28 June 2013

hagia sofia


With the exception of perhaps the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona, I think the Hagia Sofia is one of the most beautiful religious houses I have ever seen.  It was once an Eastern Orthodox cathedral for Constantinople, then it became a Roman Catholic cathedral, and finally it was a mosque until 1935 when it was secularized and turned into a museum.  The stone floor has been worm smooth by millions of feet walking over it these past thousand years.  The geometric designs of the Byzantines and Ottomans mix with the crosses and oppulence of the Roman Catholics which again mixes with the powerful script of the Quran.  If you ever get the chance, you should go and take a look yourself.
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Just the other night I watched the movie, Argo.  There is a scene where Ben Affleck visits Istanbul and the Hagia Sofia (hence why I thought this comment was slightly related to this post).  I enjoyed the movie for its suspense and drama without being gory, but while I was watching the film and seeing scenes all to familiar to someone living in the Middle East, I got to thinking, do we really need one more movie about conflicts between westerners and those from the ME?  I mean, I don't think these kinds of movies are doing much to help Americans view people in Hijab in a more friendly light.  Has there ever been a movie about friendship and goodwill between people from the west and those from the Middle East?

4 comments:

  1. My Persian friend would not be very happy that you just called him Arab! ;) Good question though... I'm trying to think of a positive movie between the West and Middle East... I'll have to keep thinking. Might need to involve Google! Just tonight I saw a promo for a show and I was teling Mike that I didn't like how the Iraqi/Persian looking actor always has to play the bad guy. It's not cool.

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    1. yikes! thanks for the edit, changed accordingly! Yes it is totally ridiculous right? I cannot think of one positive movie

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  2. I hope they make a movie about the little afghanistan girl who defied the Taliban to go to school. People from all over the world were pulling for her and came to her aid.

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  3. such a fantastic place! I'd love to visit one day

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