Towelhead (2007)

Alan Ball, screenwriter of American Beauty (1999) and creator of the HBO series Six Feet Under, adapts a racially charged coming-of-age novel by Alicia Erian for the screen in Towelhead (2007). Set in 1991, during the first Gulf War, Towelhead chronicles Arab-American teen Jasira (Summer Bishi), who moves in with her ultra-strict Lebanese father in Texas. Amidst bigotry at school and misery at home, Jasira cultivates a sexual obsession with her middle-aged neighbor (Aaron Eckhart). Much goes awry throughout Jasira’s struggles, but many clothes come off the female cast members, making Towelhead a true feel-yourself-good film that will have you toweling off at least one of your heads upon repeated viewings.