@@OWOT-re5jf As of the writing of My Name is Mahtob, she didn't, or at least she didn't seem to. That may have changed since then, though. That was a few years ago.
To assume this movie is accurate without hearing the fathers side of the story is racist. Consider this: there are millions of Hollywood movies about white families and their lives, some movies show a happy family life and some a troubled abusive family life. In Hollywood there are very few movies about Iranian families, and when one is released it depicts the story of an abusive family. DONT U THINK THAT IS RACIST?!! DONT U THINK THAT DEPICTS AN ENTIRE NATION IN A BAD LIGHT?!!! DO U THINK ITS RIGHT FOR HOLLYWOOD TO RELEASE SUCH A MOVIE?!!! DONT U THINK ITS RACIST THAT SUCH A MOVIE GETS RELEASED?!!!
What a brave and beautiful mother and daughter. Both have massive hearts oozing with love. I hope love and kindness follows them wherever they go. they are truly inspirational. I've read all their moving books and seen their film and they just melt my heart. I wish them long lives filled with love, health and all their dreams come true.
@@michaelporogi4946 . thank you for clarifying that. Funny though I've never heard any mention of other children. But then alot gets hidden or sensationalized.
@@michaelporogi4946 I agree with all you said. I know how things get twisted. I worked in Saudi Arabia Almost 30 years and have seen USA and SA put their their twist on all issues and lie lie lie. It's refreshing to have a civilized conversation on FB.
This story intertwins with my life My daughters father threatened to kidnap her yo iraq,he keep me im family court for 6 years on one motion.I told myself during that ordeal NOT WITH MY DAUGHTER.I finally got soul custody with supervised visits However my daughter is now 21,and she resents me and won't talk to me.Our relationship started to change as her father and her began to have one since she turned 19.Please every one pray God heals all three of us in Jesus name.
Her father must have told her lies about how you didn't let him have a relationship with him, and probably a bunch of other lies, that you chose to run around with different men all tve time, this is typical for those men.
I’m reading Mahtob’s book now. I loved Not Without My Daughter so much I read it twice.. my most favorite book of all time. I would like to believe that deep down I would’ve had the courage to do the same for my daughter of I were in a similar situation. God bless Betty and Mahtob Mahmoody ❤️🙏🏼❤️✝️❤️
Those who are interested in knowing the truth about this family can read the book entitled “The False Heroine and Her Ridiculous Bully: The Story of Betty and Dr Mahmoody by His Coauthor,” found on Amazon.
To assume this movie is accurate without hearing the fathers side of the story is racist. Consider this: there are millions of Hollywood movies about white families and their lives, some movies show a happy family life and some a troubled abusive family life. In Hollywood there are very few movies about Iranian families, and when one is released it depicts the story of an abusive family. DONT U THINK THAT IS RACIST?!! DONT U THINK THAT DEPICTS AN ENTIRE NATION IN A BAD LIGHT?!!! DO U THINK ITS RIGHT FOR HOLLYWOOD TO RELEASE SUCH A MOVIE?!!! DONT U THINK ITS RACIST THAT SUCH A MOVIE GETS RELEASED?!!!
To assume this movie is accurate without hearing the fathers side of the story is racist. Consider this: there are millions of Hollywood movies about white families and their lives, some movies show a happy family life and some a troubled abusive family life. In Hollywood there are very few movies about Iranian families, and when one is released it depicts the story of an abusive family. DONT U THINK THAT IS RACIST?!! DONT U THINK THAT DEPICTS AN ENTIRE NATION IN A BAD LIGHT?!!! DO U THINK ITS RIGHT FOR HOLLYWOOD TO RELEASE SUCH A MOVIE?!!! DONT U THINK ITS RACIST THAT SUCH A MOVIE GETS RELEASED?!!!
Not without my daughter is my all time favorite book! I read it 3 times . The bravery of this mother and this love she has for her daughter ! I just loved it❤
I remember this movie, I still have the video. I also remember how it made me feel afraid and how scared I was for them especially in their attempts to escape through Turkey. What a relief I felt for them when in the movie she turned the corner and saw the American flag looming up ahead, blowing in the breeze, only then did I realized I was holding my breath...such was the tension in the movie. Sally Fields was absolutely amazing in her role as Betty. Mahmoody!
