Movies and books

As I mentioned before, movies here are almost always dubbed into Spanish and sometimes even to Catalan, so I just don't feel like going to the cinema anymore.
The last one we saw was the latest Garfield and the poor cat sounded totally stupid with a strong accent from Madrid. Now I'm dying to see the latest Pirates of the Caribbean as I love Johnny Deep as the captain inspired by Keith Richards. Here, his voice sounds totally gay and suave, more akin to the guy who thinks he's a lady in Little Britain!! And, of course, it changes everything!! Hideous!!
However there are at least 3 of those multiplex cinemas in Barcelona where they show movies in their original language, they're just far away and we'll have to plan a night out. Also local theatre near our home always have at least one movie a month, pity that is usually a very arty German, French or Chinese film that I cannot understand anyway. Mainstream movies are always translated so we're downloading loads of movies and tv programs lately. Thanks goddess for the Internet and piracy!

We've recently watched Little Miss Sunshine in video and totally loved it. If you, like me, missed while it was in the movies, go and get it. It's a gem of a movie and the best one that I've seen so far this year. Totally uplifting.
For me this movie challenges the way that American society defines en equate success with external things such as wealth, fame or beauty, and thus who the winners and losers are. I also think that whatever trend they have will be here in Europe a few years latter, and that one is already here challenging the way that success was traditionally equated with more intrinsic goals such as better relationships, self-development and participation in community.
A wonderful movie that deserves all the prizes it got and more.

The book that I'm currently reading is Ayaan Hirsi Ali's memories and reflexion on Islam, culture and living in the west. I'm reading it in English and it's called Infidel. She first came to my attention as the woman who wrote the script and provided the voice for the Dutch film Submission (click on the tittle to see the short video in Google video), which condemned the treatment of women in Islamic society. Its director, Theo Van Gogh, was murdered by an Islamic fundamentalist in the streets of Amsterdam and she was forced to go into hiding. She was a refugee and became an MP and a controversial figure in Holland.
I've heard about her and the book in an interview earlier this year in the BBC's Women's hour (which I hear from hear using my computer) and the book doesn't disappoint at all, on the contrary: is totally griping and I cannot put it down even though sometimes it make me feel sick.
The book, the experiences and opinions of Mrs, Ali is making me review my views about tolerance for other cultures and for religious believes, culture relativism and all that.
For instance, should we respect and accept things such as women circumcision just because some groups have been doing it for centuries and they believe that's ok?
Do we have any right to impose a western culture and believes in other people who came to live in the west?
Should diversity mean total and blind acceptance of other people ways and a separation between different groups of people, with different rules/school etc for each?
This are times of turmoil in the world and people are being forced to take sides, so this book is extra valuable because it's making me me think about what are my own convictions, believes, where do I stand and what I want to teach my son.