I agree with you, and this is why I think these media forms are not taken very seriously. I found out that a very good way to send messages is through very good graffiti… for these, they don’t have to be hidden messages, you just write your thoughts in a very creative manner and it is a good way to communicate with the youth, especially those in rural villages. People don’t always have access to films, music, internet, blogs, etc, but they always have access to walls!

Personally, i think that for most of the people the most appropriate mean of communicating such messages and education is the nearest media to everybody(especially in arab world) is …….. TV.

Shows like what Oprah presents are the simplest form of communicating messages even if they say the message word by word, but we have no choice and this is reality : The majority of our society are not intellectuals and have these clichés so, we don’t have to be ashamed let us just use the simplest method to communicate messages : The Dummy American Method… Even these satellite cheikhs who are giving lessons day long understood it : Nice presentation, nice talking, simple clear words, and no need for effort to understand what they want you to understand…

Once these pre-requisite notions are present in people minds, movies, theatre, books, songs… will be efficient…

PS: Please excuse my poor english…

During “Angels of Satan,” the whole time I was expecting people to be supportive of the theme and at least understanding of the point the director was trying to make, but this was clearly not the case. People were fooling around and they were very stubborn, and unaccepting of the story. I mean, the whole point of the Imam being a part of the film is for the viewer to actually DISAGREE with his oppressive mentality! That is how the Imam was portrayed – someone who just pushes things too far and is not welcoming in any way of any liberal behavior, and I thought people would want to hear this, especially the youth. But instead they had the same mentality that this Imam did! And then they wonder why corruption is so common in our countries.

In the cinema, during a rape scene once, people were saying “woooooo she deserves it!” instead of noting the reality behind these rape scenes. Rape really does happen often and it’s very threatening, especially because after the rape cases society is never on the victims’ side. But the people in the cinema (including some girls!) were just yelling inappropriate things, and I asked one of the guys who were fooling around, “what if something like this ever happens to your sister?” and he said “when that happens then I will deal with it. But most girls who get raped deserve it, and you should know this.” I don’t understand this way of thinking. No one ever deserves such unjust crime to be committed against them, no matter what the circumstances are. No matter what she’s wearing, where she’s walking, how she looks, or whether or not she wears a hijab – no one deserves it, but society tells us otherwise. We are told “if you do not wear something decent, expect the worse, and take the responsibility if you get raped or harrassed.”

Really, I think people don’t understand the significance of things until they have a personal experience. Film is a really great way to get a social or political idea across. Too bad the people this should be directed towards aren’t listening, and the ones understanding the messages, like me and you, are already familiar with it, so it’s not making such a huge difference. It has the potential of making a very big difference, but that is not happening because, again, who is listening and who is learning? If only everyone would start to listen and take it seriously, perhaps we can have a constructive public discourse around the issues brought up. Until then, we can keep trying, like we are doing here!

I myself am a staunch believer that Art and Education does bring change into people but its a slow and tedious process. But change comes when people want change. And change is not something everybody can handle. When people know that they can’t handle change they resist it.