Well, actually, 17 years later, since Betty and Mahtoub Mahmoody arrived home in February, 1986.
For those who don’t know what I’m talking about, Not Without My Daughter is the true story of an American woman whose Iranian husband took her and her daughter on what was to be a two-week vacation in Iran. Once they got there, he decided that he liked it there and that they were going to stay.
Betty then learns that she and her daughter are essentially her husband’s property and that she cannot leave Iran without his permission. To make matters worse, her husband begins abusing Betty, which apparently he can do in Iran with impunity.
Eventually she has a harrowing ordeal in which she escapes to Turkey and makes it home. The story ends with the little blurb that she when she returned to America she lived under an assumed name, then became a respected writer and speaker, etc.
Some quick Googling failed to turn up what she is up to now, 17 years later, so I’m hoping a Doper with some inside knowledge can fill me in. First off, regarding Mahtoub: she’d be pushing 24 now, so I wonder what she’s up to. Secondly, did Betty’s husband ever tell his side of the story? Not that I care (when I watched the movie I kept hoping Betty would put a knife in his throat), but my principles of fairness tell me that he should be given a chance. Is he still in Iran?
This is an odd coincidence. I just read a review of a new movie, Without my daughter According to the review, it is a kind of documentary of the actual father, in which he gets to tell his side of the story. Apparently he also knows his daughter’s phone number, since he leaves a message on her answering machine (which she doesn’t answer). He even travels to Finland in the (vain) hope that she would be willing to meet him on neutral ground. The review mentions that the documentary makers should have known (if they had contacted the daughter beforehand) that the daughter did not wish to meet her father. The movie seems to be rather sad.
For the rest of your questions: I’ve heard from sources more informed of Iran that the movie and/or book was rather biased (i.e. anti-Iranian). Can’t say in which way, though. And this doesn’t mean that I in any way want to defend the man’s actions.
Wow… I’d really like to see this (although I’d prefer his story in book form), as the original book was pretty damning about the father. It remains one of the most chilling and memorable books I read in the 80s. Alas, there are two sides to every story, and I’d love to see his side of the issue.
Actually, Betty has been fairly busy since she got back to America. She’s written another book called ‘For Love of a Child’ which chronicles other stories similar to hers.
“Since returning from Iran in 1986, Mahmoody has devoted her life to helping hundreds of others in similar situations. She is the President and co-founder of ONE WORLD: FOR CHILDREN, an organization designed to promote understanding between cultures and to offer security and protection to children of bi-cultural marriages. She was also the chief investigator for legislation passed in Michigan relating to international kidnapping. As an expert in the field of international kidnapping, Mahmoody acts as an ongoing consultant to the State Department on the subject.”
I actually saw Betty talking about this book on a television show which surprised me because I thought she was ‘in hiding’ so to speak. However, her daughter being an adult I guess the danger is essentially over now and Betty apparently has no fear of her husband. Apparently Betty travels around a lot speaking about this issue and appears on tv a lot as well.
She has also received some awards for her courage and bravery and her efforts to help woman who find themselves in the position she once was in.
Whilst “google is your friend” is a tired and not appropriate reply, the newspaper articles you listed were simply reviews of a film which rebutted the film “Not Without My Daughter”. Let’s forget the Sally Field film and focus on the woman who wrote the book. I’d like to see some refutations to the book she wrote, and dismiss the Iranian/American film drivel.
And why would Betty be “in hiding”? She escaped Iran and her husband and returned to the US. There was nothing about her story which would cause her to go into hiding once she escaped. I’ve seen nothing from her book and her accounts of the episode which would necessitate her going into hiding once she escaped Iran.
Hey zuma, maybe you misunderstood me. My post was primarily intended as an addition to my earlier post, in which I specifically talked about the documentary refered to in the reviews. My ‘Google is your friend’ remark was meant to myself as in: hey, look what I found. I don’t like to link to non-English sites if I can help it, but I had to search in a more roundabout way to get the proper sites and was pleasantly surprised to find English reviews. I thought it would be helpful if English readers would be able to check what I said about the documentary. Guess I was wrong.
Besides that, the reviews in fact offer more information than you say. The reviews state, on the basis of statements in the documentary, that specific elements of the book on which the movie was based were wrong:
the reasons for leaving the country,
the behaviour of the husband/father,
the flight out of the country.
Those statements are apparently directly attributed to one of the principal actors in the drama, to wit the husband/father himself. Of course we don’t know how reliable his statements are, but it is his viewpoint. The OP wondered about whether he had ever given his viewpoint. So I answered the OP. There is no obligation to reply to every question by other posters in a thread.
Sorry if I seem a bit miffed, but I did put some work in it and you seem to misunderstand what the reviews and the movie are about.
FTR: I have never read the book, nor seen the movie, nor seen the documentary. I’m just channeling the information that I’ve refered to here. I’m not taking a standpoint in the issue.
Thanks for clearing up the misunderstanding. As for whether there is any truth in what the husband says, I really can’t tell you. The reviews describe him as a kind of tragic figure, but even tragic figures may have done many things wrong.
I saw that documentary a couple of months ago, but I haven’t read the book (saw the movie years ago), so I’m not really in a position to argue sides here.
I do agree with the reviews and felt it raised some interesting questions about the fairness of the custody trial and the veracity of Betty’s story.
Those are of course her claims, but shouldn’t be stated as facts based on her statements alone.
It’s been about 15 years since I read the book, so my memory might be faulty, but I don’t remember anything about a custody trial. As I remembered it, the family was going for a “visit” to Iran, and the husband refused to return. They were happily married at the point of departure from the US. What custody trial was there? Maybe it happened after the end of the book, which as I recall ended after she smuggled her daughter out of Iran.
Betty sued for custody after arriving in the US with Mahtoub.
She was awarded it by default since neither Sayed Mahmoody or his lawyer were present at the hearing. The people producing the documentary presented evidence to the judge who presided over the case that Sayed had first received the relevant papers after the hearing had been held.
As others have mentioned the judge did not make a favourable impression (I recall an off-hand remark about the Jew-controlled media).
