Kyle Barnhart

HONR-3702-H01
Turtles Can Fly
One of the biggest event in America history in my lifetime has been the 9/11 attack. This
terrorist attack caused the United States to go to war against Iraq to find the terrorist group at
fault for the attack. This event was not only a big deal to Americans but also to the Iraqi people.
The film Turtles Can Fly is a film directed, produced, and written by Bahman Ghobadi about the
Iraqi people and how the Americans coming to Iraq will impact them. Ghobadi created the film a
few years after the attack in 2001; showing Turtles Can Fly in American theaters in 2005. His
film would focus on a group in Iraq called the Kurds and also star many of their children in the
film.
In the film we meet a younger adult Satellite (Soran Ebrahim) who is the leader of the
children in the Krudish town they live in. Satellite is a very outspoken and sometime rude leader
of the kids. However he cares greatly about his children he watches over and as shown in the
movie is willing to go to through great danger to save a child that isnt in his group. Through
most of the film Satellite is an outspoken pro-American person, and uses his knowledge of
America and American goods to provide for his people and his children. One of the first things
Satellite does is convince one of the leaders to purchase a satellite for one of the towns
televisions. Even though the satellite has some of the forbidden channels that they are not
supposed to watch for religious and cultural reasons, the technology will improve reception on
the TV and allow them to learn more about what is going on in the world as the war in Iraq is
about to begin. Satellite is also has this American business spirit as he is very stingy with money

and how his children work. He bargains with everyone he trades or offers work for trying to get
paid more money and spend less.
The American wars in past and future to make his earnings for the children and Satellite.
One example of past wars is digging up the landmines that are still in the ground. The children
and traders make statements of how good the American land mines are and that they are worth
the most. Even though digging up landmines isnt a real job for people to do, there are other
dangerous jobs that are involved in war times. A more realistic example is when the children are
sorting the large shells in the scrap yard. The markets close by that would sell satellites and other
general goods changed into selling guns and bullets as the shift of demand came from the war.
Even Satellite goes and gets two guns on rent to be able to protect his town should an attack
occur. We see that the war has caused an opportunity for profit and that is what makes Satellite a
unique character as he is able to know and react in such a way to make money from the
Americans he was all so for.
However toward the end of the film Satellites view of America and Americans change. It
is the moment after he injures himself on the landmine to save a child. As the Americans enter
the town the next day Satellite is disturbed by the fact that the children are watching the
forbidden channels on TV with the American soldiers on the satellite that Satellite got for the
towns use. There are also other things going on as well such as riots in the nearby town as the
American soldiers had caused a huge uproar of overthrowing the previous government. I believe
Satellites thoughts on Americans were that they would work beside the Krudish people and help
them gain an independence from other nations. In reality they came in guns a blazing set out to
complete the task of removing the threat and leaving. He figured that they would bring the
prosperity of America to Iraq when however all they brought was evil and pain; which took the

form of riots and his own physical pain from the American landmine. He couldnt believe that we
would not give any care toward the Kurdish culture or even help them live better lives like we do
in America. All the American soldiers did is exposing children to such wild and evil behaviors of
the normal American culture that give us no problems at all. In Satellites opinion the American
soldiers were blind to the Kurds and their culture. In response Satellite turns his head to not see
the American soldiers as to be not associated to them at all.
To speak more on the topic of blindness we should introduce a character of the film who
actually dealt with impaired in sight. This character is a toddler named Riga (Ajil Zibari). Riga
has an important role in this film in many ways. One of his roles is being the child of a rape
during an attack on Agrins (Avaz Latif) town. Agrin is Rigas mother and she doesnt like her
child as he reminds her every day of the horror that she went through when her parents were
killed and what else happened to her. Riga being young doesnt see or even understand her pain
and know that she wants to kill the both of them and leave behind the pain she carries every day.
Riga doesnt see the danger around him especially even when he wonders into a mine field. This
is how Satellite injures himself to save Riga. Although Riga survives he has scarred Satellite for
the rest of his life and again does not see it.
I believe that the director Ghobadi had a great meaning behind the character of Riga to
represent the American people. We as Americans, including myself, have not paid much attention
to the war in Iraq and Middle East since 9/11. We have kept track of all the American deaths
caused by the war and what good we are doing in Iraq. Have we heard about the death count on
the other side and what problems have evolved since the start of the war? Personally I would
have never thought to look until after I saw Turtles Can Fly. The number of Americans killed in
Iraq total currently 6,840 while the number of Iraqi peoples killed is around 206,000. As shown

in the film the American soldiers had no training in the Iraqi culture or way of life and caused
many disputes that didnt end well for either side. Most of the Iraqis just wanted the Americans
out as they caused more problems than good. A good reason for that is the number of civilian
deaths caused by the war which is above 130,000 Iraqis. If we are really here to help then how
could so many innocent people be dying by are hands? It just shows that nothing good can really
come out of a war.
Some can say that there are some goods that come out of wars such as technology booms
and economic booms from production of war materials that benefit citizens of that nation at war.
I think Ghobadi wants us to open our eyes and see the truth and the pain that war can cause not
only physically but emotionally and culturally. I think he is calling us to see beyond prejudice
and what problems of the past we may have with other nations and think of alternatives to war.
Ghobadi shows us the change in good ordinary people and what the war can cause in them. He
calls us to look at what we as Americans have done and what we had as citizens asked for as
payment for a crime of just a few people. Was it the right choice? Was it worth the killing of
hundreds of thousands to get the few thousand that made us respond so violently? This is
something Ghobadi wants you to think about and not be blind to. Open your eyes to what your
nation does around the world and try to influence it to make the world a better place for all.

Works Cited
Ackerman, Spencer. "Afganistan, Iraq Wars Killed 132,000 Civilians, Reporter Says."
Wired.com. Wired, 29 June 2011. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.wired.com/2011/06/afghanistan-iraq-wars-killed-132000-civilians-reportsays/>.
"Faces of the Fallen." The Washington Post. The Washington Post. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
<http://apps.washingtonpost.com/national/fallen/>.
"Iraq Body Count." Iraqbodycount.org. Iraq Body Count. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
<https://www.iraqbodycount.org/>.
"Kurds." Everycuture.com. 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.everyculture.com/wc/Tajikistan-to-Zimbabwe/Kurds.html>.
"Turtles Can Fly." Imdb.com. International Movie Database. Web. 15 Feb. 2015.
<http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0424227/?ref_=nv_sr_1>.