Yes the book is better according to what i read but more brutal and with more beatings too. I dont know if i could read it. From a moral and psychological point of view ..it would upset me but i Want to buy Mathobs book " My name is mathob.
And I will never date or marry another American again. My white American born ex-husband abused me verbally, sexually and mentally for over 12 years. Including beating me while pregnant with our son and raping me 2 weeks post partem causing so much damage I will never be able to have any more children. Before I met that ex, I was briefly engaged to a man that my family pushed me to marry when I broke off that engagement, he beat me so badly, my jaw was wired shut for a month because he broke it. I am only half American, my mother is American, my dad was Irish. I find American men to be toxic barbaric rapist and women beaters. I have nothing good to say about my mother or my American relatives.
My Muslim Indian dad married my Catholic Latina mom...they've been married for 55 years and have both participated thoroughly in each other's cultures and family lives. Not everyone is a psycho nutjob.
Aimee Ward if there are same religious beliefs, it makes a tremendous difference. If the spouse and their ideas aren’t psycho, it can be a beautiful thing to immerse children in different cultures of their parents
It is difficult to watch, one could almost feel the wounds of her trauma still very fresh. It strikes me that she said that even the steps of her father changed. That denotes to dark depth of her pain trauma. Held my tears the entire time.
I watched the movie back in Iran around 21 years ago when the real father was there inside the theater watching this movie with students in the university telling them the lies and errors that were in each scene. From what I can still remember he was very kind longing to see his daughter again. Well, that's Hollywood's job to direct people's minds and perceptions to what they want. We saw this trend before in movies like 300 or Argo in which they wrote history and politics again.
@@MichiganHoney there is a documentary on youtube in 6 parts called "Without my daughter", nobody knows what exactly happen except two people as we know the memory of Children can be easily shaped.
Hollywood movies will always have some misrepresentation. However, once you beat your wife, you've lost any sympathy you might otherwise get from me. And I trust the daughter on that -- she was old enough to not misremember that. The father was also despicable for tricking the family into going to Iran, and then forcing the mother to choose between her daughter and her homeland. These basic facts put the father very clearly in the villain category, in my mind. There is no justification. That said, villains are not black and white, and I'm sure there are some good things about the father. It is clear he did once show love to his family, and I'm sure his heart genuinely broke not getting to see his daughter again. But it's also clear that he earned that punishment. The big picture in all this is that it is foolish to marry someone from a culture that is very different than your own. Both parents made that mistake.
It is Good to have a look at Mr. Mahmoody narration as well: Background: He had lived in the US for more than 25 years. He was a professor of medicine and has served to american for a long time. He married with Betty in 1977. I guess this was not her first marriage and Mahtob was not her first child, I am not sure about this. As an anesthesiologist, Mr. Mahmoody along with his family went to Iran in 1984 to help injured people during Iran-Iraq war for a while. He felt this is a responsibility toward his motherland. He has emphasized, he had never said to his wife that this is a two-week vacation and it was obviously expected to stay in Iran for a longer time. Also, he stated that he never wanted to stay in Iran permanently. That is why he left his property in the US and he didn't sell anything because simply his aim was to return to the US by the end of the war which seemed very eminent at 1984-86. Betty escape: Betty along with their daughter escaped from Iran but not through the mountains but simply by using a fake passport she received. The end: Although he was an american citizen, he deprived of returning to the USA. He has been threaten to be arrested if he decides to enter the US. Betty got the custody and also his property and. Mr. Mahmoody lost his property while the judge didn't know about the existence of such a property. He didn't receive any invitation from the court. BTW, Betty became rich by selling her book of exagerrated/fabricated/one sided/ black and white story. Mr. Mahmoody went to a neutral country, Finland, and invited Mahtob to visit him. But, she refused to go to Helsinkey to visit her father. My note: I would say Mahmoody misused the law where worked for him in Iran and he didn't consider the other side interest. I guess he really want to return to US but not at the time that Betty wanted. The trust between couple spoiled and leaded to separation. But, Betty have done the same. In the US, she made herself a heroine and deprived mahmoody from the right of visiting his daughter and also Mahtob of having a father that was not the best but of course not a bad father. Also, Betty possessed all of his property unfairly. To me, this was the Kramer against Kramer story. But, one side took the oppurtunity and narrated a one-sided story to earn money from this story. I am not 100% sure about my note but I am 100% sure that is not fair to ignor one side of any conflict. 99% of People are not perfectly good or bad. We are gray. Neither purely white nor purely black. Sometimes good and sometimes bad.
