We were in the Old Home Week parade last August, and what struck me most was the facial expressions of people watching the parade. They didn't show any emotion: no pleasure or displeasure, recognition, fear, amusement, nothing. Very strange, to be on display in public in front of people who seemed totally immune from any kind of reaction. Like you were the television and they were passively 'viewing' but not engaged.
Great article from a Yemeni man in the Globe and Mail - talking about his family's gradual transition from progressive values to Wahabi-style fundamentalism. The paragraph that struck me most:
Collectively they have become television addicts. Satellite TV, featuring hundreds of channels from the Arab world and beyond, has taken over from reading and socializing as the main form of entertainment. Why? Because among the many channels you can watch are the more Islamist ones (Hezbollah's Manar TV, for example) that promote a rigid version of the faith.
I often wonder about the worlds we close out - for example, how we don't gather in public anymore, we go to people's houses. There's a thriving business in Christian subculture sanitizing Hollywood movies- removing all swearing, nudity or violence to make them 'safe' for viewing. I think media - be it TV, the intermet, movies, plays a huge role in shaping our realities. And it's interesting to see that it's the same phenomenon in Yemen - except it's not American Idol, it's Manar TV.
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