In an interview with 2012 director Roland Emmerich, he discussed how he decided not to destroy an Islamic landmark out of fear of a negative backlash.
Emmerich is known for finding chilling ways to destroy the civilized world. He has shown us many possibilities ranging from alien invasions, to huge lizards, to global climate change.
Now in 2012, doomsday is caused by earth crust displacement, which sounds less menacing but judging from the trailers, it is serious business. Emmerich described some of the major landmarks he destroyed in the film, which included the White House, Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel and the Christ the Redeemer statue in Brazil.
However, Emmerich did not get to destroy all the landmarks he had originally hoped for. People on his writing team advised him against destroying the Kaaba, which is one of Islam's holiest landmarks, out of fear of a fatwa.
According to askoxford.com, a fatwa is "an authoritative ruling on a point of Islamic law." In the Western world however the word has become a synonym for a death sentence.
To avoid this possibility, he just left it out completely and didn't worry about it. I guess Emmerich didn't want to have to explain to some angry Islamic extremist that it's just a movie and no death sentences are required.
Interestingly, Emmerich didn't hesitate to demolish St. Peter's Basilica in the Vatican. Not only is he tipping it over, he is tipping it over thousands of people who went to pray for salvation on the eve of the apocalypse.
So Emmerich, the man who likes to destroy the world, is scared of Islamic extremist, who isn't right? Did he do the right thing by leaving the Kaaba alone or should he have gone with his gut and taken the risk?
That is a really tough battle, how do you decide what is acceptable and what isn't? It doesn't seem right that he destroyed many influential landmarks of other religions but felt he had to leave that one alone. what about extremists of other religions? It is a movie about the end of the world. Unless he is going to be equally considerate of all of the religions he shouldn't single one out. However, I guess sometimes it is hard to get people to realize that no harm is meant, and it is better to be safe than sorry.
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