@Mohammad Dehghani; Do you honestly believe that Mr. Mahmoody would EVER admit to the public to have been a wife beater and a violent husband????...It is very nice of you to give him the benefit of the doubt, but I am pretty sure that Betty didn´t make it all up, especially since Mahtob and others REMEMBER how Betty was beaten, and the murder threats as well! Have you EVER seen a case, where somebody admitted to having beaten his family???...They ALWAYS come up with interesting excuses for themselves, even after they kill their wives!
To killing lamp it's not a huge honor in Persian culture definitely! It is an Islamic honor better to say! When you say Persian is completely a different thing from Iran with this Islamic regime at the moment. Persian culture is a very free culture with a huge history. Some people need to educate more!
Pasha Ozlati I agree. My sister's best friend is Persian. She is such a wonderful lady. She and I became friends when she and I had children at the same time. My children go to a school that has many children from various cultures and it was engineered that way. A few weeks ago we had a heritage festival celebrating everyone's cultures.
her mother said she did not want to go there, but decided to go. and how my goodness how right she was. if american women think it is bad here in america they need to go try out iran. lol
FYI, sacrificial rituals are universal and they have nothing to do with the Persian culture. You can even find them all over the Bible too! Besides, at least they’re more honest about the things they eat. Just imagine the process you got your last steak. It’s just that the cruelty is hidden from us.
I did watch the six pack story about Her dad sides of things. Very sad that you will not admit the truth. Bless you and your mother and may you have a truly happy life with the Lord amen
She is so pretty and calm. God is within her working. Did his wife know that he was planning this it seems from the changes in his country, his outlook on America and women’s rights and freedoms in this country. Did he feel that women in this country kept him from his goals??
Amazing my life was indifference than hers. My horrible hate crimes experience abuse came from inside the USA by racist. However my Professor brought her Mum to meet me at NSU during her book appearance. Stress does play apart in suffering of these marriages to the children caused by outside influences which are related to Political propaganda by certain organizations. Sadly, some men everywhere do beat women one reason why we have shelters in USA for abused women and children. Best wishes to them anyway I understand.
My question is just this. How can someone who has such a sense of responsibility, who is concerned about the war wounded of his country, and leaves the comfortable life in America, and returns to the invaded country. To help his people. How can this person be irresponsible in front of his wife and child. Just give a one percent chance that this mother is lying and filled her daughter's mind with so much hatred towards her father that she didn't even listen to her father.
She says here that she witnessed him beating her mother. My dad was the nicest guy outside our home. Friendly, laid back, charming and helpful. He had a violent temper at home. Even his brother was shocked to learn what was happening when my mom called him for help.
She knew what he was capable of and didn't want anything to do with him. She hated him for making her and her mother risk their lives to get to freedom.
I've wondered that too. After they returned, Betty could've changed both their names. I would've just went back to Betty's maiden name. She said something about not being able to change her name, but I can't imagine why not.
Mahtob sais.."It´s a tragedy for him!..."...(that he died and never got his daughter back..).No, I disagree; if he HAD found them and HAD taken her back by force and killed his ex-wife, Mrs. Betty Mahmoudy, his daughter would now NOT have forgiven him, and would be furious with him and he would have ended up in jail for killing his ex-wife and all would have been wrong again! No, Mahtob, he was LUCKY that he died without finding you and without being able to take you back by force again! Very lucky!!
