Saudi Arabian comedy breaks new ground in portrayal of women

In Saudi Arabian tv comedy Jameel Jeddan, a younger lady falls right into a coma after a highway accident. She wakes up 5 years later to a modified nation, the place girls are allowed to drive and the non secular police who as soon as roamed the dominion’s cities have vanished.

What follows is a darkish comedy that breaks the mould for the way Saudi girls are depicted on display within the conservative kingdom. The present on Shahid, the content material streaming arm of Saudi state broadcaster MBC, is the primary within the nation to be created, written and led by a girl, Sarah Taibah.

“Girls are normally portrayed in Saudi content material because the love curiosity or spouse or mom, you don’t see them as a flawed protagonist or anti-hero,” stated Taibah. “It was contemporary to painting an offended uncooked character who was unapologetically pure and didn’t attempt to look totally different.”

The present, whose six-episode run ended this month to essential acclaim, isn’t overtly political, however takes place towards the backdrop of the reforms sweeping the conservative nation. Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, the day after day ruler, has over the previous six years upended social and financial norms, as he tries to develop new industries and create jobs for his youthful inhabitants. The dominion has been searching for to rehabilitate its picture because the 2018 homicide of Jamal Khashoggi and has trumpeted the social reforms as a part of that effort.

The extent of the reforms is made clear when within the first episode, Jameel — who went right into a coma earlier than the reforms passed off — appears to be like on with astonishment as a younger lady drives previous her in a sports activities automobile. “Wow, even girls can drive now? Superb,” she says. In subsequent episodes she dances in public along with her new love curiosity and dines out with him — behaviour unparalleled previous to the reforms.

Jameel searches for her lacking father over six episodes, as she adjusts to her new life again in highschool. Alongside the way in which, she browbeats a boy into courting her, medication a double-crossing pal at her wedding ceremony earlier than burning down the ballroom and sends her tiresome stepbrother to hospital by pummelling him with a chair on the dinner desk.

Her portrayal contrasts with feminine characters conceived by male writers, who will not be solely certain how girls behave amongst themselves. “Between girls, we don’t usually see friendships. Normally it’s cliched,” Taibah stated.

Taibah stated she wished to flip stereotypes. Her character’s title means “stunning” in Arabic, however within the masculine sense. Her love curiosity is a person known as Nour, which is a unisex title within the Arab world. “I wished the lead feminine to have a male title and the lead male [to] have a unisex title that’s normally related to females. I wished to set a special temper and world the place we break the stereotypical roles.”

Sure scenes in Jameel Jeddan remind the viewers of a number of the deep-seated resistance to vary. The socially liberal reforms are in style with many Saudis, however others consider Prince Mohammed has gone too far — and too quick.

In a single episode, their automobile breaks down. Jameel tries to flag down a passing automobile for assist however Nour reminds her that they aren’t “in California” and as an single couple might face questions. They may dance collectively, however Jameel and Nour have a platonic relationship on display.

Taibah and different actresses credit score Prince Mohammed’s reforms for his or her potential to sort out tougher topics. Final 12 months, the federal government hosted a movie pageant in Jeddah, attracting stars from throughout the area. At instances, this glitz sits uneasily with Prince Mohammed’s low tolerance for dissent. He has jailed critics, together with activists and bloggers. This contains girls activists who campaigned for the proper to drive, which the federal government granted in 2018.

“The present management sees younger creatives as allies in pushing for cultural change and presenting a brand new imaginative and prescient of the nation in international cultural boards, equivalent to movie festivals and artwork biennales,” stated Kristin Diwan, a senior resident scholar on the Arab Gulf States Institute in Washington.

Exhibits equivalent to Jameel Jeddan had been additionally essential to the government-owned MBC’s drive to compete with Netflix for audiences within the area, stated Mazen Hayek, a media marketing consultant and former MBC spokesperson. Netflix has carried exhibits that would not discover a dwelling on Arabic broadcasters, together with Takki, an edgy Saudi manufacturing that tackles points equivalent to poverty. It was initially uploaded to YouTube in 2012 as a result of no channel would contact it.

“Shahid is supposed to be a world platform for Arabic content material. It’s meant to be critical competitors to Netflix,” Hayek stated. The federal government had consolidated its management over the broadcaster after it swept up dozens of tycoons, together with the channel’s head, and detained them within the Ritz in 2017. The federal government stated it wished to retrieve ill-begotten positive aspects. Critics stated it was a powerplay by the ascendant Prince Mohammed.

Taibah stated she was joyful that she and like-minded artists had been now discovering a platform. “I believe there’s simply extra space for us. Even individuals who didn’t give us house, they’re now realising the significance of our voices, particularly if they need an trustworthy reflection of our era.”