Condemning racism has been a common theme in world media the last couple of years, especially after the Black Lives Matter movement. But director/co-writer Aneil Karia’s The Long Goodbye is about the type of racism that’s mostly overlooked.
Riz (co-writer Riz Ahmed) and his British-Pakistani family are setting up their house for an upcoming wedding in an unknown British town. At the same time, the news is covering a right-wing protest taking place in the same city. Everything is fine, and life goes on like any other day until things take a wrong turn when the protestors storm the neighborhood and arrest all the middle-eastern residents.
“…the protestors storm the neighborhood and arrest all the middle-eastern residents.”
The Long Goodbye is a shocking experience. The message is simple: middle-eastern lives don’t matter! This is evident in the light of recent coverage of the war in Ukraine when reporters from some news outlets called people from Iraq or Afghanistan “uncivilized” or felt sorry that “Europeans with blue eyes and blonde hair are being killed!” That’s exactly what happens throughout the 13-minute drama.
Without spoiling things, the narrative plays out like these characters are living in George Orwell’s Animal Farm, where “everyone is equal, but some are more equal than others.” While I’d hate to make this review a political statement, the film is actually more of a political assertion than a short. The director sacrifices story coherence for sending out that important message.
As an Iranian, I have felt the global negligence toward middle-easterners that The Long Goodbye is talking about throughout my life. The world might be a better place for many, but for people like me, it’s filled with hatred and discrimination. Even those who might be outwardly decent aren’t always, like Riz’s neighbors who are just standing behind the window, watching the horror unfold. Karia’s short film may not be flawless, but it is the perfect metaphor of how the world looks at people without blue eyes and blonde hair.
"…the perfect metaphor of how the world looks at people without blue eyes and blonde hair."
