Theo van Gogh (film director)

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Theo van Gogh
Born: July 23, 1957
The Hague, Netherlands
Died: November 2, 2004
Amsterdam, Netherlands
Occupation: Film director
Website: http://www.theovangogh.nl

Theo van Gogh (IPA pronunciation: ['teːjoː vɑn xɔx]) (July 23, 1957 – November 2, 2004) was a Dutch film director, television producer, publicist and actor. A descendant of the brother of the famous Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh, he was murdered in 2004 by Mohammed Bouyeri.

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[edit] Life

Van Gogh was born in The Hague. His great-grandfather was art dealer Theo van Gogh, brother of Vincent van Gogh. His father, Johan van Gogh, was a member of the Dutch secret service ('AIVD', then called 'BVD'). After dropping out of law school he became a stage manager. His self proclaimed passion was in the making of movies, and he debuted as a director with the movie Luger (1981). He received a Gouden Kalf ("Golden Calf", the Dutch equivalent of the Oscar) for Blind Date (1996) and In het belang van de staat ("In the Interest of the State", 1997). For the latter, he also received a "Certificate of Merit" from the San Francisco International Film Festival. As an actor he appeared in the production De noorderlingen ("The Northerners", 1992). After that, he worked for television and wrote provocative columns for Metro and other newspapers.

Van Gogh was a virtuoso writer of polemic prose. His often scandalous tone and personal animosities got him involved in a number of public law suits against other writers and public figures and got him fired as a columnist of a succession of magazines and periodicals, forcing him to seek refuge at his own website, called De Gezonde Roker ("The Healthy Smoker")[1].This, also being the title of one of his books, was an allusion to his notorious chain smoking and to the 'politically correct' negative stance towards smoking in society. In general, Van Gogh had a strongly nihilistic outlook on life, as displayed by episodes of heavy drinking, his open use of the drug cocaine and a cynical view of love relationships. Although he seemed to enjoy his life, he said he wouldn't mind dying, if it weren't for his young son, Lieuwe van Gogh. His last book (2003) was Allah weet het beter ("Allah Knows Best") in which, in his typical cynical, mocking tone, he presented his views on Islam. He was a well-known critic of Islam, especially after the September 11, 2001 attacks. He supported the nomination of the liberal (former PvdA Labour Party), Somalian-born female politician Ayaan Hirsi Ali for Dutch parliament.

[edit] Political Views

Van Gogh was a member of the Dutch republican society Republikeins Genootschap which advocates the abolition of the Dutch monarchy, and a friend and supporter of the controversial Dutch politician Pim Fortuyn who was assassinated in 2002. He was also a staunch supporter of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, although he revised his stance to a more neutral one in 2004.

[edit] Controversial statements

Although Van Gogh was known as a friendly, tolerant character in person, in the 1980s, he became a newspaper columnist, and through the years he used his columns to vent his anger at politicians, actors, film directors, writers and other people he considered to be part of "the establishment".

He incurred the anger of leading members of the Jewish community by making comments about what he saw as the Jewish preoccupation with Auschwitz. This quote from a 1991 magazine interview is a typical example of such commentary. Van Gogh explained a "smell of caramel" by stating that "today they're only burning diabetic Jews." When he was criticized by the Jewish historian Evelien Gans, he wrote in Folia Civitatis magazine: "I suspect that Ms. Gans gets wet dreams about being fucked by Dr Mengele." He also expressed the wish that she would sue him so that she would have to explain in court why his remarks were false.

Van Gogh rejected every form of organised religion. In the late 1990s he started to focus on Islam. He caused widespread resentment in the Muslim community by consistently referring to them as geitenneukers (goat-fuckers). Although it is not clear whether Van Gogh actually coined the term geitenneukers, he certainly popularized it. He felt strongly that political Islam is an increasing threat to liberal western societies, and said that, if he'd been younger, he would have emigrated to the U.S.A., which he considered to be a beacon of light in a darkening world.

One of the few politicians who seemed to be exempt from Van Gogh's criticisms was the conservative leader Pim Fortuyn, who was assassinated in 2002. Van Gogh usually referred to him as the divine baldhead. After the death of Fortuyn, Van Gogh continued attacking the remaining members of the Lijst Pim Fortuyn as he did other politicians. His political idol from then on was Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

[edit] Van Gogh's film Submission

Working from a script written by Ayaan Hirsi Ali, van Gogh created the 10-minute movie Submission. The movie deals with the topic of violence against women in Islamic societies; telling the stories of four abused Muslim women. The title itself, "Submission", is the translation of the word "Islam" in English. In the film, the women's naked bodies are veiled with semi-transparent shrouds as they kneel in prayer, telling their stories as if they are speaking to Allah. Qur'anic verses unfavourable to women are painted on their bodies in Arabic. After the movie was released in 2004, both van Gogh and Hirsi Ali received death threats. Van Gogh did not take these very seriously and refused any protection - reportedly telling Hirsi Ali: "Who would want to kill the village idiot?"

