Job Discussion Forums

[scot47]

Well I am not sure. Whenever I see the "Pious Ones" driving around in their "mutawamobiles" (ie GMC Suburbans) I am reminded of the similarities between these guys and Southern Baptists.

I thank the Beneficent One that he made me a Dissenter and a Socinian !

[johnslat]

Dear Sheikh,

"There nothing I have seen anywhere that is close to The Sopranos in quality, for example. The best stuff comes from HBO and other premium, commercial-free channels."

I tend to agree - I loved Six Feet Under" and I love "Weeds."

However, it does raise a point. I wonder if Saudis (and other watchers in other lands) really "see" the same program that we do. Oh, I'm not talking about "censorship"; I'm referring to "cultural context."
I think most Americans see "The Sopranos", for example, mostly as a comedy (at least that's the way I see it), but do Saudis watching the same show see it that way?
You know, I suspect that many do not.
Regards,
John
Regards,
John

[Cleopatra]

[Sheikh N Bake]

Johnslat...well, to continue our regularly scheduled tangent, personally I see The Sopranos as a nuanced show with multi-dimensional characters, definitely with funny moments, and mostly fascinating subplots, and I like the way the storylines shift back and forth between mafia business and family business, sometimes intersecting. (Sweetness and light, Tony Soprano drives his lovely daughter around New England for her college campus visits, and whacks a wiseguy-stoolpigeon while she's wandering the hallowed halls of Bowdoin.) Talk about contrasts. And talk about multi-dimensional, Tony is a fascinating, multidimensional character. In sum, if you stacked up nine episodes of Sopranos against the nine hours or so of the Godfather trilogy, you'd find the former far more satisfying--no contest. I thought you'd have to be American to enjoy this show, but I saw the [censored versions] flying off the video shelves into British customers' hands in Abu Dhabi.

Speaking of other premium-network prductions, I loved Dead Like Me.

[Sheikh N Bake]

Cleo: My US-trained Arab dentist in Dubai longed for Dubai to be transformed into to LA or New York. But then, I have a feeling you wouldn't necessarily take issue with that concept. And "We'll always have Riyadh."

[Cleopatra]

[scot47]

No great USAnophile but I think I would prefer LA to Dubai too ! Dubai is awful. Tinseltown gone mad. Even Riyadh seems sane after that place !

If you want it all in its horror just look at "Burj Al Arab".

[Sheikh N Bake]

Yes, and if it reaches 2700 feet, the Chinese will have to revise their latest tower to 3,000.

An excerpt from an article on Dubai (who cares about Saudi, anyway? Revelance to the thread? Pshaw, I say):

[Dubai is] a modern-day Casablanca on steroids, a soon-to-be over-the-top, oversized, outlandish version of Las Vegas that even without the casinos will make Vegas look like a quiet hamlet in Vermont where the biggest excitement came in 1952 when Mad Dog Madden chopped down Mortimer Pumblechook�s maple tree in a fit of syrup-producer envy. Forthcoming developments in Dubai are supposed to include replicas of the Eiffel Tower, the Great Wall of China, giant ships in the middle of the desert and, according to one account, �a huge snow dome that looks like Superman�s home planet.�

Until then, Dubai�s got pubs, nightclubs (yes, alcohol flows freely), really big malls (Emirates Mall has an indoor ski slope), tropically landscaped beaches and the world�s highest concentration of hotels.

�Ah,� says my mythical cigarette-smoking fat man in the hotel caf�, �And how long do you staaayyy in Casablanca?--I mean, Dubai?�

�Who can tell, sir--who can tell?� I reply, patting my inside pocket to feel the letters of transit that are signed by General De Gaulle and cannot be rescinded or even questioned. �I live in Dubai. Perhaps I will die in Dubai.�

By 2008 this smog-encrusted jewel by the sea will supposedly have a quarter-million British residents installed in their newly owned condos (built by Pakistani laborers laboring under slave-like conditions and wages). The Brits have apparently eschewed the old Spanish Costas for the more cosmopolitan trappings of Dubai. But do they know the temperature in Dubai soars to 120 degrees F. with 90% humidity? Thank goodness for air-conditioned malls with indoor ski slopes. Who knows--fake London-style drizzles and fog may be just around the corner from that Burberry shop.

[Cleopatra]