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Thread: Soap opera has Saudis glued to TV (especially women) - Men Jealous & Angry

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    Soap opera has Saudis glued to TV (especially women) - Men Jealous & Angry

    Soap opera has Saudis glued to TV

    A Turkish soap opera featuring an independent fashion designer and her amazingly supportive and attractive husband is emptying the streets...

    By Faiza Saleh Ambah

    The Washington Post

    JIDDAH, Saudi Arabia — A Turkish soap opera featuring an independent fashion designer and her amazingly supportive and attractive husband is emptying the streets whenever it's on and has more than doubled the number of Saudis visiting Turkey this summer.

    Millions of people — especially women, apparently — are tuning in nightly to find out whether the couple will stay together or be torn apart by jealousies and old flames.

    But "Noor," the story of a multigenerational, upper-class Turkish family, has also sparked a backlash.

    The show has become the subject of angry Friday sermons in this strict Islamic kingdom, and the country's chief cleric recently issued a fatwa calling it "decadent" and sinful to watch.

    "Noor" has had such a deep influence because, unlike U.S. or Mexican soap operas broadcast here, it is about a Muslim family living in a Muslim country.

    The show is also dubbed in an Arabic dialect, not classical Arabic, which makes it easier to understand and feels more intimate to viewers.

    And then, there's that husband.

    The blue-eyed, blond Muhannad, played by Kivanc Tatlitu, a 24-year-old Turkish actor and model, is tall, handsome, romantic, respectful and treats his wife, Noor — the title character — as both a love object and an equal.

    "Saudi women fantasize about what they're lacking," said Amira Kashgari, an assistant linguistics professor at King Abdul Aziz University.

    Saudi Arabia, a deeply patriarchal society, has few role models for powerful, independent women.

    The kingdom does not allow women guardianship over themselves, whatever their age. They are not allowed to drive and cannot travel without the permission of a male guardian, sometimes their sons.

    According to the Saudi-owned satellite channel MBC, which airs "Noor" across the Arab world, 3 million to 4 million viewers in this country of 28 million have been tuning in daily.



    "Viewers first fell in love with what is familiar in the show: Muhannad's arranged marriage, the respect shown to elders, the family all living together in one house," said Alanoud Bashir, a radio journalist. "But what led to their utter fascination is what differentiates it from their lives — the romance within the marriage, the open, honest communication between husband and wife."

    According to several local newspapers, Saudi men have divorced their wives after finding photos of Muhannad on their cellphones or because they found their wives too taken with the Turk.

    In the series, Muhannad is not afraid to show his soft side, and he showers his wife with flowers, gifts and surprise vacations after they fight.

    Several cartoons in the local press show men promising their wives to have plastic surgery to look like Muhannad.

    "He has the looks, and he has the romance," said Abdullah Najjar, an engineer with Saudi Arabian Airlines. "It's very difficult to compete with him."

    But clerics say the national obsession is unhealthy and detrimental to Saudi society's traditional culture.

    Al-Eqtisadiah newspaper quoted a prominent cleric, Abdul Mohsen al-Obeikan, as saying the show erodes Muslim values and asking satellite channels not to air it.

    The fascination with the show and the lush scenery has propelled more than 100,000 Saudis to travel to Turkey this year, according to Turkish diplomats, up from about 40,000 last year.

    The fictional home of Muhannad's family has been rented by tour operators and turned into a temporary museum for visitors.

    The show's finale, after 140 episodes, will be broadcast at the end of August, right before the start of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.

    Copyright © 2008 The Seattle Times Company

    http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2008092081_saud05.html
    Boringgggggggggggggggg.

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    Re: Soap opera has Saudis glued to TV (especially women) - Men Jealous & Angry

    Saudi Arabia, a deeply patriarchal society, has few role models for powerful, independent women.

    The kingdom does not allow women guardianship over themselves, whatever their age. They are not allowed to drive and cannot travel without the permission of a male guardian, sometimes their sons.
    HATE!!!! 

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    Re: Soap opera has Saudis glued to TV (especially women) - Men Jealous & Angry

    [quote author=LilDevil link=topic=15550.msg957061#msg957061 date=1218034449]
    HATE!!!!   
    [/quote]

    Hey at least the wedding is off.

    http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2008/07/20/53414.html

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    Re: Soap opera has Saudis glued to TV (especially women) - Men Jealous & Angry

    ugh, men are pigs. :x
    Don&#39;t argue with an idiot; people watching may not be able to tell the difference.<br /><br />[quote author=bowieluva link=action=profile;u=5553 date=1236809919]<br />ALEX IS WATCHING YOU THROUGH A HOLE IN HIS FACE [/quote]

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