Read Not without my daughter 1992 after High School together with my friend and sister. One finish one chapter and pass on to another and on and on until we all finished it. We later watched the movie but it was not as good as the book.
If father wanted to stay in Iran forever then why he didn't sell his properties in the US before "kidnapping" them? The same property Betty took from him after getting divorce without him being present.
Oh I hope that it's true, that Betty was able to sell his property and keep the money for it!!!!! Him not claiming for it shows he had enough money, didn't need it. OR, he was planning to come back to America on his own with a new woman...
Exactly we are not Islam people. We are persian this man was monster but we are not like this family, she was very unlucky to married who was from some where of iran like village.
@@avatara9862 Don't worry, I cannot imagine a thounsand and thounsand big civilisation before muslum invasion to be so bad. It is a nazism-muslum thing. I had just read the book and funny when she say good american cooking. In France, I think we shoold appreciate persian restorant more than mac donald. I don't belive so dirty houses. Cleen is very important and in religion. Persian have big ancien civilisation as greek, egyptian ...
i am really puzzled - why do they keep their Muslim surname? Are they Muslims then? at last the mother should have changed her surname?? Why Keep it?? It does not make sense.....
@@RSY873 Thanks Anna - i was more questioning why the Mother kept the Iranian Surname - especially as she ha No obligation to do so - and she is no longer married to the guy.... For the Daughter i can appreciate and understand it - but for the Mother?? Why keep the Iranian surname?? It does not make sense to me....especially after what they went through.......
@@Swampzoid Ahhhh...that would explain it.... how silly!! After such an Ordeal, i would have thought the Mother at least would have wanted to Erase anything that had to do with that experience! It really does not make sense to keep somebody else's surname when you are not even married to them!!! Thank You for the explanation - that's it - Still NOT right though! For that alone, i would not buy her book.....
I wanted to change back to my maiden name after my divorce, but my daughter would have the last name of her father. My attorney advised me to keep my married name for continuity.
@@RennieEllen Hi RennieEllen, ahhh - i understand - but still.....in her case, after SUCH An Ordeal!!! The last thing i would want is to keep the Surname!!! I understand it for the daughter - it's her father - but the wife?? Still does not make sense.....does one still want to be reminded of all those bad situations/days/months/years?? it's like there is NO closure....you are still connected....that's my feeling.....
COULD ANYONE EXPLAIN WHAT THE BIBLE MEANS WHEN IT SAYS. NOT TO BE UNEVENLY YOKED TOGETHER WITH THE UNBELIEVER...WHAT DOES THAT PETICULR SCRIPTURE MEAN..?
Not sure if you got this answered but to be unequally yoked with unbeliever means being with someone who doesn’t share the same beliefs (this could friend or romantic partner). In biblical case being with someone who doesn’t believe in God or honestly two people who DO believe in God can still be unequally yoked. Example a couple gets married one has a lifestyle of intentional service to God ie fast pray read the Bible etc. Their mate just says they believe in God and worships sometime. They both believe but are unequally yoked and this can cause issues. The couple in this movie are unequally yoked! In a major way. But believers can be as well. Hope this helps!
Just saw the movie recently and while this is just a detail, i would like to point out that america is the biggest consumer of meat and slaughter houses and videos of how the killing is doneis unbearable. So to point out and be shoked by the lamb killing in the movie is so hypocrit.
EmeraldCity She's still half Iranian and has no reason to be ashamed of that. Why should she deny that part of herself? Her name has nothing to do with what happened. Her father was a creep but he doesn't represent every Iranian person alive. She had a traumatic experience but that shouldn't mean she should pretend she isn't Iranian.
Betty originally wanted her daughter’s 1st name 2 b Maryam but Moody signed the birth certificate & wrote down her name Mahtob Maryam Mahmoody without even ASKING her 😤
@@AnitaD28 not crazy at all...The Bible tells christians NOT to marry outside the faith so if she married a muslim when she was a christian then she brought this all on her own head. If she became a christian after this happened then she would recognize that error when she read the directive in the Bible.
