Having been separated from his Muslim family for many years, Alim does not believe in Muslim, speaks perfect English, wears business suit, and even has guy boyfriend, Giles. In front of his religious mother, Alim pretends Giles to be his roommate, whereas Giles tries painstakingly to establish a good relation with her, hoping she will accept guy marriage. At the beginning, Alim does not believe Giles’s effort will pay back because his mother is just “a Muslim woman from the Third World”; finally, he won his mother’s support under Giles’s unceasing efforts.
Touch of Pink is targeted to the Canadian-British market, where guy movement enjoys much currency. Unfortunately, this politics of sexuality is achieved at the expense of the Muslim Other. Alim, being representative of the Muslim culture (regardless personal belief, Alim’s religious heritage is bounded with his family relations), is a feminine guy; he is shy, introvert, sensitive, and requires an imaginative friend, Gary, to escape from everyday frustrations. In contrast, Giles is fully western, masculine, opened minded, determined, and plays the role of life mentor of Alim. With the aid of Giles, both Alim and his mother overcome their personal and religious limitations; they become enlightened to embrace a happier future. To me, the idealization of Giles masks a dangerous patronizing practice that problematizes local values in favor of the trend of globalization and modernization (or westernization, to be more precise). Muslim people are being portrayed as authoritarian, materialistic and narrow-minded. Their culture is reduced to exotic clothes, jewelries, flowers, and strange customs.
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