EGYPtiAN WOMEn OPPReSSed?

I ENjoyed the Egyptian movie, Terrorism and Kebab. It was so funny and it took a serious situation such as terrorism and made it into a fun comedy.

Obviously the characters are exaggerated and supposed to be comedic, but the women were so dominant over men and it was entertaining to watch the men be over ruled to the point where one man wanted to commit suicide. There is a strong idea that Middle Eastern or Muslim women are oppressed and subjugated, but this film provided a completely different perspective. The first woman that is introduced is very loud and has authority over the main character when all he is trying to do is get an appointment. When the man goes home he is prepared to mingle with his wife and her reaction to her husband is very loud and abrasive. She is upset that he has disturbed her, but he tries to put her in the mood. He drops some liquid on the floor and she starts hollering and nagging about her responsibilities of the household. The repeated images of the abrasive, incredibly loud women makes the audience pity and sympathize with the husband who seems like a hard working man, but who is constantly under attack by women. Weak and oppressed are the last traits that the women in the film portray. As shocking as it may sound, this image is not promoted at all in American media or film. So it was refreshing to visually see a different side of people. The discussion after class paralleled Said's argument of how ignorant and harmful it is to stereotype and confine people to a static idea. People are not one way or the other. We forget that we all have complexities and different sides to us; we are not static in any way and characters and images in films should not dominate our understanding of people in real life.