Damascene wonders: Bab Al Hara
October 10, 2007
A scene from Bab Al Hara.
Time for the annual phenomenon of Ramadan television drama series, and for the phenomenon of reporting on them, as has been the fashion in the past few years. If you recall, I certainly wasn't going to be outdone and shared my thoughts on the subject last year. Alas, only a few articles have made it to print or online this year, given that we uninteresting and ungrateful Arabs have not even bothered to make series dealing with terrorism and with real Muslims’ denunciation of it. Shame on us really: what on earth is mainstream media going to write, patronizingly, about our collective souls, to show it is in touch with our hearts and is familiar with our minds?
Syrian-Egyptian rivalry, that’s what. Not that the Syrians are better, mind you; just before Ramadan started, rumor here had it that there would only be a few Syrian serials this year, because the Egyptians were back with a vengeance and because fewer television channels had agreed to buy Syrian serials; apparently, this was for political reasons, because of the anti-Syrian attitude. Nonsense, of course: Syrian drama and comedy has filled the Arabic-language satellite sphere (including all Saudi and Lebanese channels) for the past few years, regardless of the accusations against the country. We Syrians really take the biscuit, always using the “they’re against us” political excuse to rationalize anything.
Digressing every so slightly, speaking of politics, of alleged regime isolation and of International Tribunal fear (neither of which seem to be evident, as I’ve been arguing), there is a series this year called “The first night after the thousand;” I’ve only seen bits and pieces, but it is a perfect example of actual Syrian confidence, showing a fictitious state of Shahrayaristan welcoming an international commission sent by a certain Condoleezza, made up of members of the “international community” to investigate all sorts of misdemeanours (including a missing apple which made Newton miss discovering gravity). In other words, absurd accusations by people with an agenda.
But back to the alleged Syrian-Egyptian rivalry, about which Bassam Koussa, as usual, has the best response. It turns out that Syrians are all over the airwaves again -- and even more so, in fact, by sneakily taking the lead in several Egyptian series. Imagine the nerve! Like it or not, ”King Farouk “ - the most expensive Arabic drama ever made - is directed by one of my favorite Syrian directors, Hatem Ali, and, ultimate insult, it casts Taim Hassan, one of Syria’s rising stars, in the leading role. Frankly, if I were Egyptian, I would be wondering why a Syrian was chosen for this role. (I only was able to swallow his accent as an Egyptian when I heard him speak English- after that, the Egyptian seemed natural. I don’t know why even directors like Hatem Ali don’t give importance to things like foreign languages. Then again, neither do the biggest Hollywood producers.)
Syrian actor Jamal Suleiman, following a successful attempt to play a man from Upper Egypt in last year’s “Hada’ek Al Shaytan” has continued his conquest of Egyptian drama and stars in a new series whose name escapes me. You see, apart from a seemingly well-made drama starring famous Egyptian actress Yusra, dealing with rape (by the son of a minister), the Arab world seems to be mostly glued to drama with a distinctive Syrian accent – and in particular a strong Damascene accent.
Without any doubt, the “Bab Al Hara” phenomenon has swept over the Arabic-speaking world, taking us all by surprise; while the successful first part left everyone wanting more, having paused on a cliff-hanger (some people even thought it had ended badly, unaware that there was a sequel), part two has become even more popular, becoming must-see-TV for people of all ages, sexes, occupations, classes and lifestyles. First, everyone wanted to know what would happen after Abu Issam so shockingly and suddenly divorced his wife, Souad, and whether Steif, the pretend-blind beggar, would be uncovered as a murderous spy by the Za’im after so many men of the anti-French occupation resistance (sorry, I mean the terrorism) are killed.
As we finally reach the last few days of Ramadan, so much more has happened leaving us asking for more. What will it take to rehabilitate Abu Issam and restore his reputation, after an entire month of amazing events that have snowballed into one huge mess? Can it be done in the remaining couple of days? Apparently not, because Bab Al Hara - part three - is coming up!
I can report from the Syrian capital that apart from fasting and feasting, the other activity that is uniting Syrians during this holy month of Ramadan is Bab Al Hara! Every night, in every café, in every posh air-conditioned boutique, in every small shop trying to keep cool with a fan, televisions are tuned to whichever channel is broadcasting Bab Al Hara; at 9 PM local time, it’s MBC. A quick glance through the window of most “hip” cafés (including unlikely places like In House) will show table after table of young, trendy people all turned towards the large, flat screen television on the wall, taking in every word and even imitating what they hear. It is simply incredible.
Two days ago, as I waited for the elevator in the underground parking of Cham City Center (the new posh mall), I could hear the opening song of Bab Al Hara coming from the stairs. Heading to the supermarket next to the food mall, I noticed that every single table was turned towards one of the flat screen TVs mounted from the ceiling, and that every guest looking up, taking in every scene and every word. There were a good couple of hundred people there. Apparently, it’s like this everywhere; I am told Al Arabiya television announced recently that Bab Al Hara, so far at least, is the most watched television serial over the entire Arab world. Clearly, director Bassam Al Malla knows what he’s doing, responding to our collective subconscious wish for a return to a world with values, a world with honor, a world with community belonging, strong neighborly bonds and unbreakable family ties, a world when a word was the only guarantee needed. (Describing Bab al Hara merely in terms of sexism, as I’ve heard it being done, misses the entire point, and would make most international literature before the late twentieth century unreadable as well.)
Indeed, for the third year in a row (and hold on because Bab Al Hara’s Part Three is coming next Ramadan), the most popular serials have been Layali Al Salhieh, and Bab Al Hara’s two parts; we are clearly undergoing a mass longing for lost values. Apart from that, the genius of the series is that politically, and in certain ways socially, it shows that nothing changes, and that plus ça change, plus ça reste le meme.
I have even managed to find a favorite character (in contrast to a favorite actor) in this series, a choice which reveals my own sense of longing for those ‘good old days” which I never experienced; I am quite partial to Mo’taz, the fiery younger son of Abu Issam, who manages to provide humor and lightness in the midst of the most complicated of times, and who is also clearly destined to become a real “man” even before his time, never hesitating to use his fists to right wrongs, to defend injustices, and to stand by those who need him. I wonder that this says about me, and I also wonder which characters have left the biggest mark on other followers of the series. From the continued mentions of his name in numerous conversations I've heard, it is clear that the character of Ida'chari (who died in part one) played by Bassam Koussa (seen here on the left, with Samer Masri playing Abu Chehab), has left a mark.
Syrian drama (and comedy) is one of the best and getting better. Let us pray that the government, the regime, the Baath, the clergy, and all those whose interference usually complicate our lives, never get to mess it up, and that independent directors and producers find a way to market their wonderful works, with proper subtitles, outside the current boundaries. This is one project I would happily push and help get started, and my mind continually buzzes with ideas about how to do proper marketing communication for the best of our drama kings – and hopefully, some real drama queens.
I leave you with the catchy Bab Al Hara song, the intro that resonates through the streets of Arab cities everywhere at least twice a day (at the beginning and at the end of each episode), depending on how many channels one chooses to watch. On Syrian television, it is on at midday, and even my 14-month old daughter will stop whatever she is doing when she hears the first bars, remaining mesmerized by the unfolding events, until the song comes again to signal the end of another episode, and the beginning of a sweet afternoon nap.
