Transition Post

I am not very sure what I should write about in this post so I'll just make the best of it. I'll probably direct the attention of this blog towards Turkey and Lebanon and try to discuss the modern touch that those nations have. I'll try not to focus on the Gulf region because I personally believe that I talked about them enough and anymore posts about them is highly unnecessary. Nonetheless, I'll make references to them, however they won't be the primary title of the next posts.

You might ask me why did I choose Turkey and Lebanon in particular. I'll respond with, "I don't know." I just chose these two nations to discuss. I mean, I like Turkey. I'll probably just talk about its individual movie industry and elaborately discuss its economy and culture a little more. Lebanon is also nice, however I just plan to talk more about it regarding my opinion.

I probably even think that I could talk about the history of the Middle East in general. About how like each region grew on its own and stuff like that. Oh well, I'll think of something.

The Newer Film era

The more modern film industry of the Middle East has adopted a specific routine of movies. What I mean is, ever since the corrupt regimes all took power in the 80s, the industry's main priority was to expose their nation's terrible ruler. This can be seen in Egypt's film industry especially. The 2000s were mainly filled with movies that talked about how their society was going downhill and how the corrupt regime was something that needed to be removed. The government quickly saw this and made the connection that this might be the source of any state of mind in which an individual wants to overthrow his/her government. So what the government did was it banned these movies and the prominent actors began not focusing on this anymore.

The fact that the movies whose topics were openly pointing fingers and exposing the government were banned didn't stop the industry from making movies that still talked about tainted the image of the regime. They only were able to do this transparently. Plenty of modern films in the Middle East also talk about the youth and problems that the youth are facing and stuff like that. The funny films are quickly losing their touch seeing that many people (especially these days) aren't very focused on watching a funny movie, although they are still produced.

The nice thing about the modern films is that the budget allows the actors travel around the world and apply better quality to the movie itself and better effects. Many actors have traveled to places such as Thailand, China, Syria, and other places. This can be both work and a fun experience for the actors.

I will make a prediction that the future of the film industry will be mostly comprised up of movies that are talking about the revolutions or that have something to do with them. In fact, there are plenty of movies that are out now that portray the revolutions and such that took place. Plenty of new shows and films are openly insulting the previous regimes seeing that there's not a government out now that will "ban" these movies. However this whole idea of insulting the government openly has never happened before.

My opinion on the modern movies of the Middle East varies from movie to movie, however the majority of the movies I have seen aren't very nice. I believe this is mainly because the plots are losing any originality, actors are becoming worse (hence the emerging new generation that plan to act), and the movies themselves lack any new message. There are however some movies that are very nice. Those are mainly action movies that have many prominent actors and a good plot and so on and so forth. In the end, I believe that the modern film industry needs a few alterations that will make it better than what it was, however they shouldn't focus too much on it.

Older Movies of the Middle East

The era between the 60s and 70s (and part of the 80s) was the best time of movies in the Middle East. Over 100 movies were made per year in Egypt and Lebanon (up to today) has produced over 500 films. I don't know too much about the older Lebanese cinema, however I can make the guess that the movies back then were much better than what they are now and if not, then that's just the case with Egypt.

The 60s and 70s movies were amazing. Plots were somewhat original, actors were good at what they did, and the movies weren't boring. In Egypt, plenty of the musicians were also actors. They'd take that opportunity to "advertise" their singing skills right there in the movie. That is why I think that the Egyptian cinema in general has more characteristics of Bollywood than it does anything else.

One thing I love about the older movies, like I said, was the plots. They made sense. They were unique. In fact, some of the movies are so unique that no other cinema in the world can use it as a precedent for their own movies. This is because some of the features of Egyptian (and Arab movies in general) are unique to the Arab world. Those particular societies have their own past and their own present. Particular aspects that may not seem taboo abroad would definitely find itself among the "adults only" portion of movies back in the Middle East. The comedy films shown on screen in the Arab world is something that is definitely cannot be shown elsewhere. This is also because people foreign to the Middle East wouldn't find it funny and so on.

Aspects of the older movies such as the effects and cinematography can easily be dismissed. This is because the movie's plot and acting would cover up for those lesser qualities. The older movies were also different than the modern movies in a sense that the older movies tried to exhibit something new to the world. What I mean by that is the older movies were much more focused on discovering new plots and story lines, while some indeed did actually talk about Egyptian society, it wasn't their main priority. The case is much different with modern movies, however I'll leave that discussion for a different post.

Some people disagree with the including the 70s and 80s as a time period in which the movies of Egypt were actually good. However I personally believe that many of the older actors today were in their prime during that time period. In fact, if it wasn't for that time period then they probably wouldn't be regarded as prominent these days by the new generation of actors that are appearing.

The older actors of the Egypt especially would attract my attention very well when they would combine together and form a masterpiece film. The ensemble cast would be so effective in the acting and the plot's success would essentially lead to the film's success all over the nation.

In the end, I loved the older movies. Newer movies, not so much (although some are very good) however I'll leave that for some other post or something.

