Norma Khouri is the author of Forbidden Love which supposedly describes the true story of a young Jordanian Muslim woman, Dalia, who was murdered by her family for falling in love with a Christian man.
True. That is the gist of the book. But actually this is not really an accurate description of the factual events.
Some Jordanian women activists challenged the story and the events described in the book. Also, an Australian journalist exposed the book as a fake. He revealed that Norma Khouri Baqain Touliopoulos was actually not living in Jordan during 1993-1995 (the timeframe of Forbidden Love), but was living in Chicago with her husband, John Toliopoulos, and her two children. She moved to America when she was a little girl.
True. That happened in real life. But again this is not exactly only the case.
Australian director Anna Broinowski tried to shed light in a 100-minute documentary on Norma Baqain Touliopoulos, an American woman of Jordanian origin whose bestselling book turned out to be a fake — despite constant denials by the author.
Norma has no friend named Dalia who was murdered by her family, under what is known as "crime of honour". Norma was also under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) over allegations of fraud amounting to $1 million.
True. But this is not the whole story.
Who was murdered, why, when and how? Was there really an actual murder and a victim in Jordan in circumstances similar to the one Norma spoke of? Who really is Norma? In which part of the documentary is she speaking the truth? And in which is she not?
Throughout the well-produced documentary titled Forbidden Lie$, each piece of information that is given or said ends up uncovering several other questions. The book itself proved to be riddled with errors. Yet the well-produced documentary left viewers confused about its protagonist, Norma.
The documentary, which focuses on Norma, her book, lies, honesty and different reactions to her work, won two awards in 2007 and 2008.
The first award was the Australian Film Critics Association Award in the first year, and the second was for a long film at the fourth annual Al Jazeera Documentary Festival.
Runaway success
The beginning of the whole series of events goes back to 2003, when Norma's book, Forbidden Love, became a runaway success in a short period of time and was translated into several languages soon after it hit the bookstores.
It was at a time when everything Middle Eastern seemed to attract the attention of the whole world, apparently because of the 2003 invasion of Iraq and the consequences of the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
However, the book, which claimed to be telling the story of the murder of Norma's childhood friend, Dalia, by her family, because she fell in love with a Christian man, was challenged by some women activists in Jordan.
Norma moved to Australia out of fear for her life, she claimed. She also says in the film that she received support from women activists all over the globe.
However, prominent Jordanian women activists, including Amal Sabbagh and well-known journalist Rana Hussaini who extensively covers "honour crimes" in Jordan, continued challenging the details of the book and its credibility. Shortly afterwards, Sydney Morning Herald journalist Malcolm Knox revealed that the book was a fabrication.
Publishing houses checked with Norma and some suggested issuing an adjustment statement to reflect that some of the events were added out of supposition. But none of the suggestions reached anywhere as Norma stuck to her previous stand that the book was based on a true story.
Then an Australian documentary filmmaker, Anna Broinowski, stepped in. "Controversial characters" are attractive figures to both her and viewers, Broinowski said.
From a cinema perspective, the story of Norma Khouri Baqain Touliopoulos — like the story of Frank Abagnale Jr, who succeeded, before he was 19, in conning millions of dollars worth of cheques as a Pan Am pilot, a medical doctor and a legal prosecutor — could attract many viewers.
Broinowski and Norma could be another Steven Spielberg and Leonardo DiCaprio in Catch Me If You Can, which tells Abagnale's story.
The Australian filmmaker decided to give Norma the benefit of the doubt. In a logical order, she explores the events leading to Knox's conclusion.
The two women even travelled to Amman, Jordan, to seek answers to the mysterious crime that constituted the backbone of the book.
While Norma kept insisting that her story was true, other figures challenged every detail in the documentary. The beauty salon, where Norma claimed Dalia and her boyfriend met, the currency used then, the psychologists and women activists — all challenged Norma's story. Other geographic details proved to be wrong.
Norma's claim of women being required to wear the hijab and be escorted by male relatives when they were outside their homes was in contrast to women seen walking around, without hijabs and unescorted.
Nobody on the street where Dalia was murdered remembered the occurrence of such a crime. Even official records of the forensic medicine didn't match Norma's details. Different individuals were often shown watching each other, talking about them.
The story of the book itself, meanwhile, spreads out in the documentary. Other characters appear.
Among them, an Australian neighbour who took care of Norma's two children and was left financially broke; a Greek husband and his mother who, Norma accused, forced her to commit a fraud (an accusation the husband denies); a Jordanian father who said he believed everything his daughter said; a forensic expert who was left uncertain after putting Norma through a lie detector; and an American lawyer who questioned how Norma was allowed to leave the country freely despite being on trial in a legal case.
Norma was under investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation for fleecing her elderly neighbour by forging her signature on some property documents. Norma allegedly robbed the 89-year-old widow suffering from Alzheimer's of her savings.
Surprisingly, towards the end of the documentary, Norma started talking about being abused by her husband and father. She continues insisting that the her book is based on a real story, but she had to change some of the facts, including names, dates and details of the murder.
The end of Forbidden Lie$ is as murky as the beginning — a complete puzzle with an open end. But one of the confirmed facts related to the story is that Broinowski has shown great skill in portraying a real-life mystery.
The documentary, which was shown on MBC recently, revived the debate the book had raised several years ago, but this time mainly among viewers in the Middle East.
Several blogs and websites carried myriad comments on the book itself and Norma's character — a character shrouded in ambiguity.
