Fahim Speaks by Fahim Fazli

Author:Fahim Fazli
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Warriors, Inc.
Published: 2012-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

At the start of each New Year, I count my blessings. As 2008 turned to 2009, I reflected on my good fortune. I had a beautiful wife and daughter. We lived happily in the sunny California seaside community of Dana Point. I had my SAG card and was earning a comfortable living as a Hollywood actor. I had many good friends. Life was swell.

I was proud of how far I’d come in my life’s journey, though I still dreamed of getting that major acting role which would position me to return to Kabul to establish the “Fahima Fazli Academy for the Performing Arts.”

Like others in Hollywood, however, I was starkly aware that actors played in a safe, fantasy world. In the real world, real people did real heavy-lifting and faced real dangers. They couldn’t reshoot scenes that didn’t work out well. My country was at war and Americans were fighting in Afghanistan, while I hung out and had fun near the ocean in Dana Point—when not playing terrorists in Hollywood. I regretted not serving in the military, and that I’d failed that test to join the Marines 22 years earlier. I admired men like Audie Murphy and Lee Marvin, Hollywood actors who’d actually been in a war—instead of wielding an empty weapon and just pretending. Charlie Wilson’s words from 2006 kept coming back to me. You should think about going back and helping out in Afghanistan. I also kept thinking of Pat Tillman’s story. Could I somehow get over to Afghanistan, where the action was? Could I ride to the sounds of the guns?

However, even if I could ride to the sounds of the guns, did that mean that I should?

During those many long drives back and forth between Dana Point and Hollywood, I thought a lot. How could people from my original homeland develop pride in Afghanistan as a place of beauty and hope, as opposed to a place of violence and terror? How could people in my new homeland better appreciate the wonders of America, and not take our freedom and security for granted? Could I somehow make a difference? Did some real-life role—as opposed to an acting role—await me somewhere?

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.