Movies of the Middle East

The movie industry in the Middle East requires more than one post because I won't be just analyzing contemporary movies, but older ones as well. So just a preview- the movie industry is nice. I like it. Other people don't. To each his own...right?

Wrong. The movie industry is flawed as well. Like the music industry, movies were so much better back int he 60s, 70s, and 80s. Some movies made in the last decade are very nice, however the majority of them are just in-watchable.

Some movies have effects that make me ask the question of how can they even bring themselves to putting this up on the big screen. Other movies, on the other hand, have world class effects and the plots are very nice and unique.

I won't go into too much detail this post because this particular sector of entertainment requires an elaborate description. Keep in mind that what I say is my opinion and not facts; although I wouldn't be surprised to see my opinion being among the majority.

The largest movie industry in the Middle East is in Egypt. Other prominent ones include Lebanon, Turkey, and some areas of the Gulf. Now, those movies/shows are unbearable. But like I said, I'll leave that for its own.

Stay tuned for the most opinionated post about the movie industry in the Middle East!

Music of the Arab World

Music of the Arab world is something that seems to embarrass some people and define others. The contemporary style music isn't what the older generation likes and the older style of music seems to appeal to everybody. The older style of music was (in its time) unique, new, appeals to a large audience, made sense, and just flat out amazing. During the 60s and the 70s and maybe the 80s, the Middle East was for sure on the map regarding the music industry around the world.

Famous older musicians include Mohammed Abdel Wahhab, Abdel Halim Hafez, and Um Kalthoum. These artists here were actually talented in a sense that threw everybody off when they'd first hear them sing. Their voices embodied something along the lines of extreme professionals with talent that wasn't available anywhere else in the world. The topics of their songs were too very unique and complex. Since most of them were around the 50s and 60s, they all seemed to sing about Egypt and wars and stuff that appealed to everybody. Love and romantic songs were also present, however the way these artists went about exhibiting their talent through topics like these only made these topics listenable.

Modern musicians and artists are embarrassing to the older generation and "amazing" to the youth. I personally don't seem to understand what their talent is. It seems that these artists have become so dependent upon the west and India for examples, whereas the older generation was purely theirs and it wasn't copied.

The topics (or should I say topic) that all of these musicians sing about it love and romance. A scenario that seems to talk about someone being cheated on, they cheated on someone, etc. I don't seem to like their music videos either. They're boring, unoriginal, and sometimes useless. For example, they'll be geographically off. Like when's there going to be very hard rain in the middle of the Middle East? Or a better question- why do you even sing?? Modern musicians include Tamer Hosny, Amr Diab (who is somewhat respected only because he's been around for so long and his music actually kind of sounds good), Nancy Ajram and more.

The music industry in the Arab world needs a few things. First and foremost, it needs massive reforms to filter out the unnecessary music videos that practically don't coincide with anyone in the Middle East. Now, if they insist on keeping it (I'm not going to lie, I like the music) then they need to change the topics up a little bit, make it more clever, actually talk about something. 

They need to make the industry more like what it was before. I guess I'll reluctantly put out there that many new songs these days have to do with the revolutions that took place. Oh look, some variety! That's a nice move, they should elaborate on that for a little bit.
 

Interviews

The interviews that deal mainly with celebrities are something that can be both entertaining and unwatchable. I'd first like to point out that these celebrities think their something that they are just not. You are an actor in this country yes, but who cares what you do for a living? The moral side of this situation is something that is generally absent because when you analyze the interviews with these celebrities, you know that there's nothing more concrete than it.

The interviewer asks simple questions like 'tell me about you childhood' or 'explain to me what the toughest par about being an actor is' or 'what's your favorite memory that you have throughout this career'. Literally, these are questions that require no preparation except maybe for a few minutes before the start of the show.

There are some exceptions. You'll tend to find that the more prominent actors and actresses only agree to do shows with the more professional and well known shows; like they are. It's not that I despise these shows. In fact, I find them very interesting. However, I do believe that there is much potential for improvement, not that anybody in the Middle East right now has "watching interviews" as their top priority. Nonetheless, when it was actually very popular among the population, people did seem to watch it constantly.

The political interviews are my favorite. The best thing about them is that they always seem to turn into a discussion between the interviewer and the guest. Essentially the interviewer isn't supposed to express their views, however the informality of the show itself (especially these days) causes the host to forget completely his role that only requires him to ask questions and just say what he personally thinks.

I really like the topics that are held in these interviews. They focus much on the problems in the Middle East rather than the international problems. They could care less about what's going on in with regards to soccer somewhere in Europe, but when it comes to their own country and the revolutions taking place there; yeah, that's mostly where their attention in directed.

My favorite political discussion is called "Opposite Direction". It's mainly a neutral host who mediates between two opposing parties who are required to discuss on certain topics. This show can get so out of hand that they're forced to take unscheduled commercial breaks. Sometimes the discussion will quickly turn into an argument that will turn personal that will has the potential of turning physical but will stop before that stage.

