Absurdistan

Reality is the best comic fodder; the truth of a joke is the cause of much of the laughter. Take this Times article on controversy in Arab tv. Here are some of the highlights:

1) And last week,...a third Saudi cleric said (in all seriousness) that children should not be allowed to watch Mickey Mouse, labeling the cartoon character a “soldier of Satan” who should be killed.

2) [The popular Turkish show, Noor's] handsome protagonist became a heartthrob, and his respectful treatment of his wife caused marital arguments and even divorces in several countries, according to reports in Arab newspapers.

3) Earlier this month...a prominent Saudi cleric declared that it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that broadcast “immoral” material...A few days later, he appeared on state television to explain. He said he had not meant to encourage or condone the murder of station owners. Assuming other penalties do not deter them, he said, the owners should first be brought to trial and sentenced to death — and then they could be executed.

Doesn't that read just like a late night joke, like something you'd hear in a Conologue? Except it's all true! The Onion better watch out: Arab news headlines could put it out of business very soon. Actually, I'm kind of two ways about this controversy: clearly the Saudi Sheiks are way way out of line with their ridiculous comments about Mickey Mouse and the wickedness of wine-sipping Muslims. On the other hand, I've seen first-hand what these Arab soap operas are like, and as much as I want to side with the viewers and freedom of expression and all that, it makes it hard when you know that the shows the viewers are fighting for are actually really really lame, replete with bad acting and men with exaggerated moustaches. Is it really worth rallying around the likes of Days of Our Lives or General Hospital? But I know, I know, it's the principal of things...

Reality is absurd. It really makes you believe in the saying that we are the creators of our own reality. We all live in illusions created by the minds of other men, and every day we get up to go to work or school, and follow the rules of the society we live in, eat cereal for breakfast and sandwiches for lunch, and carry out other acts of normalcy, we perpetuate that illusion. It's not as noticeable in a (relatively) mild society like democratic America, but you really notice it in extreme forms of society like parts of the Middle East, and totalitarian regimes like North Korea. If you want a kingdom where your subjects call you "the Leader" and worship you like a deity, then by all means, create such a reality. Kim Jong Il has done it.  L. Ron Hubbard has done it. If you want your own paradise-like resort in the Middle East and a series of islands in the shape of the World's landmasses, then by all means, create it. The sheikh of the Emirates has done it.

The catch is that the more the creation is driven by selfishness and greed, for power and money, the uglier it will be on the inside, and the more problems will fester from the inside, out. The UAE is a prime example of that- on the outside it is paradise in the middle east, but once you enter the region and hear the stories of people who live and work there who are not sheikhs or businessmen, you realize that they've got some serious issues that they are in denial about, like parents' neglection of children who are left to be raised by the servants of the house, the appalling abuse in schools not only by teachers but also among students, the lack of workers rights, the ill treatment of laborers, the wasting of resources, the awful traffic due to the burgeoning population, the corruption at every level from government to airport baggage check lines. 

Even here in Iraqi Kurdistan, though it is no North Korea or Saudi Arabia, I still do get the feeling of treading in someone else's illusion because despite all the talk about Iraqi Kurds following a milder form of Islam, it still remains a very closed society in terms of the status of women and the expectations of behavior between men and women. Women don't have careers here. Jobs? Maybe here and there. As I noted before during the soccer match, women generally are not seen strolling about with their boyfriends or accompanying them on evening outings, and any expression of love- even something as innocent as holding hands- is...perhaps not expressly forbidden, but at the very least looked upon as something to be ashamed of. I've been told that anything goes behind closed doors, but this required secrecy is exactly what I find so oppressive. 

I imagine the relationships that develop between men and women here are highly idealized, after all they can only be based on looks from afar and snatches of conversation, and the rest is left up to the imagination until marriage. People are so quick to get engaged and married here, but many don't seem ready for it; they've got the ring, but they are still boys and girls lacking maturity who don't really love the one they are engaged or married too. Of course the same can be said of the majority of young engaged/married couples in America. Hm...It's a different culture I'm dealing with, sure. Love and marriage don't mean the same thing in all corners of the world, sure.