Few years ago, when the issue of terroris in the Arab world began to surface, and there was desperate shouts to seperate between Islam and terrorism, and how the extremists do not represent Islam int heir acts...
The Arabic media, as usual, was there trying to make a contribution to the process of spreading this awareness, and since then we've been having that fad, meaning the Arabic TV series that deal with the issue of terrorism from different angles, but, frankly, I don't know if that was a good idea.
You know those programmes try to represent the terrorist mindset to the public. they show them in the typical way: a beard, the dishdash, the frown, etc. And then they start preeching and justifying the terrorist acts as "Jihad", and you know the rest.
As an Arab and a Muslim, I know that this is wrong and stuff, and that it's inconsistent with the teachin of Islam, and that the way those terrorist onterpret Qur'an as to justify their acts is wrong and misleading. But, the problem is: Not everyone who watches those programmes knows that.
You might argue that it's obvious and everyone should know it by default. The thing is, the picture they give is so negative that it can really bug the crap out of you, and one should have a very solid faith to shake off the images that might permeat your subconscious... Do you know that these series are being translated into English? I've been working on them for a while now, I haven't seen those episoes on TV, but as I translated them I was like: Okay, non-Arabs and non-Muslims are supposed to see this??
The thing is: If you want to do something about terrorism, then do it in the right way. I personally think that our media is not mature enough to tackle such a sensitive subject. When you make a TV series you have to bear in mind that everyone will watch it, from different ages and mentalities. You can't just make up scenes and throw it on them... It has to be extra-detailed and elaborate. When you show the wrong, you have to immediatly expalin why it is wrong and what the right thing is. Those new series are si confusing... Have some compassion for people's brains!
I have to say that not all of those series are equally bad or confusing, I think that Al-hour al3een for example was way better than the latest series, this can really get on your nerves...
I just hope that this will fade away shortly and we focus on more fruitful ways to spread awareness agaisnt terrorism
November, 09, 2006 6:59 AM