Lauren - we all bring problems on by ourselves .. we are also told not to judge anyone and yet you are and judging others is also a sin. And, Christians are told to love one another not judge them that’s Gods job.
@@AnitaD28 so then dont judge me and call me crazy eh! surely she had parents n friends who told her not to get involved with a muslim man; and her dangerously overforgiving nature surfaces when she makes statements like she was the one who instigated her husband beating her etc.
@@Lauren-vd4qe for sure she had people warning her, but she probably didn't listen or didn't believe anything bad would happen to her...I've been in her shoes, divorced my muslim husband ASAP when he showed his true colours. He was so fun, kind, believable as long as I was his girlfriend, then when I became his wife I became his property, his trash, his cleaner...while he started dating other girls!! After one year I filed for divorce and when I was finally free I was sooo relieved, so happy, relaxed but also terribly shameful of having been married to a muslim, it's my dirty secret now for the rest of my life.
Although, I wouldn’t have married Muslim in the first place I would have certainly denounced the culture in every form after enduring this! Mahtob would have been Mary!
@@martyminer828 She did get a fake name, it´s been a long time since I read the book and I don´t remember it any more, but when she had to go to school she was given a new name.
Her mother married outside of her culture and her religion. He was an M.D. in the U.S. - high status. Her mother AGREED to go to Iran - an incredibly dangerous place to go. Why is all this ignored in favor of the victim/hero narrative? I’ve read Not Without My Daughter and watched the movie many times. I’m an American Christian. And WHY didn’t she mention her father’s documentary “Without My Daughter” which can be viewed on RU-vid? I will not be buying or reading her book.
You should listen to Betty’s interview on RU-vid where she explains why she went to Iran. She didn’t want to go at all and divorcing her husband was the only option and she even talked to a lawyer. But they had a happy marriage, or so she thought, and hence opted to go to make her husband happy.
I am not quite sure if she really forgave her father. She claims that long before her father died she had forgiven him. If that were true, she would have picked up the phone and called her father on the phone who had been waiting for so long to hear his daughter’s voice again. She claims to be a devoted Christian, yet doesn’t seem to know the meaning of the fifth commandment says.
@@chatonmignon8724Amen to that..she went through enough trauma to hear her father on the Phone.. its not an obligation to see again the person who Hurt you NO forgiving means going on and trying to be happy ,not necessarily having contact ..definitely not.
On film when I watch some thing wrong they show us they are strictly Muslims but on this show with Mahtab I saw grandma’s doesn’t have scarfed please don’t give false information people not stupid yes Iranian man strict but not that much you show us there is something but not all stories true
@roya hadi; Don´t worry, just as not all americans are the same we also don´t expect all iranians to be the same. People are people, and they are all different from one another, no matter where they are.
That’s all you managed to take from her and her mother’s experience? They could of taken this as a chance to do what you said but they have said before this is not to paint Iranians as bad the girl even says she’s proud to be half Iranian
I am sure this was a very narcissistic family and the husband was a soulless empty vessel who can only exist when they mirroring their surroundings. (They don't have an individual personality of their own.) While he was with Betty he was a loving husband (mirroring her personality) but when he got back with the family he mirrored THEIR behaviours which was extremely controlling/abusive/narcissistic. I know this type from personal experience. My most respected friend of 50 years turned against me and backstabed me when she got together with my narcissistic family. Theese people are soulless puppets. Narcissistic families and empty shell people exist everywere in every culture....
I've watched her fathers side of the story and I have to say that I really really wonder if she and her mother are presenting things as they actually were. INSTEAD of making a judgement about the man without even hearing his side of the story is UNFAIR. I believe she could have reached out to her father at some point before he died. Please watch "without my daughter" and hear him out. These two women have definitely gotten their share of adulation and fame, Meanwhile her father died and she NEVER even reached out to him. Yet she says she "forgave" him.
