CAIRO: Hollywood’s fascination with portraying the Arab as bad is nothing new. On the contrary, it has been going on for decades, with films like Laurence of Arabia, True Lies and Disney’s Aladdin. This year’s blockbuster and Oscar-hot film Syriana is nothing different. Or is it?
The word Syriana is a term used by Washington think-tanks to describe a hypothetical re-shaping of the Middle East.
Syriana is a star-packed-political-thriller by director Stephen Gaghan. Instead of exposing the world of drugs as he did in his award winning film Traffic, he chooses to expose the world of oil, a raw material that has considerably re-shaped foreign policy for many nations. The plot of this film takes a close look into the characters involved in the oil industry, magnifying the drive for power between them. He uses sheikhs, executives, spies, workers, lawyers and an Arab prince as the protagonists. Although they all have different positions in the world of oil; the film reflects the dark aspect of working in the business and actually distributes the evil quite evenly amongst all the cultures and organizations.
Although Arabs are not portrayed in the best light, this film is perhaps a first in attempting to portray them more fairly, leaving the audience to make there own mind. Although they do attempt to portray the terrorist, played by Egyptian actor Amr Waked, they also show educated Arabs striving for democracy; the film does not willingly point the finger at one character as being good or bad.
Syriana has an all star cast, featuring such heavy weights as George Clooney (who took home the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor in the film) and Matt Damon. Neither one of them, however, is portrayed as a hero. Each character is equally as influential and equally as corrupt.
According to Jack Shaheen, author of the award winning book Reel Bad Arabs, “Syriana does not vilify the Muslim world, its people, religion or culture. Instead, the film warns us to be wary of power moguls, men who consider the deaths of innocent people acceptable.
The idea of the film is very complex and may not be fully comprehended by many. The politics of the oil industry is also much too large to be condensed into a two hour screenplay. But the way in which the movie focuses mainly on the characters, their interactions, and touches on a human interest side make it a good watch for anyone, whether or not they have a firm grasp on all matters related to political science.
A wildly entertaining thriller, Syriana has an intelligent storyline which educates you as well as excites you and also plays well on your emotions, and for a change, it doesn’t leave you angry at Arabs; who although are portrayed badly, are not any worse than anyone else in the film.
Syriana is playing at Galaxy Cinema and CityStars.
