Reproducing Western popular culture in the native tongue of Muslim lands: the latest style of importing corrosive capitalist liberal ideas to the region

Reproducing Western popular culture in the native tongue of Muslim lands: the latest style of importing corrosive capitalist liberal ideas to the region 

 

 

 

The influx of Liberal Secular Culture in the Muslim Lands from popular movies and dramas series that are 'dubbed' into the local languages is a well-established style of infiltrating Muslim societies with values and ideals that undermine Islamic morals. The availability of contracts and licences to reproduce well known formats such as 'American Idol', 'Big Brother' and 'Britain's got Talent' (known as 'Arab Idol' 'The Boss or Al-Ra'is' and 'Arabs got Talent in the Middle East) is nothing new.

However the failure of certain formats in the Muslim world, such as 'Big Brother', have highlighted the need for greater cultural adaption of some of these shows in order to ensure longevity and secure the personal allegiance of the viewers in any given country. Whilst many of these shows are already firmly embedded into the viewing schedules of our nations, a number of formats have had problems establishing themselves and have prompted public protest from the Muslim populations in certain areas of the world. One such format was Big Brother, a show that has now been cancelled in the Middle East.

Kwintessential, a UK company specialising in business management across cultures commented on the failure of the Big Brother format to succeed in the Muslim World in the following quote:

"Targeting an audience comprising of mainly Muslims, Al-Ra'is (The Boss) failed to read the cross cultural signs. The close quarter interaction between men and women was culturally unacceptable to the majority of viewers. "It is normal for males and females to mix, but not to put them together in the same house for a long time," said 21-year-old student Maryam al-Sayrafi, who summed up most Muslims feelings on the show. The failure of Al-Ra'is (The Boss) points to two things:

1) The adverse consequences of a failure to incorporate cross cultural analysis into a business strategy; in this case a TV show.

2) The importance of cross cultural understanding in transferring ideas and concepts across cultures." (Kwintessential 7th September 2012)

From this analysis it is clear that western companies understand that in order to succeed in implanting specific concepts and ideas in a society and in order to mould mentalities and personalities on a massive scale, there needs to be a clear awareness of the culture that you are operating in. This cultural 'sensitivity' is in no way a benign expression of a corporation's willingness to elevate the nation and promote the best that is traditionally available in any given region. On the contrary, this deep awareness of the society is needed and valued in a business model in order to comprehensively subvert any independent ideas and values that may be an obstacle in a personality so that they conform to the actions that serve the interests of the business. In the case of our Muslims governments and the Capitalist companies operating in our lands, television advertising revenues can only be profitable as long as Muslim audience rating remain as high as possible. There is a direct relationship between how much more domestic viewers can identify with the media material presented to them and how sustainable audience rating become in any given region.

Whilst dubbing movies and dramas serves its purpose in the literal translation of popular western culture and is not likely to ever end as it allows for high viewing rates and advertising profits, there is currently an unexploited and growing market in the sales of popular western drama series such as "Desperate Housewives" that are being bought by countries such as Turkey, to be adapted using local actors and even local political issues so that viewers feel more drawn into the storyline and are more likely to invest and advertise the program to friends and family. The Licences issued by the original program owners even allow for adjustments in the title of the program, for example in Turkey 'Desperate Housewives' is called 'Desperate Women'. However, regardless of the fact that these media licences permits the reproduction of these shows in light of local languages and cultures, it does not eliminate the circulation of the dangerous cultural ideas that contradicts Islam. Muslim governments allow internal media corporations to pay millions of dollars to import philosophies that directly undermine the Islamic Social system with the aim of corrupting the minds of Muslims, in particular the women and the youth. It is well known that shows such as 'Desperate Housewives' have very consistent and clear themes in every episode such as:

1) Promoting feminism

2) Advocating secularism

3) Encouraging individualism

4) Undermining the role of wife and mother

5) The glorification of fornication and adultery under the guise of pursuing 'romance' and personal happiness

6) Endorsing free mixing of males and females

7) Promoting unrealistic expectations of what a man and women should be like including distorted body images aspirations.

8) Encouraging unceasing dissatisfaction with the life one has regardless of how much you have in terms of relationships and material wealth.

Of course this is not a comprehensive assessment of the conceptual attack that is being unleashed upon the Muslim Housewife, they are to name but a few. One thing is certain and that is with the use of local actors, languages, dress styles (even the incorporation of the Hijab and Jilbab) there is no possibility of eliminating these themes or compromising on the conveyance of a very ridged set of alternative viewpoints to the Islamic Way of life.