A Tale of 3 Saudi Movies - Not Made in KSA

With all these debates about cinemas in KSA, many talk about the effect of movies in changing views and educating emus and such.

I won't go into the point that says that Saudis would evolve with the establishments of theaters and great movies will raise the Saudi image abroad. Of course that is total bullshit, point in case is that everyone still makes fun of Egyptian movies, an industry with 50 years of experience.

What I want to talk about is the other side, the way KSA is portrayed in movies. Although there are countless films that have the token Saudi bad guy, the token Saudi moron, the token Saudi corrupt pig. I won't mention those as the list is too much for this crumbling keyboard.

I will list three examples that have stories based WITHIN the country. and point out the truth from fiction.

The first is not technically a movie, but makes up a good 50 miutes (close enough). The two part American Dad: Stan of Arabia. This in particular is a constant reoccurring subject of chain spam mail, always detailing of how the west is feeding the world hate propaganda. And after watching it, I fully agree. I don't really care of what defenders of free speech supposedly spew with Saudis not having a sense of humor. Joking is something you can do with your best friend, and Fox isn't really what you might call a friend of KSA. Criticise all you want, but base it on truth.

Verdict: The show is complete and utter BS

Next: The Kingdom, the movie starring Jamie Foxx about a CIA team sent to Riyadh to aid in an investigation. The movie does correctly portray the locations and some behavioural aspects of the culture, but its dramatization just goes nuts with some extremely violent scenes.

Verdict: %75 accurate (unless our media are masters in covering things up)

Finally, a little known movie released in 95, Human Cargo, tells the story of an American contractor that traveled to Jeddah in the 70s to build a multi million dollar contract with a Saudi sheik. The culture, as well as some local is spot on (based on my recollection of that period). Although the country did develop, most of the culture remains somewhat the same (corruption).

Verdict: This movie was so powerful that I was cursing the Saudi and rooting for the American by the end....And that does show how cinema is indeed a tool of change, and why it will never be a part of KSA.