Reflections on The Kite Runner

Our minister had been talking about this movie, so we rented it. It was based on a book written by an Afghani man after 9/11.

It starts in the 70's before the invasion of that nation by the Communists from Russia. Two little boys are best of friends; one is the son of the family servant of the other boy's father. The servant boy's family has been with the aristocrat's family for generations.

Kite-flying is a sport for children in Afghanistan, apparently. And the sport involves "cutting off" the other kites so they are downed and there is only one kite still in the air. The "kite-runner" then is one who runs to gather the downed kites as trophies, apparently.

This is a story about cowardice and courage, shame and redemption, fathers and sons, immigrants, exiles, and also great evil from without a nation--and from within.

One memorable line is something like, "The mullahs want to control our souls; the communists tell us we have no souls."

This film should be seen by everybody --adults that is --including those GITMO detainees and those liberals who think there is no evil in the world that would justify a war effort. It has a PG13 rating, but I wouldn't show it to my middle school students because of some of the evils depicted.

The hypocrisy and cruelty of the Taliban (such as are the detainees at GITMO) is not emphasized by Geo. Bush in this case, but by an Afghani-American who wrote the book.

American Islamic families, a wedding and repentance before Allah are demonstrated. There are some twists and turns toward the end that redeem a sad story --concluding with hope for the future.

There are also orphans in the story living in great poverty and peril --and I understand our pastor's interest in that theme --since he and his wife brought home their little adopted son from Ethiopia.

While not exactly a cheerful story, it is inspirational and the ending is hopeful.





"God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance and have eternal life."--the Bible