It's successful, middle-class Arab men and women, professionals with seemingly happy family lives, who are prepared to go to paradise for a greater cause. That's terrifying.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
I have read descriptions of Paradise that would make any sensible person stop wanting to go there.
I miss aspects of being in the Arab world - the language - and there is a tranquility in these cities with great rivers. Whether it's Cairo or Baghdad, you sit there and you think, 'This river has flown here for thousands of years.' There are magical moments in these places.
Like everywhere in the world, people of the Middle East aspire to liberty and justice. They wish to have a better life and a decent education for their children.
Countries with lots of unmarried young men are the most vulnerable to sudden upheavals - this is what fueled the Arab Spring.
Lest Arab governments be tempted out of sheer routine to rush into impulsive rejection, let me suggest that tragedy is not what men suffer but what they miss.
All I wanted with that film was to represent the possibility that there might be normal people who are Muslim or Arab with the same fears, responsibilities, hopes.
Don't forget we are in a state of war and no peace. But it's very dynamic and challenging compared to the rest of the Arab world.
It's a blessing to be paid to be in paradise. The Hawaiian people are so friendly.
Paradise is too perfect for humanity.
It is a curious thing... that every creed promises a paradise which will be absolutely uninhabitable for anyone of civilized taste.