[edit] Van Gogh's murder

Van Gogh assassinated
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Van Gogh assassinated
Place where Van Gogh was assassinated
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Place where Van Gogh was assassinated
Demonstration at the Dam square after Van Gogh was assassinated
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Demonstration at the Dam square after Van Gogh was assassinated
Demonstrators
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Demonstrators

Mohammed Bouyeri assassinated van Gogh in the early morning of Tuesday November 2, 2004, in Amsterdam in front of the Amsterdam East borough office (stadsdeelkantoor) on the corner of the Linnaeusstraat and Tweede Oosterparkstraat streets. He shot him with eight bullets from a HS 2000 (a handgun produced in 2000 in Croatia), and Van Gogh died on the spot. Bouyeri slit van Gogh's throat and then stabbed him in the chest. Two knives were left implanted in his torso, one pinning a five-page note to his body. The note (Text) threatened Western governments, Jews and Hirsi Ali (who went into hiding). The note also contains references to the ideologies of the Egyptian organization Takfir wal-Hijra.

The killer, Mohammed Bouyeri, a 26-year-old Dutch citizen, was apprehended by the police after being shot in the leg. Although born in Amsterdam, well-educated and apparently well-integrated, Bouyeri has alleged terrorist ties with the Dutch Hofstad Network. He was also charged with attempted murder of a police officer and bystander, illegal possession of a firearm, and conspiring to assassinate others, including Hirsi Ali. He was convicted on July 26, 2005 and sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole.

Imam Fawaz of the as-Sunnah Mosque in The Hague gave a sermon several weeks before the murder in which he called Theo van Gogh, "a 'criminal bastard' and beseech[ed] Allah to visit an incurable disease upon the filmmaker[1]."

A few days after the assassination, one of Van Gogh's intimate friends delivered an open letter to "Mohammed B. and his friends" on Dutch television.

Van Gogh was cremated on November 9, 2004 in Amsterdam. During the memorial service Lou Reed's "Perfect Day" was played; a pack of cigarettes and a bottle of liquor were placed on the coffin.

[edit] Aftermath

The day after the murder Dutch police arrested eight Muslim radicals belonging to a group later referred to as the Hofstad Network. Six detainees were Dutch-Moroccans, one was Dutch-Algerian and one had dual Spanish-Moroccan nationality. By November 11, 18 religious sites (mainly Muslim, but some Christian) had been vandalised or subjected to arson.

The murder led to a wider and more polarized debate about the position of the more than one million Muslims in the Netherlands and how they would be affected. Many non-Muslim Dutch citizens fear that Holland will lose its traditional tolerance and Western liberalism, becoming increasingly influenced by Islamic viewpoints on these issues. These fears are fueled by population growth studies and projections that show the Muslim community growing much faster than that of the "autochtonen" (autochthonous Dutch). On the other hand, many Islamic Dutch residents feel discriminated against and singled out. The increasing polarization has led to calls from many religious leaders and politicians for calm and improved communication between the communities.

In an apparent reaction against controversial statements about the Islamic, Christian and Jewish religions, such as those Theo van Gogh was renowned for, the Dutch Minister of Justice, Christian Democrat Piet Hein Donner suggested the existing Dutch blasphemy laws should either be applied more stringently or made stricter. This had led to a counter call by the liberal D66 party to scrap the blasphemy law altogether.

Independent Dutch member of parliament Geert Wilders (who was previously forced to leave the right-wing VVD party because of his views) advocated a five-year halt to non-Western immigration in the wake of the murder of Theo van Gogh stating: "The Netherlands has been too tolerant to intolerant people for too long. We should not import a retarded political Islamic society to our country".[2] In opposition to such anti-Islamic sentiments, campaigns for a kleurrijk Nederland [colorful Netherlands], such as Stop de Hetze were started.

Geert Wilders and Ayaan Hirsi Ali went into hiding for several weeks. They have been under the protection of bodyguards ever since.

