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Release Date: 2002-10-08, Rating: Unrated

Economic in presentation but rich with intellectual and cultural dividends, this episode of Frontline makes Western understanding of the varieties of Islamic culture relatively easy. Essentially, Muslims maintains that the Muslim or Muslim-influenced societies of Egypt, Iran, Malaysia, Turkey, etc., are no more uniform than the modern societies of the U.S., Spain, Poland, and Belgium--thus rendering generalizations moot. What is true, as we find in this program, is that Muslims everywhere face incompatibilities between Islamic principles and modernism. Muslims focuses on the degree of those incompatibilities, and what different nations in the Arab world and Asia are doing about it. Typically, Frontline's investigation is more street-level than abstract. We meet sundry sheiks and ayatollahs providing Koran-derived counsel and legal opinion for ordinary people, but we also meet Muslim men and women embracing both tradition and, say, Western tourism or professions for women. A fascinating and vital documentary promoting cultural understanding. --Tom Keogh

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Teenagers today have more money and independence than ever before. Their lives have become the object of obsessive focus by corporate America. Their tastes, attitudes and aspirations are sampled and resampled by marketers wielding the latest scientific tools to determine exactly who they are and what they want. From this surging stream of data, the dream-weavers of Hollywood and Madison Avenue tell a version of teenage life in movies, television, music and advertising that is meant to appeal to their deepest sensibilities. FRONTLINE explores the culture in which today's American teenager is growing up and how they've come to view themselves and their parents. Teachers are advised to preview the film prior to showing it to students as it includes some adult language and sexual content.

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CHINA IN THE RED chronicles three pivotal years of evolution from Communist society to market economy. For half a century, millions of Chinese labored in state factories with cradle-to-grave job security. But reforms bringing prosperity and world-power status now threaten the livelihood of many Chinese. FRONTLINE follows 10 Chinese citizens caught up in social and economic transformation, struggling to survive in a world they never imagined.