More and more
mainstream sources of media are becoming less satisfactory to the consumer. The
nightly news and entertainment shows which loop the same stories on repeat; the
big blockbuster hits which follow the same story line every summer; and the
headlines which compete for our attention when we open to the home page on our
browsers are losing their appeal and pushing the consumer to seek out
alternative media. Refreshing new stories and perspectives and the brains
behind them, which are rebelling against the standard cookie cutter media, are
receiving increasing amounts of attention.
One such source is the film Wadjda, directed by Haifaa
al-Mansour, a female of Saudia Arabian descent whose inspiring film about
11-year old girl has been at the center of controversy.
Living with her family in
Saudi Arabia’s capital, Riyadh, 11-year old Wadjda is fully immersed in her
culture, abiding by societal norms, and dealing with a tumultuous home life as
her father rejects Wadjda’s mother in favor of finding a second wife. All the
while, Wadjda dreams of being the proud owner of green bicycle she passes each
day on her route to school. She pleads with her distracted mother to no avail.
Finally she decides to find ways to make her own money by selling mix tapes and
eventually participating in a contest to recite the Qur’an which she wins and
looks forward to collecting the prize money to purchase her dream bicycle. To
her horror the prize money is to be donated to Palestine a decision which is
made when the judges learn of Wadjda’s intentions to purchase her first racing
bike. Disappointed by her reality, that woman of all ages are repressed by many
aspects of Saudi Arabian culture, Wadjda returns home to more fateful news; her
father has taken a second wife but more importantly her mother has gifted her
with the green racing bike which she longed for.
This is most certainly a critique on Saudi Arabian culture,
martial customs, and the treatment of woman within this particular culture and
is hardly a stretch from reality. Director Haifaa al-Mansour has been
interviewed extensively post production revealing the discrimination which she
personally faced during filming. Being
Saudi Arabia’s first feature length film, Haifaa al-Mansour was prepared to
face permitting challenges as the film took five years to produce because
Mansour insisted on the “authenticity” of the location. After approval Mansour
often found herself calling the shots from inside a van via telephone to
prevent the appearance of her giving orders to the male crew members. At points the cast and crew were forced to
work around prayer hours in neighborhoods where they were unwelcomed. Now
nominated for best foreign language film, Al Mansour humbly stated “This
is a sign that things are improving,", but there is still a long way to go
for Saudi Arabia.
It’s unrealistic to expect all cultures to be
equally progressive but it’s a shame that it requires critical praise and
academy nominations for a film to garner the respect of the Saudi Arabian
government. Popomivore, a branch of the national geographic publication,
explores some cultural realities of life in Saudi Arabia. A place with strict public gender segregation
rules, no public movie theaters and of course a country where women were
outlawed from riding bikes of any kind up until April 2013, Saudi Arabia is far
from gender neutral and in fact seems to be gender obsessed.
Wadjda not only
opened the door for criticism on the cultural taboos found in the film but in
Saudia Arabia as a whole. However, it places a perhaps a not so favorable
spotlight on a very wealthy but narrow minded government. As an alternative film, the story of Wadjda
is inspiring on its own but its back story is equally as incredible as the
determination of al Mansour to expose the not so comfortable truth, the
alternative truth that mainstream media neglects. Many independent films are
developed for this very purpose and not all slip through the cracks making
headlines. However, Wadjda draws attention to old school gender discrimination
which is taking place in the modern world. Hopefully Wadjda will aide in the dismantling
of discriminatory institutions and practices within Saudi Arabia and other like
minded nations.
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