Saturday, November 15, 2008

Racism in Egyptian Movies

Have you ever put someone on a pedestal and always thought so highly of them only to discover a heinous truth about them that renders you speechless? Well, what I am going to talk about today is sort of like that, but not really, because I’m not speechless. It is about Adel Emam and other actors, actresses, writers, and producers in the Egyptian film making industry who participate in unacceptable mockery of dark skinned people.


Growing up, Adel Emam to me was the funniest man alive. I am not much of a movie person, but if there is a Adel Emam movie, I will be the first to watch it. I am also not one to laugh out loud while watching TV (Southpark,Friends, and 30 Rock are exceptions to this rule), but his humor was impeccable and I loved most of his movies. I even made sure to get front row tickets to his play (masrahiya) "The Body Guard" when I visited to Egypt. It’s been a while since I’ve watched any of his movies, and there was one movie that I did not get to watch: Al Tajruba Al Denemarkiya (The Danish Experiment) so when I found it online the other day, I was excited. However, this time, I wasn’t laughing (okay maybe a little.) The particular scene that vexed me is where a blond lady arrives in Egypt and men start following her in droves (because you know, blond girls are the rarest, most prized species.) The men follow the lady all the way to Adel Emam’s home in the movie, so Adel’s character starts kicking them out. There were Egyptian men, Khaleeji men, and one really dark. Stereotyping you say? Wait till you hear what happens next. The dark man did not want to budge, as he was so stricken by the Danish Blonde’s beauty (because you know, you don’t get beauty like that with dark women.) Then the man offers 50 cows in exchange for the woman. Watch said scene here.

That is just one incident, but this treatment of dark people is not uncommon. Another movie I (unfortunately) watched recently was “Ali Spicy,” which is the Egyptian equivalent of Mariah Carey’s mess of a movie “Glitter.” In one scene, one of the characters is busted by his friend with a woman. The woman is black, and the main character (acted by Hakim) keeps making fun of the woman and says things like “Allah yesawed lailtik zay ma sawad wishik” (God darken your nights like he darkened your face.” Granted, the woman is a prostitute, but he does not treat her badly on that account, but because of the color of her skin. He makes several racist jokes and then yells and screams at his friend and says “dool mesh neswan, dol 7ayawanat.” (those are not women, they are animals.)

Adding insult to injury, there’s this song by Mohamed Henedy. In it he is dressed as a Sudanese man and sings to dark women saying: “esmaret, we etharaget bas batata” Now this is going to really be lost in translation but it literally means “she got darker, and tanner, and burnt like a potato.”

There are many more instances of racist treatment of darker people in Egyptian movies. Especially when it comes to dark women; they are often portrayed as inferior, and their beauty is shown as well below par in comparison to their “white” counterparts. Treating dark men as imbeciles and portraying dark women as inferior in terms of beauty is not acceptable comedy.While I really do hate the whole PC movement, I think pushing for more political correctness is a must in the Egyptian media.

12 comments:

mohamed dafalla said...

You absolutely right about that ,and in fact i saw this movie for the first time about two weeks ago with a bunch of my friends.I said the same thing you just said,and i'm a light skinned guy but these are my people and i have to comment on the unacceptable racism they get on egyptian movies, another thing that bugs me is when they potray every security guy "bawab" as a sudanese person even though a lot of sudanese in egypt are politicians,college students,and professionals but i guess ignorance plays its role here .

Optimist said...

Which movie were you watching? The Adel Emam one?

Yes, the "Bawab" stereotype is definitely another good example of the inexcusable lampooning of Blacks in Egyptian movies. The reoccurring role of the generic bawab "Osman" has always disgusted me.
I would not blame ignorance though, mostly because I do believe they know exactly what they are doing. Much like minstrel shows in America's 1840's, the racism is sadly not subtle. If we are going to play the finger pointing game, I would blame the lack of collective Sudanese uproar and objection over the issue. If nobody is systematically monitoring such travesty in the Egyptian media, they have no reason to stop.

Optimist said...

