Taming The Arabs with "Al Shamshoon"

In the Arab world entertainment is often seen as a vehicle to promote Muslim values. Yet there is a great demand for western entertainment. What would Homer and Bart do in the Middle East? Well it looks like we will soon find out. The arab satellite broadcast network (MBC) will soon air the popular American television cartoon “Al Shamshoon” or in english The Simpsons! Homer will be known in the Arab world as Omar and Bart will be Badr. All references to Beer and Bacon will be removed...

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Oct. 18, 2005 — After 17 seasons of entertaining U.S. audiences, "The Simpsons" can now be seen on Arab television. While U.S. foreign policy is not always a hit overseas, there is a huge audience for American popular culture.

So the Arab satellite network MBC is bringing the cartoon saga of Springfield to the heart of the Arab world. "The Simpsons" has been exported overseas and is now called "Al Shamshoon."

The new take on the cartoon classic debuted this month, just in time for the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, as first reported by "The Wall Street Journal."

With Omar instead of Homer, and Badr substituting for Bart, MBC hopes to win coveted young viewers. After all, 60 percent of the Arab world is 20 years old or younger.

"I think 'The Simpsons' will open new horizons for us to the future by creating a new genre of programming that will appeal to young adults in the Middle East," said Michel Costandi, MBC's director of business development.

Could this be an opportunity to weaken the divide between Islamic and Western cultures?

Most future terrorists in the region could be exposed to the Simpsons!

Maybe there is a conspiracy here. Is it possible for the arab population to believe that all americans are like those in the cast of the Simpsons? .. Therefor more worthy of being killed?

Al Shamshoon.. Coming to a mosque near you soon!

Sweety


How do you like how i've come out?

Yes, this will help, and it shall through a very simple and humourous avenue; it's passive diplomacy at best. I absolutely love this, and I thoroughly enjoy being reimbursed of the fact that Arabs are quite fond of certain Western praticularities pertaining to culture, such as the Simpons.

Good find.

Luxifero

The Simpsons aren't exactly the big guns of cultural imperialism. If we can get them working like dogs to save up more cash to blow at walmart, burning money every day on soft drinks and candy so fast that they don't even know why their broke, and eating 1/3 of their meals out of a styrofoam box- in short living like your typical working to middle class American, they'll cool it in no time flat.

Really cultural imperialism isn't the way to go though. I think the best way to break a religious fanatic is to give him an objective education. Once a certain percentage of these people figure out that there isn't a god, their culture will mellow out. I also think we need to drive a wedge between the political and religious agendas over there.

Frankly, the simple answer, granted a little cold-hearted and cyncial, is just to stab Israel in the back and covertly help the Arabs destroy them. It may not be fair, but it would sure as hell serve our interests, and it's not like fairness has ever had a high value in the formulation of American foreign policy anyway. (/Donald Rumsfeld Impression) Short of that I believe we'd have to find some way of mellowing out the Jordanians so that the West Bank can be annexed by them and a total quarantine on the Israeli-Palestinian border can be enacted without economically strangling them.

After that, establish free schools and universities in the most moderate arab regions, chiefly promoting communications, media, liberal arts, etc. Get them to do some critical thinking in a secular environment and make up their own minds about things.
Mix thoroughly, bake at 400 degrees for approximately 50 years, they'll be a heck of a lot more reasonable faster than you can say "let's lynch the mullah".

excellent idea nothing beats the simpsons
they should start airing some US programs like my wife and kids and so on next

Originally posted by Syrian Sister
Sweety

How do you like how i've come out?

You live in Australia, you are hardly the person this is directed at, no matter how much you think you are..."sweety". Your less Arab now than most Americans, get used to it sister...

Skippy.

your less arab now than most americans

*scratches head*

I'm less arab than americans?

LOL how does that work? How can americans be more arab than Syrians?
---------------------------------------------

Yeah that's right, i live in australia, i have watched all the simpsons episodes including many years of Re-runs.

Have i become pro-american foreign policy? NOOO

Have i become pro-american culture? i don't think so!

Bart did give me a few nice ideas about rebelling against authority though

Your cartoons aren't going to brainwash us, i'm sorry.

It will be interesting to know how this show will affect the already tainted perceptions of Americans (and the west for that matter) most Arabs have.

When you consider that Homer, as a beer guzzling, overeating, dimwitted father of a free-spirited, recalcitrant, foul-mouthed, back talking son; and whose wife sometimes asserts her authority in the marriage; will only serve to deepen their views that America is a morally declining institution worthy of destruction by, and in the name of, Allah.

Rather than laughing at the humor of the show, Arab Muslims will instead say: "See? I told you so".

Originally posted by Freedom_for_sum
Rather than laughing at the humor of the show, Arab Muslims will instead say: "See? I told you so".

So they will be laughing at us, not laughing with us?

hmmm

Someone got it!

Even trying to entertain the thought that a cartoon will somehow reprogramme a person into becoming "American" is ludicrous. Really, how on earth can a 30 minute TV show compete against the very real people a person comes into contact with during the other 23.5 hours in a day?

I've watched the simposns, IMO it got stupid quite quickly. See the episode where the Simpsons went to Australia, from that it is crystal clear that the show is written for Americans. Nobody took offense to that episode here, just realised that in the end it was a show designed for Americans to make fun of the rest of the world.

It also tended to poke fun at both sides of the political spectrum. Particularly the religious right in America (Flanders, Reverend Lovejoy). That alone tells me this will have no effect on the arabs.

Stop it right now! I can't get off of the floor rolling around and laughing. This is tearing me up. Talk about culture shock this one ranks way up there.

I think we should play Reno 911 over there.

Originally posted by cargo
Even trying to entertain the thought that a cartoon will somehow reprogramme a person into becoming "American" is ludicrous. Really, how on earth can a 30 minute TV show compete against the very real people a person comes into contact with during the other 23.5 hours in a day?

How often do most americans say" I'll just watch this one show" and then turn around and find themselves passed out on a couch Actually it could work much like Anime has in the US, perhaps knowing how anime has impacted our society they may just be using some wishful thinking.

I was just wondering how they expect to take out 3/4ths of homers diet which is half of homers punchline and still have 30 minutes

[edit on 22-10-2005 by silentlonewolf]