MovieChat Forums > Joshua (2007) Discussion > So This is the American Society!!!

So This is the American Society!!!

posted 16 years ago by osdiablo
18 replies | jump to latest

I’ve watched this film may be more than a year ago, and i had always been comparing how do the American society treat their children versus the Arabian society!!

I actually started comparing that at the end of the movie in that scene of the afternoon at the park when the father was asking Joshua to look after his baby brother while he was going to buy something (i don’t remember what exactly), but as Joshua role was so rude to his parents, so he was just ignoring him and climbing to some statue there, while his father calling him continuously and desperately calling again and again, while Joshua was underestimated his father and to make fun of his father and make him feel ANGRY too he decided to do as his father does and calls his name the way as his father does.

After that the father just pulled him out of the that statute and deeply looked at his son and finally decided to hit him for what he was doing all that stuff from the beginning of the film, in front of all the people who was there at the park with their families having fun!

So by default all the American society will blame that BAD father for hitting his OWN child even though he is still a child and he deserves to be hit for he was acting so rude like this. So why the American society would stop this situation by blaming and HITTING the father instead of lecturing the kid about how he should respect his father??
Because the American law prevent the father from hit his child no matter what the child was doing. And the kid knew that, so he will sue the father!!

But in our Arabian societies would never do such a thing because when it comes to the father and should be having his dignity in front of his kids (even if the father was wrong) Because when it comes to the father issues the whole country will step a side.
I also think that the writer was referring to this leak in the American law

So on which side are you on?

[–] Mr-Awesome 16 years ago

1. That was his sister not baby brother and he didn't ask Josh to look after HER. He was getting after Josh for making her cry and taking her binky

2. Josh didn't underestimate his father. He knew what his dad was gonna do because he wanted his father to hit him to make it look like abuse

3. The dad was really going at him. Look at the last scene Josh had a bruise and a cut lip. Not to mention they found bruises all over Josh's back (probably self inflicted) making it look like abuse has been going on for quite some time.

[–] osdiablo 16 years ago

1. she was so young so i didn't remeber that as i said i saw this a year ago..

2. i guess josh did underestimated his father cause he also was enjoying that

3. what i understood that those bruises at josh's back was from josh him self to make his father the blame one.

[–] Mr-Awesome 16 years ago

"2. i guess josh did underestimated his father cause he also was enjoying that "

If Josh had underestimated his father, his father would have proven him wrong. The dad did exactley what Joshua wanted him to do.

[–] electrictroy 15 years ago

NO legal system is perfect.

Not American and certainly not Arab.

Take for example the Arab legal presumption that if a woman has sex, it's because she wanted it, and therefore she deserves to be punished. Even in cases of rape, it's the woman who gets blamed not the man.

-----
Because God created it, the human body
can be uncovered and preserve His splendor. -Pope John Paul

[–] osdiablo 15 years ago

sure you are right about the systems.

but who told you about that example?
you are defintely wrong, both man and woman take their equal punishment.

because we follow the islamic constants, not a man made law

[–] shewasasourgirltheday 12 years ago

Sorry, but where rape is concerned, there is only one guilty party - the perpetrator. Period. End of discussion.

[–] fivebyfive88 16 years ago

Why are you basing America's whole image off of a damn horror movie? That's like basing a banana's image off of a rotten banana.

Idiot.

[–] osdiablo 16 years ago

ok, put it like is:
any american child "let's say that kid is Joshua" decided to exploit the american system "american court system" to use the whole it to his benefit, then does as Joshua has done to his family. apparently that kid will have the same treatment from the government as Joshua had, that's the leak in the in the american system i was talking about...

idiot

and about the american society, instead of lecturing that kid how he suppose to respect his father "even if his father was wrong" because still he is THE FATHER but they prefer punching that father in the face and kicked him as well in front of his son.

[–] Mr-Awesome 16 years ago

um if someone saw a grown man beating on his kid and they didn't know the circumstances of the kid being a manipulative bastard there gonna stop the father through force. Why would they lecture Josh about respecting his father when they know nothing about what had been going on and only saw the dad beat Joshua? You make no goddamn sense.

[–] aaronva83 15 years ago

I have no idea who this osdiablo person is, but it is obvious he is foreign (firstly because of his appalling spelling and grammar) and most likely from an Arabian country (as in his original post he had the nerve to compare the United States to an Arabian country) and not only has no understanding of moral and ethical values, but has also been brainwashed by his society to believe that, in his words, "THE FATHER" should have completely autonomy over their children, as if they were property. So, to use osdiablo's own stereotyping against him, it's clear that most Arabs believe it is ok to abuse children without question if you are their parent? He then had the nerve to call someone an idiot. I think it is QUITE clear who the idiot in this thread is.