Lieuwe van Gogh, Theo van Gogh's son, claims he has been attacked on several occasions by young people of Moroccan descent, and that the police did not provide him with any help or protection.[2] The police deny receiving any report of attacks.[3][4]

[edit] Van Gogh's murder and Index on Censorship

There was controversy in the English-speaking world after an article was published in the magazine Index on Censorship that too many readers seemed to condone or attempt to justify van Gogh's murder. The article, by the magazine's Associate Editor Rohan Jayasekera, claimed that van Gogh was a "free-speech fundamentalist" who had been on a "martyrdom operation[,] roar[ing] his Muslim critics into silence with obscenities" in an "abuse of his right to free speech". Describing van Gogh's film Submission as "furiously provocative", Jayasekera concluded by describing his death as:

A sensational climax to a lifetime's public performance, stabbed and shot by a bearded fundamentalist, a message from the killer pinned by a dagger to his chest, Theo van Gogh became a martyr to free expression. His passing was marked by a magnificent barrage of noise as Amsterdam hit the streets to celebrate him in the way the man himself would have truly appreciated.
And what timing! Just as his long-awaited biographical film of Pim Fortuyn's life is ready to screen. Bravo, Theo! Bravo![3]

There were many protests from both left- and right-wing commentators at the article, and Nick Cohen of the London Observer wrote in December, 2004, that:

When I asked Jayasekera if he had any regrets, he said he had none. He told me that, like many other readers, I shouldn't have made the mistake of believing that Index on Censorship was against censorship, even murderous censorship, on principle -- in the same way as Amnesty International is opposed to torture, including murderous torture, on principle. It may have been so in its radical youth, but was now as concerned with fighting 'hate speech' as protecting free speech.[4]

Cohen's opinion was repudiated by the editor of Index on Censorship in a letter to the Observer.[5] Jayasekera himself has indeed expressed regrets and has put his own case for speaking his mind on Van Gogh's life legacy on the Index website.

[edit] Works

[edit] Publications

Van Gogh contributed to various newspapers and magazines, often leaving these jobs after a quarrel.

He published the following books:

  • Engel ("Angel", 1990)
  • Er gebeurt nooit iets ("Nothing Ever Happens", 1993)
  • Sla ik mijn vrouw wel hard genoeg? ("Do I Beat My Wife Hard Enough?", 1996)
  • De gezonde roker ("The healthy smoker", 2000)
  • Allah weet het beter ("Allah Knows Best", 2003)
  • De tranen van Mabel ("The tears of Mabel", with Tomas Ross, 2004)

[edit] Filmography

  • Luger (1982)
  • Een dagje naar het strand ("A Day at the Beach", 1984)
  • Charley (1986)
  • Terug naar Oegstgeest ("Back to Oegstgeest", 1987)
  • Loos ("Wild", 1989)
  • Vals licht ("False Light", 1993)
  • Ilse verandert de geschiedenis ("Ilse Changes History", 1993)
  • 06 (1994)
  • Reunie ("Reunion", 1994)
  • Eva (1994)
  • Een galerij: De wanhoop van de sirene ("A Gallery: The Despair of the Siren", 1994)
  • De Eenzame Oorlog Van Koos Tak ("Koos Tak's Lonely War", 1995)
  • Blind Date (1996)
  • Hoe ik mijn moeder vermoordde ("How I Killed My Mother", 1996)
  • In het belang van de staat ("In the Interest of the State", 1997)
  • Au ("Ouch", 1997)
  • De Pijnbank ("The Rack", 1998)
  • Baby Blue (2001)
  • De nacht van Aalbers ("Aalbers's Night", 2001)
  • Najib en Julia (2002) television play based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet about the love between a white upper-class girl and a pizza delivery man of Moroccan descent.
  • Interview (2003), cynical journalist interviews society actress.
  • Zien ("Seeing", 2004)
  • Submission (2004)
  • Cool (2004) a film about young offenders, some of them of Moroccan descent. In the movie the offenders play themselves.
  • 06/05 (2004), a film mixing fact and fiction around the assassination of Pim Fortuyn.
  • Medea (2005), a modern day adaptation of Medea.

[edit] Unfinished projects

  • Bad (A "lesbian road movie.") Production was planned for 2005
  • Duizend en één Dag ("Thousand and One Days"). A drama series about young muslims struggling with their faith. Although this project had not even reached preproduction, Van Gogh had already found a broadcaster for the series: Dutch Muslim Broadcasting Organisation NMO.

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ↑  http://www.theovangogh.nl/
  2. ↑  Netherlands opposing immigration (New York Times)
  3. ↑  Free speech fundamentalist on a martyrdom operation (Index on Censorship)
  4. ↑  [http://observer.guardian.co.uk/comment/story/0,6903,1371869,00.html Censor and

sensibility] (The Guardian)

  1. ↑  Letters to the Editor - Free to Speak (The Guardian)

[edit] External links

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