Middle Eastern Cinema Explained

Middle Eastern Cinema is an amalgam of multiple film industries of Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Palestine, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It can’t be studied as a single entity because each nation has its own film industry with a distinct history and cultural influences. But here also, space is dominated by Egyptian cinema as it has the largest commercial film market in the middle east. In recent years, the Middle East has given some of the finest films to the world. The emergence of the Middle Eastern Film Industry has not only put it on the global lens but has also contributed towards debunking the religious and cultural stereotypes surrounding the Middle East. They have used their films to reclaim their voice and to tell their story from their own perspective. Middle eastern cinema touches upon the issues of gender, identity, the physical and psychological consequences of the wars and conflicts.

Problems Faced by Middle Eastern Film Industry

There is no doubt that  Middle Eastern Cinema has come a long way and is producing some of the finest works. But the road is not easy. The film industry faces a lot of problems because of the political and cultural institutions in the country. The governments in the majority of Arab nations do not consider the film industry as an important sector. Filmmakers with immense talent, often have to struggle because of a lack of opportunities and funds. According to Farida Marei, “The government usually does not give any help or gives a little in rare cases. Cinema is not one of the priorities on their agenda as they look at cinema as pure entertainment and therefore it comes at the bottom of their list”. Lack of government support is one of the main reasons why so many brilliant film ideas don’t materialize as the filmmakers don’t have the necessary means.

Censorship and demonisation of films and the film industry is another major issue that plagues the Middle Eastern film industry. Middle Eastern countries have stringent censorship laws. Countries like Bahrain, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, censor their media and films heavily. In fact, Turkmenistan runs the third most stringent censorship program in the world and all foreign publications and non-government libraries are banned. These censorship policies apply to the film industry as well. A lot of films fail to get the approval of the government and hence never reach the audiences. According to middle eastern censorship laws, any material dealing with government policies, religion or any kind of sexual activity is prohibited. Farida Marei gives a few examples of the implications of stringent censorship laws- “There are many examples in this direction – the films Five Doors (Khamsah Bab), and The Road of Love (Darb al-Hawa) were both denied approval until the writer removed some intimate scenes. Even after removing them and after the films were ready for screening, they were both banned because there was still too much intimacy (in their opinion)”.

One of the main reasons why these strong censorship laws aren’t going to be relaxed anytime soon is because of the huge support from the masses. In middle eastern countries, religion is very strong and influences the masses. Religion and cultural beliefs could be the major factors why the films are demonised in the middle east by the government and the majority of the population, alike. Northwestern University in Qatar, in partnership with Doha Film Institute, conducted a survey ‘Entertainment Media Use In The Middle East: A Six nation Survey’. The results of this survey are a clear indicator that the people of the middle eastern nations heavily support the censorship laws and the restrictions on the media and entertainment industry. According to the survey-

“The large majority of the people surveyed believe entertainment should be more tightly regulated when it comes to violent and romantic content, and that some scenes should be deleted or whole programs banned if some people find them offensive (about seven in ten agree with each of these statements). Conversely, less than a third expresses the opposing opinion that films and television shows should be shown in their entirety even if some people find the content inappropriate (29%).”

The survey also uncovers the extent to which cultural beliefs influence the censorship laws as- “About eight in ten of those with strong feelings about cultural traditions support the regulation of violent and romantic content and also support banning or deleting offensive content, compared with two-thirds of those who are less concerned with preserving their cultural traditions”.

Conclusion

Even though the situation seems pretty bleak, there is still a ray of hope. Despite the stringent censorship laws and various other restrictions, The Middle Eastern film industry continues to produce some of the most profound and moving films. Even though the filmmakers have to face a lot of problems in order to produce good quality cinema and to ensure that it reaches a wide range of audience, they haven’t given up. A lot of filmmakers have repeatedly challenged the strict laws of the government in court. And a lot of times the results have favoured them. This is a great sign that middle eastern cinema is flourishing and will soon overcome the dilemma of censorship and demonisation to realise its full potential.

Featured Image: Still from Ghadi by Amin Dora

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Lack of Women Identity and Agency in Bollywood

The female protagonists in Bollywood films often lack a voice and agency. The story narrated is always that of the male hero and the female protagonist is a mere appendage. According to psychoanalytic theory, this could be termed as phallocentrism. Laura Mulvey in her essay ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’ states that “the paradox of phallocentrism in all its manifestations is that it depends on the image of the castrated woman to give order and meaning to its world”.

The only role of the female characters is to further the plot of the story and to aid the hero in the process of identity-formation. Women, be it the sister, the mother or the love interest of the hero, are always secondary characters. Bollywood films like Kuch Kuch Hota Hai, Pardes and the recent ones like Dabangg, Zero are a great example of this. It is always the hero who is shown in Bollywood movies to go through a journey and the women either are a cause of that journey or help him on his way. Rarely do we see independent women characters with well carved out identities.

Kareena Kapoor’s character in Chameli is one of such few examples of a well written, round female character. In the film, she emerges as a strong female character who does not need a male figure to rush to her rescue, every time she is in a problem. In fact, the film subverts the expectations of the audience in a scene where it is actually the street smart prostitute who rescues the hero.

In a more recent film, Thappad, the issue of domestic violence, which has been plaguing our society since centuries, is addressed. Taapsee Punnu’s character stands against physical abuse. She refuses to bow down to the patriarchal ideas and in her journey, challenges the ‘sacred’ institutions of marriage and family. The film charts her growth from a dependent, almost subservient house-wife to an independent woman and a single mother. The film also breaks the stereotype that domestic violence is an issue only for the lower sections of society. In Thappad, we see how physical and mental abuse is as prevalent in urban, educated and rich families as among the poor, rural society.

Male Gaze

In most of our films, the gaze of the camera is also predominantly male and to a large extent, determines how we perceive the female characters. The male gaze of the camera is probably the result of the fact that the majority of the films are written, directed and shot by men. The male gaze of the camera, combined with the male gaze of the hero, commodifies and fetishises female characters. John Berger in Ways of Seeing points out that in the films, “Men act, women appear. Men look at women, women watch themselves being looked at.” The sexist and selective male gaze of the camera is focused on selective parts of the female body. Bindu Nair in her essay- “Female Bodies and the Male Gaze” explains how women are turned into a ‘spectacle’-

“The gaze is invited to certain parts of the body selectively considered sexual – the eyes, the lips, the breasts, the navel, the buttocks and the legs…All these add up in objectifying and sexualising the body of the woman for the benefit of the (male) viewer.”

Nair, 2009

The famous “item songs” in our films are a great example of the male gaze at play.  The songs like ‘Tip Tip Barsa’ or ‘Fevicol Se’ show how the camera angles, the costumes, the makeup and even the actions of the female characters in these songs fetishise female body and cater to male pleasure, i.e. the pleasure of the hero and the male audience.

Conclusion

This problematic depiction of women in Bollywood films translates to real life as well. The impressionable minds of youth accept this sexist and misogynistic portrayal as the norm. This could be an important reason why women in our society face a lot of backlashes if they stray from the stereotypical idea of femininity and try to assert their voice and freedom. Films borrow from reality but they also influence our reality. Therefore, in a society where films largely shape our way of thinking, we need more films with strong and independent female characters. The need of the hour is good films which tackle the rampant misogyny in our society, and not increase it by projecting stereotypical and regressive ideas of femininity. We are definitely on the path of change and progress, but we are not there yet. The Hindi Film industry is waking up to the importance of this issue, but there is still a long way to go.

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