Mythologising Benazir

The new documentary Bhutto appears to be more a gift to those enamoured by Benazir Bhutto and the myth surrounding her, rather than a search for some semblance of truth. The documentary picks up on the Benazir-glorifying strands that have been circulating for decades, and weaves these into a tapestry that is biased in favour of the political and personal choices of Benazir Bhutto. There is a vast difference between the manner in which an icon such as Benazir is perceived in the West, particularly the US, and how she is seen in Pakistan. In Bhutto, the first visual account of Benazir's entire life, we are privy to a tale that glamorises her elite background; this could indicate that the film is targeted at a US audience, which tends to be more welcoming of romanticised stories of public figures, having had practice with the Kennedys. For the majority of Pakistan, however, the privileged life of the Bhuttos only serves to emphasise the gulf between elites like them and the rest of the country.

In the beginning of Bhutto, the viewer is introduced as a naive young girl attending Harvard, then going on to Oxford and holidaying in the south of France. It makes absurd and incongruous the comment, 'It is because of their sweat that you will be educated,' made by Benazir's father, Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, and quoted by her in the documentary, as he refers to workers toiling in a field. From such origins, it does not seem possible that Benazir could truly understand the plight of the people of Pakistan. Her close friends reveal trifling things about her such as, 'She loved having fun,' or that she once sent out a party invitation with the words 'Darling what would the party be without you' inscribed in gold. Such a depiction does not stray much from previous ones constructed by Benazir herself, such as in her autobiography, Daughter of the East.