Amid the ongoing war in Lebanon, platforms like Netflix offer moments of escapism for those staying home, hoping to find brief relief from the turmoil around them. Photo by freestocks on Unsplash.
When Israel’s aggressions and bombardment began escalating in Lebanon in late September, people became displaced in their own country, seeking refuge in “safe areas,” public schools, or homes of friends or family. Others, especially those residing close to “targeted areas,” were trying their best to remain indoors and as safe as possible. Since most of my time was spent indoors, I found myself constantly glued to a screen. It usually consisted of me watching the news, hoping the violence doesn’t reach the areas my family and I are staying in and enduring images of the destruction ‘Israel’ was leaving behind in their path to expel our people from their land.
Even when I would end up with free time and in need of relief, my screen was still the go-to. My first instinct was usually to open Netflix. As someone who has always relied on films and TV shows to destress or escape from reality, I had hoped that they would help me achieve that even now. With its wide selection and many releases that come out regularly, Netflix was, in theory, a perfect escape from the stressors of aggression. However, a deeper look into some missing films and an analysis of ongoing shows made it harder to escape the overwhelming nuances of what was unfolding in our country and region.
Netflix has removed the Palestinian Stories section on its platform, featuring nearly 32 films about Palestine, leading to backlash from several rights groups.
— BFM News (@NewsBFM) October 26, 2024
“How does Netflix justify the removal especially when Palestinians are facing genocide in Gaza?” questions rights group… pic.twitter.com/zjeATYpV5r
Palestinian Stories…no more
Almost reminiscent of the times of the COVID-19 pandemic, we found ourselves surfing Netflix’s library to find shows and films to entertain us while our movement was limited. Ironically, it was during the late stages of the pandemic that a series of Palestinian films became available on Netflix under the library titled “Palestinian Stories.” However, by mid-October of this year, at least 19 films were removed from the streaming service. While Netflix claims that this was due to the expiration of the licenses after three years, many activists have labeled this act as erasure.
Films and TV shows have long been political and used as a form of representation. Western media has actively played a role in promoting Israeli voices at the expense of Palestinian and Arab ones. Widely-advertised, Israeli-made shows such as Fauda and The Spy paint Palestinians as terrorists while normalizing and justifying Israeli occupation and violence. Therefore, Netflix’s censoring of Palestinian voices is not coincidental: it comes at a time where ‘Israel’ is regularly cutting internet and communication from the Gaza Strip throughout the ongoing genocide, limiting Palestinian stories from reaching the world. Netflix has often prided itself by creating or showing content about queer, racial, and other forms of struggle as a form of activism. Hence, the removal of Palestinian Stories, which cover a marginalized group in the midst of them being ethnically cleansed, stands as a testament to the limitations of such “activism”.
Mohammad and Safa, contestants on Love is Blind Habibi, appear in a show criticized for sidelining Palestinian identity, with Mohammad’s heritage only briefly acknowledged during his wedding. Post by Netflix MENA on Instagram.
Love is Blind Habibi
As for what remains, many people in Lebanon and abroad have been enticed to watch the new reality TV show Love is Blind Habibi, the Arab spin-off of the popular American show, Love is Blind. In general, the cast are clearly upper-class Arabs who reside in the United Arab Emirates, some of whom also grew up in Canada, Europe, Africa, etc. While reality shows tend to create regionalized spin-offs for audiences to relate more to the cast, values, and events, this cast achieved the opposite. They portrayed a lifestyle that only a small portion of Arabs can relate to. At some points, what is being depicted is simply misrepresentative. For instance, the contestant Ammar refuses to allow his partner Karma to continue belly dancing should they get married and gives her an ultimatum to choose between him and dancing. He argues that allowing women to dance does not align with his “traditional Arab values,” while in reality, belly dancing has been a core part of Arab culture for generations. This isn’t to say many Arab men don’t also hide their fragile masculinity behind this or similar excuses, but what truly baffled me as a viewer was how not one contestant argued with him, or at least none of those arguments were shown in the final cut. Many of the expectations the contestants had from their partners demonstrate now-recognized toxic behavior which are justified as portraying “tradition over modernity.” Take Nour, for example, whose lines like “those feminists ruined everything for us” and “there aren’t any real men anymore” aimed to emphasize her expectations of being in a patriarchally-reinforced relationship.
The disconnect from the characters might have been fine for the casual viewer, who maybe got in a good laugh at how comedically disconnected the contestants appeared from reality. But it’s hard not to notice that the filming of this show was happening around the same time Israel’s genocide in Gaza began in October 2023, aligning, coincidentally, with the Western media timeline of dehumanizing Arabs and Palestinians.
One example of that is when British news presenter Julia Hartley-Brewer yelled at Palestinian activist Dr. Mustafa Al Barghouthi, saying: “Maybe you’re not used to women speaking” back in January, driving the narrative of Arab men being patriarchal by nature. This begs the question of how Love is Blind Habibi’s Arab crew members were fine with this image they spread, which hurts Arabs and fuels imperial agendas.
This is not to mention that the show was produced in the UAE, which normalized ties with Israel in 2021. Since October 2023, it has been regularly rejecting visa applications for Lebanese citizens, especially Shia Muslims. Under the same breath, flydubai has announced 7 daily flights on the Tel Aviv-Dubai route starting September 6 and the Emirati government has demonstrated its allegiance by sharing intel with the US and Israel ahead of Iran’s attacks on Israel in April.
