Sunday, September 12, 2010

Light Entertainment


  



The Ministry of Information has brought legal charges against three privately owned TV channels not a million miles from here for violating the “audio-visual law” by airing material without licenses to broadcast it. According to a ministry insider, a particular TV channel is expected to be investigated by the General Prosecution after it aired a soap opera without first obtaining permission from the ministry, which is given only after the material is viewed by the censorship department and approved for transmission. Another channel faces charges of defamation, meanwhile, after broadcasting a satirical program parodying members of the cabinet and the parliament, which apparently led to a number of complaints. Whatever would they have done to the creators of ‘Spitting Image” and what might happen if someone did this to a member of this royal family? A third station facing legal action is has been accused of broadcasting offensive material in its cartoon show, ( oh, please...)with a number of Moroccan viewers complaining about its offensive portrayal of Moroccan women, A rather more local cartoon, were it to satirise anatomy, would be instantly pulled perhaps because it defames hippopotami.
A large number of UAE citizens, including actors and artists, have reportedly protested at a program broadcast by a privately-owned channel. The Emirati viewers protested that one of the channel's soap operas had insulted their nation through its negative portrayals of Emirati characters.

Get a life. More importantly, buy a sense of humour, since there does seem to be some genetic inability to acquire one. 
Their objections were reported in an article in 'UAE Today,' one of the country's leading Arabic dailies, which stated that a 'large number' of people had expressed outrage at the show's 'negative depiction' of a fraudulent Emirati couple who, in one episode of the show, tricked an Egyptian hotel guest into vacating his room in order to occupy it themselves. This seems nothing more than enterprising.
There have been calls by actors and artists in the UAE to boycott the channel and to ban those involved with it from working in Emirati TV. Ooh. The complainants reportedly pointed out that this was not the first time that a Kuwaiti TV show had broadcast offensive portrayals of Emiratis.
What a surprise. We hate the French. Also the Welsh and the Scots. Don't you just love it here?



1 comment:

  1. "Buy a sense of humour...?" Where? Where can I do that? I'd like to keep a spare SOH in my handbag just ready for occasions when someone needs help getting over him/herself.
    [It seems quite clear that Camilla has not yet found the SOH store as the Crown Prince is in sore need of getting over himself. Maybe he could consult with the Emiratis?]

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