In 2016, the Italian film Perfect Strangers participated in the Cairo Film Festival, and it won the best screenplay award. What is happening in the West in terms of abnormalities, moral collapse, and lack of shame does not happen to us. And the film will definitely remain in this margin, if one of its 17 versions was presented dubbed in Arabic, and I expect that it would pass unnoticed on the Netflix platform, if the role of Mona Zaki was played by a Lebanese actress Like Darine Hamza, Rita Hayek, or Nada Abu Farhat, not because a Lebanese woman has the right to what no one else has, but rather because the Lebanese public is different from any other Arab audience. Some may say that the audience's reaction to the Lebanese Fouad Yammine was harsh, and if we look at the matter carefully, we will quickly understand that no one directed harsh words to Yammine as an actor, but what happened was the rejection of the presence of a gay character in the film. As a reminder, the actor, Adel Karam, previously presented a group of television sketches in which he played a homosexual comic role with actor Abbas Shaheen, and it achieved great success, without the slightest criticism of either the role or the homosexuals. Here we are facing a major problem of reception, then, and it must be addressed seriously. Regarding the harsh and disparate reactions towards the actors, Mona Zaki takes the most part, after a lawyer submitted a complaint to the Public Prosecutor, accusing the actress and the makers of the Arabic version of the movie, entitled “The Owners.” I do not cherish »spread immorality and immorality and promote homosexuality. A large group of social media activists also called for her husband, Ahmed Helmy, to separate from her. The scene is inferential, according to the movements that it made. This does not mean anything to the "clever" spectator who imagined the actress performing the rest of the role without her underwear. Oh my God! It is a strange reaction that disgusts the spectator, who is not shaken by millions of daily images of barefoot and naked individuals from his vast country. But a scene like this shakes him. But let us ask an important question: Is cinema for the Arab public a subject of knowledge related to social sciences? Or a way to whitewash the reputation? Does this audience know the difference between cinematic representation and the reflections of social formation, through a film or not? In other words, does this recipient realize, in its simplicity, that cinema enlarges the image of the profound changes that occur in society, which are mostly visible and invisible, or are not practiced in public, to highlight only their mechanisms? This film falls without a doubt within the themes of sociology The visual, which is linked to the protocols of ethnographic research, which is concerned with describing peoples, and it is one of the human sciences focused on studying the physical manifestations of human activity, such as customs and traditions such as food, drink and clothing, according to its linguistic definition in Arab dictionaries. Let us clarify here that the field of imagination is not to conceal reality, but to objectively shed light on social reality and reduce it. But why did the “society” revolt from a very short movie scene that does not exceed thirty seconds? And would a scene like this affect him, if it was presented in a documentary context? What terrifies him, in fact, is the work of cinema in reshaping society according to the theory of reflection, like someone who puts a mirror in front of him and sees his image reflected in it. While in the documentary, the matter is different, because the people in it reflect themselves, and “they” and not “we” in most cases, and when we talk about them we can describe them in the dirtiest descriptions, and they will remain within their personal framework far from us.
The fact that stopping at a piece of clothing in a cinematic scene brings us back to Roland Barthes' theory that every dress is a "symbol" (The Fashion System 1967) and the symbolism of taking off the panty at ease on the part of the woman herself, has indications related to regaining her authority over her body, as we are accustomed In many films, the man takes off this garment, whether in an intimate relationship with the consent of both parties, or in a rape scene, both of which have an indication of the male’s authority over the female. The actors are few, and it is unfortunate that such an opportunity passes without seeing, for example, the good performance of the artist Georges Khabbaz in a dramatic role outside his comedy theatre, through which he was known locally. Khabbaz, who is considered a Lebanese star with great popularity among a wide audience of all ages, was too late to be known on the Arab level, and perhaps the character with whom he appeared to a wide audience and an army of the virtuous city police, in which we live, is more close to the reality of the educated doctor, who corrected with his daughter A mistake well aware of its dire consequences, if he did not act with that wisdom to guide his daughter to the right path. Art that does not correct the paths of our mistakes and proposes a better future for us, far from repeating our old, ugly image in a vulgar manner, is completely out of the logic of creativity. From this standpoint, the educated doctor's message to his daughter was clear and direct. Semiotically, the connotations were also strong, when he puts them in the face of themselves, without restrictions, control, or coercion. This scene could have been the most powerful movie scene ever, and it is one of the scenes in which George Khabbaz stood out, which had aesthetic potential that he created with his distinguished performance. Khabbaz differed in his performance, while everyone’s roles were similar to what they previously presented, whether in TV series or in movies. He has always been distinguished by his amazing ability to control the stage, and make his audience live all the feelings from one extreme to the other. He does it with the touch of a magician, making him laugh at times and cry at others, clapping and dancing with him at times, and listening to him silently, holding his breath at others..but he is in a role. Doctor Walid Sarkis gave us an opportunity to read the intense sadness on his features, and a lot of anxiety. Giving the role the emotion it needs, without adding or subtracting, is enough. Did the movie introduce something new? I do not think that all the issues that were raised in it were raised in dozens of films before it. Rather, it was presented modestly compared to other films that included sex scenes that led to censorship, and it was strictly forbidden to show it, including the movie “Hammam Al-Malatili” directed by Salah Abu Seif. It is the most famous of all in dealing with homosexuality as a problem in Arab society, and the movie “Beirut Hotel” by Daniel Arbeed starring Darine Hamza, and the movie “Ask for Help” by Mark Abi Rashid, and the list is long for films that were banned due to sexual scenes, or exaggeration in presenting some characters completely without clothes. There is nothing new, then, despite all this noise, except that the Arab censor is no longer represented in a specific body, or a state-affiliated institution represented by a limited number of individuals. Rather, it has expanded to include the vast majority of society, most of which is active on social media, and tries to extend its power. Global platforms to impose its laws and conditions. The danger lies here, in this police that chases the artist and besieges him even in virtual spaces, using all evil weapons to eliminate him, starting with obscene speech to inciting legal bodies against him, and perhaps the only winner in this war is lopsided. Victory Violence again, and the Arab mind took hundreds of steps back.
A poet and media personality from Bahrain