The Attitudes of Egyptian
Movies vs. American Movies
Since I can watch only so many prime time television reruns and I could
not bring myself to watch "Eyes Wide Shut" with my eyes completely open, I
was definitely listless. To alleviate my boredom, I turned on my VCR to
watch an Egyptian movie. This has a very special meaning for me as an
Egyptian-native, even though at the same time millions of viewers in Egypt
regularly turn away from their dull Egyptian TV programs and movies in
order to watch American pop culture soap opera entertainment: Baywatch,
and J.R., and Sylvester Stallone action (silent) movies.
In this movie the lead role was played by Omar El Sheriff -- remember him?
He's the retired Egyptian international superstar who is now finally
making his original birthplace into a place of artistic rebirth.
The movie was discussing or trying to discuss life and the struggle
between good and evil, between older generations (Omar El Sheriff) and the
new Egyptian class of opportunists, the Egyptian baby boomers so to speak;
those who are transforming Egypt into a big western mega -mall with a mega
public parking lot called Cairo City.
While watching this Egyptian movie, my just-turned-eleven-year-old
daughter asked me why this man keeps on taking showers in the middle of
the night every time he visit his girlfriend's house.
As I struggled to think of a politically correct answer, I reflected on
the Egyptians' attitude toward sex as demonstrated in this movie. In
Egyptian movies you can hardly see mouths kissing let alone lovemaking
scenes. The moral inspector, who is, by the way, always female, enjoys
viewing these lust scenes by herself, then cuts them out of the movie,
leaving for the rest of us only the indicative aftermath scene, the shower
scene. This is taking place in a society where the heterosexual men were
just let out of the closet to express their sexuality in public.
In an American movie, especially the family ones, lovemaking scenes can be
cut off as well and instead we see the indicative aftermath seen, most
likely both parties involved are smoking cigarette, before cigars became
associated with such acts. And we know right away that what went on was
not a hot discussion of the national debt or surplus.
A lot of Egyptians and Arabs seem to think of lovemaking, even within
marriage, as something that brings guilt and dirt that should be washed
off immediately after the act by bathing. Here we have movie ratings like
PG and R. In Egypt the number of showers in a movie determines who should
be watching; more than 3 indicates an adult movie.
Lovemaking in many American movies, however, is depicted as self-indulging
-- a joyful self-expression on which we should reflect and not wash away
guilt.
After an American lovemaking scene you may find both women and men
reflecting on their feelings. However, in the Egyptian movie, only men
take credit for the sex act during the shower scene. Women disappear, we
just don't know where they go. Women do not indulge or reflect on their
feelings in an Egyptian movie. It is neither allowed nor is it important.
"In the Arabic movie women are not allowed, period."
In Egyptian movies, the attitude toward violence is fraught with guilt and
consequences as well. Violence and murders are depicted in these movies as
a cause of problems. The majority of violent movie stories deal with
consequences, the aftermath; the victim's family is shown dealing with the
funeral and their new horrible life without their loved one, while the
perpetrator is left in prison to deal with jail terms without…loved ones.
There is always a consequence after violence in Egyptian movies and
stories. You can't just kill people and get way with it, even if you are
Omar El Sheriff.
In the American movies, however, the attitude toward violence is a little
different: it is entertaining, it is glamorous, it is a solution to a
problem. You may see Clint Eastwood, Sylvester Stallone, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Chuck Norris or even John Travolta easily wipe out an
entire class of people with not a single funeral or trace of guilt to be
seen. Violence brings things to a close; it is part of a solution and not
a problem. I have often wondered why American movies seem to be much
shorter than the Egyptian counterparts. Who wants to face guilt and
consequence? It is only a movie - purely entertainment - and if you are
worried about sex and violence, wondering about all these lives that are
extinguished every day on the silver screen, then lighten up, will you?
Hollywood justifies this attitude by pointing out that millions of people
all over the world are endorsing such movies every day with their wallets.
As for what happened in the rest of the Egyptian movie, I don't want to
give it away. You may decide to race over to your local video store to
pick it up. may be it is called the Aragooze, the prepoteer.
(Ahmed - I don't understand the last line. Do you mean puppeteer? A guy
who does puppet shows?)
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