MovieChat Forums > Rendition (2007) Discussion > most americans on this board are technol...

most americans on this board are technologically illiterate.

posted 14 years ago by rogue-jc
6 replies | jump to latest

OK.. I've read through most posts and it seems like most people here are still questioning Anwar's innocence because of the cell phone number thing. Well let me just say that it's NOT a stretch that the SIM card used previously by an actual terrorist could very well have innocently be used by someone Anwar really knows like his family etc!
In many parts of the world most cell phones are 'unlocked' and people pay by the minutes based on the SIM card. There is no 'plan contract' commitment for 1, 2 years etc unlike most phones in the US. Once the minutes are used you can buy more minutes but retain the same SIM card or number or you can buy another SM card with a new number.
A terrorist could've easily sold his SIM card or even his portable phone to Anwar's family no different than anyone else selling unused minutes to someone else.
In many 3 rd world countries it's highly probable that anyone could've pick up or buy a use cell phone or SIM card that's been previously owned by 2,3 4 other people before with the same SIM/phone number!
A smart terrorist would've used his phone to make 1 phone call then throws it way or sell his phone to some stranger with still a lot of minutes left!
That is probably what happened to Anwar.

[–] dockbillin-2 13 years ago

In a country like India, one can buy a prepaid connection or get a postpaid connection. A prepaid connection means you buy, say, a hundred (or five hundred, or thousand) rupee's worth of connection (there are different schemes according to which you're charged according to your usage - texting or calling). When you're through with the connection (no matter how long it takes) you're free to dump it or renew it by simply buying another prepaid card and entering the code on it on your cell, using the same SIM card, to renew your connection for the amount you've paid. It's not minutes, it's connection.

Of course, you're right. A real terrorist would have got rid of the cell at the earliest opportunity after making a call; and the North Africa interrogators would've known that as well. MY only explanation was that they were trying to torture a confession - any confession - simply in order to please the CIA. After all, the unnamed country was obviously a US-backed dictatorship.

[–] savaslikesmovies 13 years ago

I guess to them, the phone calls would justify the torture... That's why they're so hungry for it.

The phone could have been purchased by one of his family members, that the terrorist later used. Or the phone could been stolen or bought after..

To be honest, if he was a aiding terrorists it does not justify the torture at all. I even consider him guilty to work against the argument. They don't serve anyone but themselves, "Polygraph doesn't mean diddly" should be their motto. They didn't set up a sting operation or any form of surveillance. They simply kidnapped him and went about their own way. That's the whole point of the film. Pay close attention to the early scenes when the Whitman simply orders Mayer to "put him on the plane", because they had nothing on him..

This is the whole scary thing about it, this film portrays reality, that this kind of stuff is happening. If we're allowing it to happen, we are no better than the criminals.

[–] ash_filipina 13 years ago

It is highly unlikely that Anwar's family who makes $200 grand a year could have bought a "used SIM card". Anwar's family is also based in the US which means you don't typically buy a used sim card.You may acquire an previously owned phone number assigned by the phone company but it's totally unrelated with a sim card (unlike in other countries of which the sim card bears your cell number). Phones are locked and realistically speaking, Anwar is not a poor guy and a professional at that and most likely than not his phone service is not prepaid.

[–] Mousuke 12 years ago

Anwar makes 200k a year but not his family back in Egypt, who we know very little about - it is EXTREMELY unlikely he would be sending money back to family he barely knows when he has his own family in America! It is not Anwar who is accused of buying an old sim, he just received calls from it.

How much someone earns is also not really going to have all that much to do with whether or not someone is on a contract or pay as you go. I earn a good living but dislike getting into contracts so I have a pay as you go phone, it costs me less than £5 a month because I don't use it much - I would be mad to be on a contract and paying 2 or 3 times that much.

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[–] tkell31 12 years ago

Uh, what does not knowing how third world countries use SIM cards have to do with technological literacy? I dont know what they eat either, does that make me a culinary illiterate?

[–] ericgudmunsen 12 years ago

@ tkell31.........Yes.