The Yacoubian Building, a movie based on Alaa Al-Aswani’s bestselling novel, is to be reviewed by the Egyptian parliament after 112 MPs demanded censorship of the homosexual scenes in the movie.
They have criticised the movie saying it defames Egypt by portraying homosexuality, terrorism and corruption.
MP Mustafa Bakri, who led a campaign against the film, said it was “spreading obscenity and debauchery”. He added: “As a citizen I felt hurt when I watched it.
This is complete nonsense and it makes me sick: all the novel and movie do is reflect, through the interlinked lives of the residents of a Cairo building, the true facts of the Egyptian, and Arab society with it’s good and bad; homosexuality exists, so does extremism, and no need to even mention the wide spread corruption.
So how is the movie defaming Egypt just by telling the truth?
Or do we only want to hear the good things about ourselves and hide the bad?
I think it’s about time our Arab societies stop turning their backs to the important issues and problems that lurk in them, acting as if they don’t exist, and try to face them head on, finding real and lasting solutions.
For those interested, here is my review of the book “The Yacoubian Building” in Arabic.