Not all of the political shows are like that. It just so happens that my favortie one is that one only because of the overall nature of the interview/argument itself. Like I said, political interviews are much better than other ones.
 

Entertainment in the Middle East

The entertainment industry in the Middle East is something that can be either very copying-esque to other industries around the world like Bollywood in India and Hollywood in the U.S. The contemporary music industry has received plenty of critique from the older generation music listeners. Same goes for the movie industry as well as the interviews of the stars.

Of course the entertainment industry can be unique in a way. For example, the most prominent actors of the Egyptian cinema are some of the best actors I have ever seen in mu entire life. Their qualities as actors have crossed many international boundaries. Now, the music is something that I tend to stay away from a little bit only because it just sounds very bad.

I won't go into detail about the entertainment industry in general because each specific sector deserves its own elaborated upon description. Nonetheless, I will say that I do hope that these posts take a while because they are unfortunately important to the Middle East.

Villas in a Gated Residential Place

The newer developments in the actual Middle Eastern cities like Cairo or Amman are all classified by contemporary architecture, Mediterranean style villas and mansions, and they are expensive. All of these villas take the form of more European style homes like in Spain or something like that. They seem very nice from the outside however some people tend to exhibit discomfort towards these places because it is the actual manifestation of the social class difference in these countries. However, I think that some people deserve a break form the rush of the inner city traffic and noises. So essentially the people who live in these developments are not trying to show any disrespect to the actual state of their nation.

These interiors of these villas are modern, clean, organized, and expensive. Numerous t.vs are lines up all over the place. Bedrooms upstairs that show contemporary architecture and the master bedroom is like a king's room. The kitchen can either be locked away in the back and it may share some of the characteristics of an older Arab home or it may be open to the living room like any modern home and be clean and organized.

The backyards all have swimming pools that are very nice. The garden is large and the greenery is very nice. The in these areas tend to have a nice car and all the amenities of a city are available.

I like these new developments. I think they are very nice and people shouldn't show any discontent. We're not sure of the intentions of the home owners and blah blah blah.. I could go on about both sides of the situation and talk about it however I'm only informing you the reader of how different the newer areas are from the older places.

Old Arab City

The Old Arab City is literally something that just came to me when I was thinking of a title for this post, however the true nature of this title truly reflects the vast amount of options that may be used in order to title the posts that deal with old Arab homes.

Indeed, the old Arab homes are old. In fact they're so old that I sometimes think I took a few steps back in time into something like the 18th or 17th century (when these developments were actually built). The fact that they presevre these old places provides support for either two things; they are too lazy to tear them down and build actual modern homes or they like their past because it makes them feel unique.

Nonetheless, these homes are so old and unique in their designs that it seems like a touristic center in itself. Preserved Roman architecture and complicated designs are found a lot, especially in the older cities like Alexandria or Amman. The architecture in Alexandria in particular is something that amazes me a lot. It is something more closer to Mediterranean style place.

That's the exterior and what they look like. Inside however, is something more unique than the exterior. Ok, we can temporarily dismiss the fact that the density of the six to ten story apartment buildings is present. However, I personally need to address the fact that you can literally hear/see the actions that take place in other homes. It's like nothing's a secret, yet people will in fact get caught in tangles over privacy.

We go into a specific home now and you will find more elaborate images of the living room, kitchen, bathroom, etc.

The contemporary living room in an older city in the Middle East consists of something along the lines of this: a nice t.v., a few very large couches (I'll get to why they're large in a second), and some table that's probably off center and with old decaying flowers in it. The nice t.v. is necessary because everyone watches t.v. at some given point in time. So they need this luxury because it justifies some leisure time home because they make plenty of sacrifices elsewhere in the house. For example, the reason why they have such large couches is because the grandfather or grandmother or someone will essentially be forced to sleep on it because of lack of beds that need to be in cooperation of the people. The decaying flowers is their form of decoration. I mean, they just do not care what it looks like in there. If they were forced to actually tidy their living room some time it would be because of a very important/prominent guest. Other than that, it pretty much looks like ancient history in there, except for the fact that there's a large and expensive t.v.

Kitchens are dreaded by everyone, yet everyone knows very well that they need to make their way in there some point in time. For one, they all are small and crowded. There's an enlarged fridge in the corner that can only be opened half way due to lack of space and there is also the ten thousand year old oven that some how still works. The sink is large as well. There's a window that leads out into the clearing area between the apartments of the building. It probably smells something like a combination of spices, onions, and old food leftover.

Bedrooms are nice. The master bedroom is the only thing that probably represents the remnants of the marriage of the owners of the house. It has some nice furniture and it also looks pretty well kept. However, the other smaller bedrooms are old, peeling walls, and multiple beds to accommodate the over flowing house of people.

Dining rooms are kept clean as well. The only reason why they're kept clean is because nobody eats in them. The entire family will spread out a mat or some old sheets onto the floor in front of the t.v. in the living room and they'll eat sitting down. The only time, I believe, when the actual dining table is used is when there's an important guest or something.

Do you see why now the older homes are unique?