I disagree.
The actor Brad Pitt bought the rights to the film several years ago to be a vehicle for Jennifer Aniston and then for Angelina Jolie not for Dan Futterman who played Daniel Pearl nor for Archie Panjabi that played Asra Nomani. The movie’s central character was the pregnant Mariane Pearl.
The film is neither that great nor a classic but can provide some decent details into the behind-the-scenes resources and effort that went into trying to locate Daniel Pearl. And for me that was the most interesting part along with the emotional strength and composure of Mariane Pearl because I did not follow the story at that time closely in the media.
I had the opportunity to view the murder of Daniel Pearl as the video was circulated widely on the internet but declined because, I think what happened to him was horrible and horrifying and not Islamic and I think viewing such material is vile and dehumanizing and of no benefit.
From the Storehouse: To Publish or Not To Publish
Ify Okoye 
‘viewing such material is vile and dehumanizing’
Bravo!
Bill: Sorry for not getting back to you earlier, and yes your use of “in sha Allah” was spot on.
asa. i am not mighty impressed. i think the part of marianne pearl should have been played by someone who shared a simlar ethnic background instead of having angelina portray the role in blackface. but that’s hollywood for you.
Asalamu alaykum,
I think that would have been nice but Brad Pitt bought the rights for his girlfriend and she’s not the same ethno mix as Mariane Pearl.
What was the real character’s background?
From Wikipedia: Mariane Pearl is a mix of Dutch-Jewish, Afro-Latino-Cuban and Chinese Cuban ancestry and was raised in France.
And from this interview in Time, Mariane Pearl says she liked Angelina Jolie for the role.
asa. actually when brad bought the rights toi the story he was married to jennifer anniston and the role was intended for her. there are more than enough bi-racial or black actresses who could have played the role without having a white actress play the role in blackface. maybe this is only offenseive in the u.s. with it’s history of minstrel shows and white actors playing offenseive characters in blackface.