Also, osdiablo, parents who have to resort to physical abuse to raise or punish their children are only proving that they are not equipped to be parents. Parents are supposed to be smarter than their children (unfortunately, this is not always the case) and be able to punish them effectively without getting physical. Also, Joshua's father should not have been so easily manipulated like he was (albeit, he had been through a lot, so he clearly was not in a good frame of mind), especially since he knew exactly how intelligent and manipulative Joshua was and what he was capable of...he should have been very careful, and followed through on sending him away (I haven't seen this movie in a couple years, but I believe at one point he was going to do just that until Joshua somehow manipulated him again, changing his mind).

However, in conclusion, the fact that osdiablo is basing his view of American society/law off of an interesting, however, somewhat unrealistic horror movie, shows exactly how intelligent he is (not). I think a lot of foreigners intentionally look for reasons to dislike Americans, even if they have to resort to fictional horror stories. Sad.

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] 15 years ago

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[–] krisluvkev 15 years ago

It's funny how the op is uplifting the Arabian way of child rearing when all they do is live in fear. The women and children don't respect for respects sake they live in fear of their husbands and fathers.

[–] irishhelden 15 years ago

I was going to say the same -- it's not respect, definitely fear.

Why would anyone want to teach this kid to respect someone who pummels a small child in the face because they are unable to match wits? So the kid can act like a giant infant when they're older??

If I remember the scene correctly, he pretty much drills the kid a few times in the head! It's pathetic even when adults have to resort to it, but a child?

And as another poster noted earlier, if the parents had raised their child correctly from the start, physical violence wouldn't be necessary. A parent SHOULD be able to REASON with their child. And, in turn, their child will then do the same.

Kids are not animals and parents are not always right.

I guess that's why people escape Arabic countries to come to America where they won't be beaten and can retain all of their extremities, while you don't see many American families retreating overseas so the father can tee off on his wife and children at the local park...

[–] osdiablo 15 years ago

for the people who saying it's not respect, it's FEAR
i say you are right about that, but what i meant at age(7-11) years old children would never understand what's the goal of respecting their parents,
what they usually do is trying to look cool infront of their friend.. no matter what the circumstances are!
so that's the age i was referring to. and i didn't say the parents should abuse their children physicaly (as you said), what do you think am i thinking (-_-)

after that age parents would stop treating their children as they were, because their children are used to be punished for all the wrong things they've done before. So the children now are suppose to understand what are all the bad things they should never do again.. Even if they did, they will be so ashamed from their parents..

and i think you'll find that hard to understand because such an UNSOCIAL SOCIETY
as an American, where all the children whenever they reach 18 years old should leave their parents at home alone to live by them selves, even if the parents can't go to the bathroom alone or were sick or something, and their kids just give them a five days visit at christmas (once a year)

by the way, not only the arabian societies are well connected to each other, the latin people as well(spain, italy, mexico,...etc)

at last i would like to say to "aaronva83" that: yes ,you are right English is not my native language, i speak Arabic and i am proud of it

thanks to every one

[–] 15 years ago

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[–] clifflin3 15 years ago

Here are a few things that I got from your post and some things that I have in mind.

1. If a man is beating up a kid on the street, ignore it. Actually, you should provide a club or a knife for that man to show that kid a "lesson" on respect.

2. Solving problems with violence is totally admirable. What a great way to promote child abuse. In fact, you are saying that we should teach our kids that "if anyone is doing something that you think is wrong, beat that person up. Don't even bother reasoning."

3. Speaking from personal experience, kids are in fact reasonable if you have patience. Osdiablo, however, suggests that kids have no brains and they are totally incompetent so let's just treat them like mindless zombies.

4. From your sick parent example, you are saying that we should take care of our parents because of "respect", not because of love. We should just fulfill our obligation as a "child" instead of trying to establish bonds between parents and children. Respect is merely a moral standard that people feel that they are obligated to comply. Love, however, is an emotional attachment. Basically, according to you, we should take care of our parents because we have to, not because we have familial bonds.

5. What amazed me the most is the fact that one fictional story all of a sudden represents whole America. It's like I meet one Korean guy who's gay and then I make the assumption that all Koreans are gay.

[–] osdiablo 14 years ago

clifflin3

you are great ('_')
actually i laugh everytime i read your reply