As renown German film critic Kracauer, I will reconstruct through memory the story, motives, and techniques used in The Kite Runner in order to attempt their interpretation under a sociological and psychological light. The Kite Runner relates the story of an Afghan man who, after having immigrated to the United States, is pulled back to his old country to rescue the son of his childhood best friend. The book, and in concordance the film, were meant to reveal, through a fictional story, the reality of the Afghan society. It opens the doors to a world that most westerns are completely foreign to, making critical objections to the political, social, and economical structures of the country. However, after revealing shocking realities such as despotic governments that do not obey any law, and the normality of child trafficking, the story concludes with a happy ending that would be highly unlikely in real life. It is obvious that the film was catered to an American audience which, in the middle of the burst of the Iraq war, needed some kind of assurance that, by invading another country, they had once again done the right thing. This is a classical example of a film that is trying to secure the moral of its audience: “saving individual people is a convenient way to prevent the rescue of the entire class.” Only one kid is rescued out of millions who are left to sex trade, slavery, and famine in the country. However, we can feel good that the main character, the one we were able to connect emotionally through the film, will live a different type of future. The Afghan boy, after having been abused in every possible way by his society, is rescued by the good Americans. He now has a bright future ahead of him full of opportunities. It is disappointing, to say the least, that after so much criticism made to the formal political system in Afghanistan, little or nothing is mention about possible solutions apart from emigration and needing a foreign force to rescue the society.
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