So I was oblivious to the fact that my settings dictated people to register before leaving comments. That is now disabled (phew.)

A few fantastic people at one of the facebook groups started a discussion about what I wrote, here's what they had to say:

Post #2
Mohamed Siddig wroteon November 14, 2008 at 1:14am
Great blog Optimist (or whatever your name may be), I applaud your courage to speak your mind and I wholeheartedly appreciate your commitment to thinking about what's good for yourself and the community at large. I particularly enjoyed the piece on religion and culture and I see myself returning regularly for your latest thoughts on life and of course our beloved Sudan :)

Feel free to share your views on this group especially if you're keen on hearing the opinions of people who might have the same purpose in mind but will not necessarily always agree with you.

Post #3
Saleh Eissa wroteon November 14, 2008 at 12:47pm
You write seamlessly and your views hit close to home.

If you allowed those who don't have google accounts to comment, you'd have more posted comments.

Keep blogging!

Post #4
Sally Tarig wrote20 hours ago
Reading through your blog was a delight .
loved your flow of thoughts, and your sense of humor is absolutely gripping .

for a newbie, you sure do rock ;)..keep them coming optimist!

Post #5
Ibrahim Elkhalifa wrote18 hours ago
Nubian/Sudanese portrayals in Egyptian[Arab generally] movies have always disgusted.
I don't know what's worse,wearing blackface or us not saying anything about it.
It's deeper than comedy, it shows a general disdain towards us.
And we pay to watch.
Love the blog.

Post #6
Saleh Eissa replied to your post17 hours ago
What do you mean you hate the p.c. movement and why?

Adel Imam is an unquestionable institution in Egypt.

He was even brought in a spokesman / mediator during the violent incidents at Mustafa Mahmoud where a large group of Darfuri / South Sudanese refugees staged a sit in in front of the UNHCR office!

The use of blackface is particularly outrageous.

Depictions like these quite simply 'do not' exist (to the best of my pretty good knowledge) in the cinema of Morocco, an Arab country that is internationally renowned for the excellence of its films.

Post #7
Amru Elfil wrote17 hours ago
Love the blog! Keep up the good work...
Like one of the above posters I advice you to enable comments for everyone and it would be much better if you buy a domain name and start usinig "WordPress" as a platform for blogging. All of this can easily be done through www.godaddy.com or any similar site. If u need any help drop me a message :)

Keep it up...


Post #8
1 reply
Sally Tarig wrote7 hours ago
until u do whatever it is Amru advised u to do up there i'll just post my comments here:

i think that using racisim in egyptian movies as comedic material is a new phenomenon that is becoming more and more obscene by the minute...im no egyptian movie historian but i dont remember the situation being any near to what it is now.
i dont know if it is drawing more " Arabic " audience or getting more laughs but i find it very strange to be happening at a time when the world is becoming a smaller place and the people more exposed to all different types of races and cultures.
and is it me or are they associating black women with prostitution a little bit too often?!?
i havent been to egypt for more than a decade, but i dont remember anyone being rude or saying anything racist to me...... is this how they actually see us black people, ugly and retarded? is their comedy reflecting how they really think? coz i have a feeling they're just copying this from their fellow gulf arabs.

Post #9
Saleh Eissa replied to Sally's post4 hours ago
New phenomenon?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!

Revisit Ismail Yaseen.
The stereotype was jungle themed back then.

As for the very few films coming out of the Gulf and the soaps, they tend to be more tragic than comic and blackface is only reserved for explicitly 'comedic' productions.
Besides my kudos go to the guy from Tash ma Tash whose studied depiction of the Sudanese man almost had me fooled!

Optimist said...

Here are my replies to the folks at facebook:

Mohamed Siddig- Thank you, Thank you sir, I appreciate the compliments. Please do return to my blog, as I do feel that I have a lot to discuss (key word here being discuss, I’d like to see some comments from you :)

Saleh Eissa- Thank you. I am glad you could relate to what I was trying to say. For a minute I thought I was a lone voice in this.

