Monthly Archives: August 2010

On a summer afternoon in Beirut, I decided to escape the oppressive July heat and take a long stroll to the cinema. An afternoon at the movies in Beirut is one of the only times you are guaranteed uninterrupted air-conditioning for two whole hours. On some days, I really don’t care what movie I go to see; as long as I can munch on caramel popcorn and put an end to my continuous sweating the trip is a success. Hence, my decision to go and “Sex and The City II.”

I had heard the bad reviews about it from my friends in the US, with special warnings to me. “Randa, you are gonna find it so offensive. Like, not even funny offensive. Offensive offensive.” However, as a young Arab American I was interested in witnessing the way in which “the girls” experienced the big M. E. As if my friends’ advice was not enough, the reviews also tipped me off that the movie would not be a particularly enjoyable experience. However, while almost all critics ranted for paragraphs about the movie being “crass (Washington Post),” “painfully cliche (LA Times),” and about nothing more than “flyweight bubbleheads living in a world which rarely requires three sentences in a row, (Sun Times)” critics were rather curt about the offensive nature of the movie’s depiction of the Middle East. The Washington Post said it was “culturally insensitive.” The LA Times said the “Muslim sendoffs” were “cringe-worthy.” What I found on that hot July day, however, was a strangely out-dated brand of racism that created a Saharan dreamscape for American women to play out their fantasies, desires, and fears. Continue reading →