The Reluctant Fundamentalist, a film by Mira Nair is about locating one’s multiple authentic selves within a world where social, and religious fundamentalism are an obstacle in the formation of a more nuanced identity.
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Running along this identity narrative is a subplot concerning the CIA trying to figure out whether Changez is involved in the kidnapping; the juxtaposition of the two narratives is not entirely smooth. Nonetheless, Changez’s story of an ambitious, elite Pakistani man rising up on Wall Street only to face great disillusion as a result of a morally bankrupt post 9/11 landscape, is a compelling one. A victim of draconian homeland security policies, in one scene Changez is stopped by police at immigration and made to undergo a humiliating interrogation. He also faces an increasingly xenophobic social environment that makes him feel alienated in a country he once thought could provide him everything he ever wanted. As a result of these difficult circumstances, Changez is faced with the age old question of whether what one gains abroad is worth what one inevitably looses back in their country. Even his relationship to his elite American artist girlfriend, Erica (Kate Hudson) proves culturally alienating as shown in a scene where Changez comes to Erica’s art show only to discover that she has used elements of his Pakistani identity to create art that is ultimately insulting to his cultural roots. Riz Ahmed is well cast as a man who is wrestling with a profound crisis of conscience. Overall Mira Nair has made a timely film about what it means to live and negotiate one’s identity between two cultures.