I'm a screenwriter and I read SCRIPT magazine. I was offended when I saw 'Towelhead' on the cover. I think it's an awful racist word and shouldn't be used as the title of the film. This movie was written and directed by a white, non-Arab, non-Muslim man. I don't care if the movie explores racism. It's not fuckin OK to use a racist term for the title of a movie.

and for the record, yes I am a Muslim and I've been called "towelhead" along with other racist terms, by stupid redneck assholes.

Agreed. This is not okay to me. They wouldn't come out with "Coon!" like that shyt is okay.

Can I blame Nas for this trend?
What's next "Sand ni**ers: the trilogy"?

I am not ok with it at all. One can produce a film about a Lebanese girl with a better title, surely.

I've had the insult thrown at me and my friends often, and I am not Muslim nor Arab.
But we can't expect the Ignorants to be able to tell us all apart.

Towel head = Sikhs

P.S.: Sikhs are NOT Muslims.

Yeah I think this is a crappy, racist thing to do. I've become so less tolerant of so-called "art" with age. It seems that any perverse, scandalous, offensive thing is okay to people as long as its some kind of art, especially if the "art" victimizes people who don't have much power.

@ Daria: lol. So many morons think that Sikhs are Arab when they're not even remotely close to Middle Easterns. I <3 Sikhs

Some Palestinians and a few other Arab men wear keffiyehs, but the "towel" is generally in reference to the turban that Sikh men wear. It is my understanding that Sikhs are all Indians. Some Sikh men, including two that i know, got a lot of sh-t post-9/11 and it saddened me that so many American people don't know enough about religion to discriminate properly. I sincerely hope that the civil rights group was aware of this since the vast majority of Muslim men don't sport headgear and I really don't think any Muslim men sport such headgear on a daily basis. Sikh men on the other hand pretty much wear it every day or close to it. They wrap their very long hair up in it. They don't cut their hair.

DFP= so many Sikhs were attacked after 9/11 because idiots thought they were Muslims.

@Daria-Sad to say but most Americans don't know much about the rest of the world or those unlike themselves.It's like we wallow in ignorance, and believe what we see on two minute news bits,when not looking at escapist realtiy stuff like The Hills.

BTW
Had 9/11 not happened, what is the likelihood of us seeing this movie having such a title.

BTW
Had 9/11 not happened, what is the likelihood of this movie having such a title.

The title is offensive, yes, but it's based on a book with the same name, written by Egyptian author Alicia Erian. Therefore, I don't think we can lay the responsibility at Alan Ball's feet.

Daria,
Logically "Towelheads" is an insult one assumes would be directed at Sikh men.
Racists are not logical people. They are also ignorant.
Punjabi culture? They know nothing of it.

They throw the word at anyone they perceive to be Middle Eastern and/or Muslim, or brown-skinned for that matter (I have Pinoy and Tamil friends who have gotten the insult as well).

Alicia Erian is not a Sikh man yet she has felt the brunt of the word.
I still think the film could carry another title.
We are not talking Harry Potter fame here.

I want to make a Bigot Guide for Dummies. It's like Corinne Bailey Rae who was referred to as "Paki" by the white kids in her area. She's black and white btw. If someone is going to say someone hateful towards me because I don't look like them, I want it to be at least the correct hateful term.