Celluloid insanity
How is it that a film which depicts Saddam Hussein as the homosexual lover of Satan is allowed to be sold in the sandlands, yet there is a huge kerfuffle over the multi-Oscar-winning drama Brokeback Mountain?
And how is it that the film Syriana, which was substantially filmed in the UAE, is also facing the Big Black Texta? What is the logic in blocking the depiction of a fictional Arab emirate locally, while the rest of the world is free to see it and draw their own conclusions?
Let us imagine the next time Shakhbut Al Sandland (to create an equally fictional persona) takes a little trip to Uncle Samland, and gets chatting with the locals:
HANK McBURGER: So I saw Syriana, gee, are all your ay-rab rulers really like that?
SHAKHBUT AL SANDLAND: Our rulers did not permit us to see this film.
And how is it that the film Syriana, which was substantially filmed in the UAE, is also facing the Big Black Texta? What is the logic in blocking the depiction of a fictional Arab emirate locally, while the rest of the world is free to see it and draw their own conclusions?
Let us imagine the next time Shakhbut Al Sandland (to create an equally fictional persona) takes a little trip to Uncle Samland, and gets chatting with the locals:
HANK McBURGER: So I saw Syriana, gee, are all your ay-rab rulers really like that?
SHAKHBUT AL SANDLAND: Our rulers did not permit us to see this film.
Labels: censorship
22 Comments:
Double Standards? In Dubai?
UNPOSSIBLE.
I guess they don't like the whole oil company conspiracy theory type stuff, and I guess if they don't like it, it must mean it's true, because why else would you create a fuss?
And it hasn't actually been canned, just talked about by a bunch of 'lower' censors in Dubai and referred to the big boys in Abu Dhabi.
PS: your blog still isn't loading completely /:
lol.
I have 13 first comments.
I win.
BB Mountain should be banned. Not because of being 'gay' but because its about 'gay cowboys'... and before you start calling me a homophobe, I believe Hamam: Turkish Bath which also has two gay characters in it was an excellent movie. However if there is any story concerning gay cowboys that is not going to be a Monty Python scetch then I am not going to be interested.
As for Syriana, well I have seen that film five times already and I think it is excellent, however I am not sure why it should be banned here. The political statements the film made could certainly be applied to most other Gulf Countries but not the UAE.
IMO, Syriana was awful. I wrote a review of it here.
Some of the stuff they were expecting me as a viewer to believe were so outlandish that it might as well have been a cartoon.
devil: broken link + it was already linked to /:
Just a question for all anti-censorship folks:
Should censorship even exist? Please explain the reason supporting or not supporting it. Also, I would like to know what vectors and limits should be set for censorship (that's if you believe things should be censored at all).
Looking forward to hear from all regular contributors on this one!
No matter how bad it STILL is, you have to give a little credit where credit is due. Censorship today isn’t half of what it was when I first arrived here, 11 years ago. A nurse friend of mine couldn’t get educational tapes about breast cancer through customs (or even watch it in their presence or under their roof) because it involved nude breasts and examination techniques.
So come on, it may still be insane, but it’s getting better!
Censoring both movies is a pretty lame thing to do when piracy is at extremely high levels here (read what Nicholas Coates adds in this article here. Every person who thought Brokeback should be given a miss will definitely want to watch it. As regards Syriana, I feel it won't make a difference whether it was banned or not. As Tim says, it truly is a god-awful movie. It's as if the editor went schizoprenic, every scene starts and ends with the story to be assumed by the viewer. Then why the hell am I watching a movie in the first place?
I'd like to know why Munich wasn't banned in this case. Doesn't it rouse any 'sentiments' when he Palestinans are systematically wiped off one at a time?
I don't know why Brokeback's being trageted for the love scenes. Granted there are some strong scenes, which other movie doesn't have them these days? Has anyone seen the Basic Instinct 2 trailer? By the looks of it, its a fabulous porn movie with a story.
Everyone should have had the chance to have seen Brokeback. The cinematography and the soundtrack will mesmerize you, not to mention the heart wrenching finale. It's one hell of a beauty.
@al-republican
Censorship is useful when you want to protect anything from minors. Censorship loses its meaning when you are a responsible adult.
In these days of 'the bluetooth' and on-demand access to virtually any info online, the word will be omitted from the dictionary in a decade or two.