Furthermore, there is the issue of hiding Love is Blind Habibi contestant Mohammed’s heritage. Aside from an ornament with the word ‘Palestine’ written in Arabic during his house tour, there was no indication of Mohammed’s origins for the majority of the show. When he spoke of his family, he only mentioned his connections to Jordan. It wasn’t until the episode of his wedding that he stated he was also Palestinian while very briefly discussing the tradition of the Palestinian zaffa during a wedding. This further fuels the accusation of Palestinian erasure against Netflix.
Finding Ola is a show praised for its relatable humor and authentic portrayal of Arab family life and relationships. Post by Netflix MENA on Instagram.
Finding Ola
It can be infuriating how a reality TV show, watched to destress, can lead to a rabbit hole of realizations and offense at misrepresentation. Inversely, the second season of the Egyptian dramedy Finding Ola –released on September 26 on Netflix– felt like a breath of fresh air. The show, a continuation of the 2010 show Ayza Atgawez (‘I Want to Get Married’), follows Ola after her divorce struggling to balance her new business, being a mother, and finding new love. The season offered many well-needed laughs in its relatable humor that usually comes as a result of three Arab generations living under one roof. On the show, the character Montasser fulfills his dream of visiting Paris only to get pickpocketed near the Eiffel Tour. He is taken to a predominantly Arab district of Paris by a stranger to help him get back his belongings. Ultimately, he would reply to “How was Paris?” with “I didn’t go to Paris, I went to Al Gharbia” —referencing an area in Egypt’s Delta region. It is a far better representation of Paris than Emily in Paris, in my opinion.
Finding Ola also painted an accurate picture of navigating modern relationships and values in traditional cultures. Ola’s brother, Hazem, takes it upon himself to be an authoritative figure for his niece in the absence of her father after she gets her first period, restricting her movements and wardrobe options and trying to reinforce that mentality in his nephew. The show demonstrated how this behavior only encourages distance and dishonesty between children and their parents and also motivates educating the older generation instead of portraying them as a lost cause. It did not try to convince the audience that that is how Arabs are by nature. Sadly, this show wasn’t marketed as heavily as Love is Blind Habibi. It’s hard to know why for sure. It could just be that the Love is Blind franchise is more likely to get viewers from the name alone than Finding Ola. But why is the difference so significant? It is widely agreed upon nowadays how negative stereotypes in media affect viewers’ perspectives, but has anyone questioned whether viewers are more likely to gear towards media that reinforces stereotypes? And if streaming services are therefore more likely to push that content to gain more viewers?
Known for its honest depiction of queer struggles, Heartstopper has drawn criticism for its Western framing, which limits relatability for Arab audiences. Behind-the-scenes post by Heartstopper on Instagram. Post by Heartstopper on Instagram.
Heartstopper
Moving on to foreign selections, the third season of the British show Heartstoppper was also released in late September. Throughout its run, the show has been praised for its authentic portrayal of queer relationships and struggles, breaking the barrier of its setting and reaching audiences from different countries and backgrounds. The latest season delved into newer topics such as being non-binary and mental disorders such as OCD and eating disorders. Those, too, were portrayed effectively. And yet, to my surprise, I found it difficult to care this season. While the struggles can be universal, they are also portrayed from a Western lens. This is expected from a British show starring a British cast, and one can’t blame it for not being otherwise. But after a year of the West demonstrating time and time again its nonchalance towards Arab lives and struggles, I began to wonder why Arabs should care about theirs. Even though the struggles themselves can be relatable, the means by which they deal with them are not. Westerners have easy access to proper mental health institutions, gender-affirming surgeries, and forms of communal support. Would they care that Palestinian and Lebanese people are being deprived of those? One can partially attribute this to Israel’s genocide and its pinkwashing campaign, also propagated by the West. It’s hard to think they would, especially after witnessing the success of Israel’s pinkwashing campaign since October 7 and before. To the Western eye, Arabs and Muslims are all homophobic, and Arab or Palestinian queer individuals either do not exist or are victims in need of Western liberation. Naturally, Western media and moviemaking supports this campaign actively. Take for example the character Khaleel ‘Kenny’ Al-Bahir in the mid-2000s sitcom The War at Home. Though his origins aren’t mentioned explicitly, his last name and being portrayed by Rami Malek indicate that he is of Middle Eastern heritage and/or a Muslim. In the show, he comes out as gay but his conservative parents kick him out, so he ends up staying at the home of his best friend Larry, whose father Dave is played by outspoken zionist Michael Rapaport.
When the Screens are Off
Perhaps these thoughts wouldn’t have come to mind under better circumstances. If I watched the latest season of Heartstopper any other time, I might have enjoyed it just as much, if not more than the previous ones. Another time, Finding Ola might not have been as heartwarming. Love is Blind Habibi might not have been as infuriating… But no matter how I tried to distract myself, the war prevailed not just physically but also mentally.
Although I recognize that profit does not care for context, I can rationalize that it isn’t realistic to expect producers, especially foreign ones, to modify their shows for audiences going through geopolitical conflicts. I can only hope that people of Arab backgrounds in the film-making industry will be more mindful of the impact their shows have on global perception. I also can argue that Netflix and other streaming giants should be more conscious of the influence their content has on cultural and political awareness.
Mahdi El Amin
Mahdi is a writer and data engineer with an interest in social and political analysis of media. He’s also a foodie, cinephile, rock climber, and traveler.
- Mahdi El Amin
- Mahdi El Amin
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