Sally Tarig- I’m glad you enjoyed reading through my blog. I have to say, I was initially hesitant because I didn’t know how the ideas in my head would sound to the outside world, but with promising Sudanese people like yourself, I am motivated :)

Ibrahim Elkhalifa- yes I think black face is the worst. In the US that is completely banned in all forms of media, yet, as exhibited in many Eyptian movies, blackface is still a form of comedy. Like you said, its sad that we pay to watch this bull.


Saleh Eissa- I hate the PC movement because I think sometimes trying to be politically correct could alienate people because they will feel like they are walking on eggshells all the time, and thus it will hinder the conversation, especially when people are discussing race or religion. PS I LOVE everything about Morocco/Moroccans.

Amru Elfil- Thanks! And I actually might have to take you up on your offer; I do believe I need help with the technical stuff, so we shall keep in touch about that :)

Saleh Eissa and Sally Tarig- Racism against blacks in Egyptian movies is as old as mankind (blatant hyperbole here, but you get the point.) I agree with Saleh, I do not think Gulfies are as active participants in this travesty as Egyptians are. Actually, many dark Gulf actors have made it big and have main roles, compared to virtually none in Egyptian movies.

Anonymous said...

First, i love the blog! I don't have th habit on commenting on things (openly) but this one was just right.
I have noticed the stereotype in the egyptian movies since ever. The bawab, the prostitute..etc. It was always annoying to me and was one of the reasons why i'm not in love with egyptians.
Sudanese though still give egyptians the chance to keep on this and do even more. Maybe they have not noticed the bad egyptian treatment to us, and maybe they noticed but prefer to ignore. I hate going to egypt for the treatment i get there, and i get amazed when i hear of the number of sudanese who actually love going their.
I went to egypt for 10 days 2 months ago. Believe me i was disgusted by the treatment i got there. Would you believe that the shopkeepers treated me like i was a begger?.. I won't even get into the words i heard in the streets. I had a friend with me and she is (halabya) way too white, and all the comments she got from them was that they never thought that Sudan had such beauty and white colour (those were the exact words that i heard when with her).
It's true that they show their racisim in public through their movies (to the sudanese and the aswan people, i.e., dark skins) But let's talk about the sudanese and how they live in egypt. Please don't get me wrong, but the sudanese act in egypt in a way that makes the egyptians blunt about their thoughts and treatment towards us. I have seen with my own eyes how sudanese girls are in egypt (so they get the roles of prostitues in the moveis). The low jobs the sudanese men accept in egypt (and all over the world) that they would not accept in their own country (by the way, the bawab in the egyptian movies is always a nobian from their side). The southerners in egypt act like gangsters, and i have seen them almost 6 years ago in a certain neighbourhood that they almost own (i forgot the its name.
Wallahi i'm not saying it's right that they show their stereotype in their moveies or that they should even have such rasicim going own (mind you in politics we are called "dwal ashigaa") but we kind of allow them to, give them a chance, and like one mentioned it pay to see their movies, go to their country, spend our money, ignore their humiliation and accept it (maybe show instant disagreement and that it). So why would they ever stop?..
Mr. Optimist, you are absolutely right, they should be stopped... but we should be fixed first!

Anonymous said...

Sorry, I just read that you are a female, Miss Optimist.
My bad!

Anonymous said...

Optimist:

I hate the PC movement because I think sometimes trying to be politically correct could alienate people because they will feel like they are walking on eggshells all the time, and thus it will hinder the conversation, especially when people are discussing race or religion.
___________________

Is your argument against political correctness compelling.

If some Sudanese from a poor socio-economic background, many of whom are traumatised and alienated in more ways than one act in a disgraceful way in Egypt, does that give the media a carte blanche to lampoon and stereotype them in a racist way?

I believe that political correctness is needed to rectify society.

I don't believe that there should be unfettered absolute freedom when it comes to expressing oneself in a way that offends public morality or the 'ideal, if not real' public conscience.
And you know what?
There this unfettered freedom 'does not' exist anywhere, even in 1st amendement US or gleefully free, post-modern, atheistically-secular Europe.
My evidence is that anyone who vocalises support of 9/11 terror (which is I add, abhorrent) could be taken away and locked up 'before' any charges are pressed. Also, try challenging or disbelieving the holocaust in certain EU countries...