I watched both and in my honest opinion both Moody and Betty are both liars. Betty most probably exaggerated the story for sympathy and fame. I say this because it seems like she already went to Iran with a mindset and she probably wasn't enjoying being there and MAYBE, just MAYBE Moody had asked her to stay TRY to see if she could live there, since he could find work there and would like his family by his side …but understandably if she was already there with a mindset and didn't like the culture, she probably rebelled and the more rebellious she got, the more distant they grew and the more he became different towards her. Since she rebelled so much he probably became more bitter towards Betty and also started to do everything he could to at the very least keep his daughter by his side, in the same way she did to keep her by her side. Judging by his documentary, he seems like the type who probably approached it the wrong way and regrets it as he seemed to dismiss the thought of Betty but clearly wanted to make amends with his daughter. His bitterness towards Betty is clear in the documentary and to me it looks like the only regret he has, is losing his daughter, not marriage, he didn't even seem to care about his property etc. Despite the acts and exaggeration on both sides, Betty clearly had an aim of getting fame/attention and money from this story and if Moody wanted to see his daughter that badly, he could have put more effort earlier to try to see her ...heck, if Betty truly escaped through mountains, after the first day of her missing, Moody could have booked a flight back to the US and waited for them at home. Let's not forget, back in those days, the internet was not what it is today, nor was it easy to get hold of someone, so it was probably easier for him to travel back home and wait than to attempt to contact or find them nor was there a report about the situation yet and he still held the green card. As for Mothab, why would she wait so long to release her side of story, considering she brings nothing new to the table? It's quite simple, her mother's story died down and it was time to bring back the attention and spotlight to them while milking more money. The story was told once, why does it need to be told again? Especially when she literally just echoes her mom's book/movie word for word. If she's "strong" enough to write a book, she should be strong enough to at least have that one convo with her father and confront him about his mistake, now that she's a grown up. For someone who is able to laugh and write about their horrors like she does, she shouldn't have any issues picking up the phone or calling her father to confront him about what happened. Instead of gaining "truth" and closure and possibly mending ties through understanding, she chose to make money from that story instead. The way I see it, Mothab turned out to be an opportunist and just as deceptive as both her parents. Moody clearly loved Betty and vice versa, so for that love to suddenly turn into hate and revengeful relationship, both probably have their share of guilt. Even if he wanted to try making it work in Iran, he should have approached the situation in a better way and on the other hand, Betty being his loving wife and knowing he was fired from his job, she could have been a bit more understanding and tried to make it work. Unfortunately, no one ever knows what really happens between two people in a relationship except each other and it's very rare that either will ever tell the truth. Moody probably got what he deserved for dealing with things the wrong way, no matter how exaggerated the story/movie is, I'm sure there is some truth to it ...but Betty and Mothab keeping his last name, is a clear sign that they are only keeping it for public sympathy and to milk money off this story and making sure they keep his property and assets that were left behind in the U.S. Each one of them is shameful if you ask me. With all that I have said, I would like to close my opinion with a food for thought: If the story was the other way round and they were in the U.S., the story would have been more or less the same, only the "victim" would be the Moody but had he done what Betty did, that would be considered kidnapping, so essentially, he was screwed either way, and his only option was to live in the U.S. ...I'm not standing up for Moody (as I believe he could have clearly dealt with things differently) but is it normal that he should be forced to live in the U.S. in order to have his family by his side? Betty simply didn't give him an option, in the same way he didn't give her an option but should he have kidnapped his daughter and fled the U.S., he surely wouldn't be seen as a hero nor under the same spotlight Betty has enjoyed. It is an unfortunate double-standard and I truly hope anyone who faces similar situations, resorts to communication and common sense before acting harshly out of selfishness
DreamzSolution You are totally sick. Your entire rationale is disgusting...I’m willing to bet you’re a male and have been abusive more than once in life. My stomach churned reading your ridiculous conclusion to this story. I wish I could drop you off in Syria.
You can forgive someone at a distance. Perhaps if her father hadn’t betrayed her trust she would have reached out. After all, it was only supposed to be a 2 week vacation.