Archer14-
You said, "Censorship is useful when you want to protect anything from minors. Censorship loses its meaning when you are a responsible adult."
Fair enough. But, I would ask you why something is harmful for a minor and not for an adult? First of all, the definition of adult vs. minor is very shady. Secondly, crime committed around the World would suggest that it is the "responsible adult" rather than the minors who are causing harm to the society.
Anyways, I would like to hear more from others as yourself. I think this discussion really will end up going somewhere!
Cheers.
Take for example china, go to http://images.google.cn and type "tiananmen square". You will get precisely 3 pages of results. Try the same on http://images.google.com and see the difference. It's chilling to see Orwell's '1984' come to life. Censorship of this kind is harmful, and in reality sets the stage for an Orwellian world. Who knows whats happening in China. Brute strenght has helped them all this while, maybe someday the same will boomerang against them. It might not happen until Google.cn/state media ceases to exist.
Not enforcing censorship on kids is like giving a child a loaded gun. He's not mature enough to understand the concept of life or death. To him the toy is more important than either. The same child won't give a fig when he plans to kill someone in cold blood, years later. He's been there, done that. And it's a well known fact that most killers haven't even had a 'childhood' for that matter.
I've been playing games since I was a kid and I still do. All these years of virtually blowing up people to bits and pieces have made me immune to what people experience when watching poor Emily get exorcised or any horror movie for that matter. I'm watching it and wondering "that wasn't that scary! Doom 3/F.E.A.Rs even scarier than that"
People either love or loathe Syriana, they either think is brilliant or awful.
I imagine I would probably appreciate that it was brilliant, but utterly loathe it. Much like Ulysses (Joyce, not Homer).
Refering to Balushi's superman and harry potter statement... i think he has a point with regards to Syriana.
This film doesnt encourage terroism nor plays as a 'recruitment video'. It skillfully shows how the most down trodden of our society can resualt to terroism.
*******SPOILOR ALERT*******
Even at the very ending when the two kids were heading towards the oil tanker you could still see that they were in doubt about what they were about 2 do.
Showing the causes off terroism isnt a justification for terroism and I think it takes alot more than one Hollywood movie to turn anyone into a suicide bomber.
Devil's Advocate, Al Republican...really good points...
I like Tim Newmans review of the film..
Would anyone agree that censorship is part of the culture in the UAE?
hi al republican :) ASL?
A bit late, thanks to Blogger problems but I finally made it.
Nice debate; I'm sorry they aren't showing Brokeback Mountain here. As for Syriana, I don't think I care for it as much. An acquaintance I know will be crushed, he was an extra in a couple of scenes *lol*
I don't get it, they did show Boys Don't Cry (where Hilary Swank portrayed a lesbian) didn't they? I watched it in India, so I can't remember if they released it in Dubai.
I remember watching 2046 (the Wong Kar Wai film) for the Dubai International Film Festival....and they censored nothing.
I saw ass and boobs...and some pretty heavy softcore action.
This country really baffles me.
I also remember being 15 and hearing that Basic Instinct was released in the theaters except it was so heavily censored that unfortunate viewers watched only half an hour of the film.
What's the point of even airing it?
Re: AlZubeir
Agreed. Leaving censorhip in the hands of a third party only seeks to absolve you of responsibility. And prevents viewers from being adequately informed about a topic, however controversial. It is part of being a functional adult, that you are able to regard something with objectivity, rather than being outraged because someone or soomething else says so.
Regards, Brokeback: it is worth seeing, if only for the sheer imagery and unspeakable sadness of the piece. I think most people would be pleasantly surprised, but they should at least be given the choice.
Syriana has not aged well.
Was anyone surprised that nude scenes in Munich were not censored? Well, the full frontal was, but the scene where the bomb goes off and the honeymoon couple step out naked wasn't jumped over. Neither were two other scenes in the film.
What does that have to say about censorship laws in Dubai?
Hi dubaibuy :D
It's ok, it was probably a public service decision not to show Syriana - it is seriously complicated, tricky to follow and not one to start watching after 7pm at night as it is also pretty long! I got halfway through and had to stop and regain my strength to watch part 2 the next day.
You can download two deleted (censored) scenes of Basic Instinct 2 over here:
http://files.ww.com/download.html?id=19133
(DIVX file!)
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