I believe we need political correctness.

Non-acceptance of the use of the 'n- word' by non-blacks in the US media is an example of political correctness.

I think legislation should be pushed through in Sudan that outlaws use of the '3ein' word in 'our Sudan'.
That would be a politically correct move, but it would also send a message to society that this type of behaviour is not acceptable.

I think that a balance should be struck.
I think that I would be against subject matter being 'taboo' but not against political correctness in moderating the form but not subject-matter of the dialectic.

*****

As for Egyptian attitudes to blacks they are in many cases regrettable and inconsistent with the messages that are drummed out by the State dominated informative media.

Case in point, the attitudes of people towards the 'bllllllack' refugees who were sitting in in the Mustafa Mahmoud garden in Muhandiseen a couple of years back.

People in the area were openly saying that these were disease-ridden savage drunkard vermin who were defecating and copulating in public and who deserved to be dealt with.

They were an eye-sore.

The spokesperson of the UNHCR office was Egyptian which is very strange for a UN agency.

*Adel Imam* was brought in a *mediator*!!!

The police were dispatched at New Year's Eve and violence was used and refugee lives were lost and the rest is history.

That having been said, there are serious problems regarding southern Sudanese gang members in Cairo - but race and identity are 'taboo' topics in the Egyptian public discourse, Egypt being highly centralised - culturally and politically for millennia - unlike Sudan.

As Mohamed said those of us who are aware should speak out against the portrayal of blacks and Sudanese people in Egyptian media.

I was in Egypt 3 years ago and I wasn't treated badly because 1) I wasn't very open or talkative, 2) I was being chaperoned by my good Egyptian sa3eedy friend (sa3eedis getting more than their unfair share of unjustified lampooning) and 3) they thought I was from the Gulf not Sudanese.

Why do a lot of Sudanese people love Egypt?
Not all of them accept or realise racism 'against them' when they see it - i.e. they are in denial and therefore tolerate it.
I think we 'northern Sudanese' are racist ourselves 'overall' so we try and associate with anything that is more fair, more 'Arab'.
We're house n******s and Uncle Tom's when it comes to Egypt and the Levantine.
Read some of the editorials and commentaries in Arayalaam and their defence of 'Arabism' and 'chivalrous Egypt' *yawn*.

Personally I think people from the Levantine are more racist than Egyptians. And I find it so yawn inducing when some of them condescendingly ask me about Sudan. Language and in some cases relgion apart, I don't think there's a lot in common between 'us' and 'them'.

Also read how denigrating "everything" written on Sudan by the Saudi Editor-in-Chief of Asharqalawsat is.
It is scandalous.

Yes the Gulf is quite multi-racial amongst 'nationals' but they still have their racist tendencies - blacks are called khuwal and ethnic Persians 3ajam etc...
And the stereotypes that the public psyche in the Gulf attaches to ethnicity and nationality are plain BACKWARD!

Now having cast stones aplenty I think we have a lot of soul-searching to do ourselves.

Fairness of the complexion = beauty in 'our' public standards.

We tend to look up to and big up our 'Arab' neighbours as opposed to our 'African' ones:
How is Egypt part of 'our' Nile Valley whilst Ethiopia isn't where we have more Nilotic shared river basins with Ethiopia than Egypt and they eat pungeant food with their hands like us and are brown like us and some have facial scarring / tattoos like us and can dance like us....?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?

Optimist said...

I agree with your argument, but that was also my point when I said in the original blog post that normally I do not support PC movements, but in this situation I strongly advocate it. In a separate conversation in a facebook group someone (are you that someone?) asked me why I was against PC. Generally speaking (not in this situation at all) I am against it. Like I said, I do believe political correctness has gotten a bit out of hand now. Banning pejorative terms like the N word, extreme racial profanity, or blackface is the correct use of political correctness. However, people who advocate PC get too caught up in it and they eventually make themselves and everyone else uncomfortable about discussing issues like race for example. It is sort of a side effect of PC. That is why I do not like too much of it.

