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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 20 June 2019
Netflix's first Arabic original sparks backlash on home turf

Associated Press Jordanians were shocked
AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — On and appalled by a pro-
a high school trip to Jor- gram that had been billed
dan's ancient city of Petra, as a point of national pride.
a group of teenagers sneak Some Twitter users blasted
out at night to drink beer, the series as pornograph-
smoke weed and gossip ic. Government ministers
around a bonfire. A girl asks vowed to censor it. Jordan's
her frisky boyfriend to take grand mufti denounced
things slow. it as "a moral degrada-
By global Netflix standards, tion." Lawmakers called an
its first original Arabic series emergency session. The at-
"Jinn" hardly pushes the en- torney general demanded
velope. But when the show the cyber-crimes unit "take
debuted last week, many immediate, necessary ac-

This undated photo provided by Netflix shows a scene from the series "Jinn."
Associated Press

tion" to pull it from Netflix. Directed by Lebanese danian society. Almost im-
While the government filmmaker Mir-Jean Bou mediately following its de-
has not made good on its Chaaya and locally pro- but, excerpts from the pilot
threats, the outrage none- duced by Elan and Rajeev episode spurred scathing
theless has shaken Jordan's Dassani, the series, featur- posts on social media.
self-image as a bastion of ing an all-Jordanian cast Complaints were various.
tolerance in a turbulent and backdrop, sought to For starters, the actors curse
region. It reflects a cultural portray Arab youth outside in Jordanian dialect.
gap between the reputa- Hollywood stereotypes and "This will encourage teen-
tion of the country's West- shine a long-awaited spot- agers to use indecent lan-
ern-allied ruling elite and light on Jordan's nascent guage in the streets, with
conservative Muslim public, TV industry. their families," said Laith al-
many of whom consider it In a Netflix statement, Bas- Tantawi, a 31-year-old Am-
"haram" — forbidden — to sel Ghandour of Jordan's man resident.
drink alcohol, smoke mari- first Oscar-nominated film Of all places, these trans-
juana or even kiss before "Theeb," hailed the series gressions occur in the his-
marriage, and look to tele- as a "real turning point" for toric site of Petra, the coun-
vision to deliver morality. Jordanian representation. try's crown jewel of tourism.
"Jordan likes to think of it- Entertainment bloggers But what seemed to bother
self as miles ahead of other praised "Jinn" as an anti- viewers most was the kiss.
Arab countries," said Jorda- dote to the grim news from "I will never allow my chil-
nian media analyst Saed the volatile region. Jordan dren to watch it. This is im-
Hattar. "But the reality is, rolled out the red carpet possible," said Khetam al-
although social media is for the series premiere at Kiswani, 42, a mother from
flooding millennials with an upscale Amman golf Amman. "It contradicts our
more modern content, our course flocked by pa- morals, society and our re-
traditional values and mor- parazzi. ligion, it contradicts every-
als have not changed." The show appeared in line thing."
The five-episode thriller with the liberal, tolerant im- Hattar, the media analyst,
centers on a private school age that the Western-edu- said that while far more
in the capital of Amman, cated King Abdullah II and scandalous American
a bubble of liberalism and his glamorous wife Queen shows flood the country's
privilege in the country. Rania have promoted for screens, he had never be-
School buses cart the teen- Jordan in spite of the coun- fore seen Jordanian actors
agers off to a wide-open try's widespread poverty, kiss on TV.
desert haunted by ancient largely tribal society and "Much of the country lives
demons that make strange authoritarian legislation. As in camps and rural areas
and terrifying things hap- the U.S.'s closest Arab ally, and follows the orders of
pen. Jordan is one of the largest patriarchal society. They
Prior to the release, the in- recipients of American aid. do not condone such pub-
ternet was buzzing with But the royal family's cos- lic displays, even if these
pride in the first Netflix origi- mopolitan reputation things happen privately,"
nal from the Middle East. doesn't entirely reflect Jor- he said.q