First off:
I woke this morning to one sarcastic, personal comment about how long the first post was.
I am not holding a gun to anyone's head. Don't read this if you don't really want to. I am not checking, nor will I tear up but if you choose to read, you don't get to criticize how long or short it is because YOU CHOSE. If after reading you think it's two or ten minutes of your life you will never get back, that's your fault, not mine. I take great pleasure in particular that the person who commented will come right back to this and roll their eyes...but still read:)
In the word of my first and most cherished mentor Pat Kelly: Onward!
I couldn't fall asleep till early this morning. So I am moving straight to thoughts for the 'night' (as I am still in pjs drinking Nescafe in bed looking for a place to live).
When new movies are being advertised for cinema release here, the commercials say that the movies will be in cinemas in the UAE, Jordan, Lebanon, and Egypt...talk about 'cross-country' promoting. It made me want to investigate just how many cinema distribution chains there are here, primarily because none offer Met Opera Live in HD and the thought of having to watch the operas on Metplayer from my computer is just not as appealing.
Also, only some things regarding movies are censored...for instance a review in Arabic of Puss in Boots, the newly released animated cartoon, is called Cat in Boots...but when trailers for the film are running, Puss himself says the correct title; yet curse words in movies shown on TV are never bleeped or tracked over with different less offensive words. ???
Meanwhile, Arab Idol and Arabs Got Talent...Unbelievable!!!! I have not yet watched these but they exist!
So I must question, why the need for a local version of Idol and Talent??? Why the need to censor some things but not others? Why not (delayed) live opera? Opera is traditional, educational and far less offensive than some of the movies and language I have encountered; and the Met Opera Live in HD is very Western and American as apple pie at this point in its evolution. Seems it would fit in well with things that are allowed to be shown here if we rate it against the standards already set for TV.
I am overwhelmed by what I see copied or presented on TV which is in stark contrast to what I have encountered as it relates to the tangible traditions/customs of the culture here. Where is the justification for allowing some things over others? How often do we as Americans, as Europeans, citizens of other less restricted cultures, do this same thing?
What's next?
2 comments:
you will see many programs being copied from the west,many oprah wana bes and even an arabic version of the view! sadly, they are not of the same quality and THIS is what they fail to achieve sometimes, the quality! which is the most important part of actually bringing something from the other part of the world to ours. Sigh, i dont know when will they learn.
I think perhaps you missed the point of my commenting on television offerings...the Arabic world is so rich with culture and traditions and yet it is not displayed on television...among other things, I develop arts and cultural initiatives and programs and I encourage cultures to embrace their heritage, not hide it away. Obviously they are copying what sells and has mass appeal...American Idol makes a lot of money and millions of Americans watch it but that doesn't necessarily make it good quality TV. Clever television shows like Lost, The West Wing, X-Files, Mash, All in the Family, Married with Children, The Simpsons...these programs were very American and expressed that so well, not just in their quality but in what stories they told. Where is the Arabic world really represented in its own unique way rather than in some version of ours or another countries'? I know that somewhere there are those here that want to tell the same kind of stories, about the Arabic human condition in their own unique way...but instead they have to cowtow to the money machine. I am not as concerned about the quality of what they copy...I am more interested in the content.
Post a Comment