My stance on political correctness comes from the fact that I welcome controversy and open and sincere exchange of touchy subjects. People who worry too much about being politically correct never discuss the elephant in the room, where as if they weren’t scared about how they say things, everyone will discuss everything and walk away feeling more comfortable. So yea, generally speaking I do not like the overuse of PC. In this situation , it is a must, and that was the purpose of writing about the subject matter.

Anonymous said...

Yes I was the one who asked about your view on pc & thanks for the clarification.

Optimist said...

Hmmm I don't know if I agree with you about the Levantine countries being more racist. There are two reasons for that. The first being that we are geographically distant, and they are not as exposed to darker skinned people as Egyptians. It is only natural for them to ask questions. Condescending or not, their ignorance is just a tad bit more justified than Egyptians. The other reason is from personal experience. I went to a Lebanese school and mostly had Lebanese/Palestinian friends growing up. My two closest friends are from the area. I have not ever heard any racist things from them (my friends, and other people for the region.) So from personal experience, I would say that they are less racist.

Also, in their media, there is not one incident (at least none that I know of) that has racist undertones. On the contrary, Future TV (a Lebanese channel) had a black host of one of their programs. Her father was Lebanese and her mother was from Côte d'Ivoire. Also, I noticed that they have no problem going tanning, and actually appreciate darker skin in many instances. You might argue that this is a generalization, but at the end of the day we could only be so specific. Generally speaking, I do not think they place so much emphasis on skin color as Egyptians do. And that is evident in their media.


Anonymous- (the one who thought I was a guy :P )
I am really sorry about your negative experience in Egypt. I honestly do not have much exposure to Egyptian people; most of my observation was through their cinematic portrayal and minor observation of Egyptian acquaintances. I did however stumble upon a video last week, which was in part what prompted me to write about this topic. Watch the video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Coo2Yxi7xAo
Also, I recently read that Hosni Mubarak met with Salva Kiir and promised to build a branch of Alexandria University in Juba-- I have to admit that I am rather suspicious of his motivation to do so.

Either way, I think the problem is not with the people of Egypt, or any other country. The problem lies in the laws and regulations in the Egyptian media that do not monitor such racism and discriminatory behavior towards darker people (Sudanese, Nubian, and Africans alike.)

This has got to change. And it is the responsibility of the Sudanese people to voice their objections and make sure that Egyptian movies are clear of such disgusting racism.

PS I am assuming you are a female?

Anonymous said...

optimist

Interesting...

Well Lebanese communities are found en masse all over western and central Africa and some of the men take African wives for example in Ghana but it's never the other way round and a Ghanaian friend of mine said that he thought that was a racist double standard.

On the other hand as a gross generalization Egyptian women are probably more open to marrying sub-Saharan Africans who are high up on the social ladder than Sudanese women. I know at least two.

Palestinians call blacks '3abeed' in their vernacular.
And they have a small black community who are the descendants of actual '3abeed' - hence the generic name.
They have their own neighbourhoods called ......... 7ay al3abeed.
Palestine's mid-distance Olympic runner is one of them.
How many Palestinians do you know of who are married to Africans?

I think Lebanese society is a very open one that sees no problem in thrashing out its problems...in a debate or discussion.

I remember many years back a discussion on a program on LBC about racism and one of the key guests was the daughter of Jean-Bedel Bokassa - the former leader of the Central African Republic. Her mother was Lebanese.
She complained that she had yet to receive Lebanese citizenship, although she was entitled to it and that people, even those in close proximity with her on a daily basis, sometimes stared at her as if she was some kind of strange exhibit.
She said that in a public swimming pool, a Lebanese lady who brought her adopted African child to swim was turned back for fear that 'the water would turn black'.
But kudos to them for at least speaking about the problem.

As for Egypt's interest in South Sudan it is purely water based. South Sudan is the only part of the Nile Basin where water can be added to the Nile, which would benefit Egypt. If only the southern Sudanese would agree...

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