CAIRO: The rape scene in Egyptian actress Youssra's new Ramadan TV series, A Public Opinion Case, was denounced for tarnishing Egypt s reputation by member of the National Council for Women s Rights, Ahlam Hanafy. The series, which airs daily on local Egyptian television and Dubai satellite television, caused controversy when it was broadcast fully on the latter channel. Hanafy condemned the fact that the uncensored version was aired on a foreign channel, while ten minutes were axed from the version screened on Egyptian TV. "Broadcasting this scene might scare tourists, especially since it was aired on Dubai television, which makes us wonder, Hanafy reportedly told Al-Masry Al-Youm. "This is a big overreaction, Tarek Al-Shinnawy, Egyptian movie critic, told Daily News Egypt in a comment on Hanafy's statement. Al-Shinnawy says the producer's decision to cut the scene from the version that was broadcast on Egyptian local television wrong. "It is not the producer's decision to cut or add scenes in the first place. The vision in a TV drama belongs to the director who should be the sole decision-maker in that regard, he said. Al-Shinnawy believes that the rape scene was necessary as it is meant "to express the level of violence used against women in our society, indicating that any feelings that viewers have after being exposed to the scene is natural. He makes an analogy with Mel Gibson's "The Passion of the Christ where the violent gory scenes were painful to viewers but were essential to show the amount of pain that Christ endured. He thinks that the National Council for Women's Rights has no right to make such a comment. "'Egypt's reputation' has become a widely used justification for thwarting any criticism of wrongs in our society. According to Al-Shinnawy, American cinema and moviemakers have dealt with all types of corruption, drug abuse and rape incidents that happen in their community and this has neither affected their tourism rates nor has it tarnished the reputation of the US. "The USA is still the number one country in terms of economic growth, Al-Shinnawy added. Although Hanafy was not available for comment, Aziza Youssef, member of the Education, Training and Scientific Research Committee at the National Council for Women's Rights stressed that Hanafy did not speak on behalf of the council. On the other hand, Hafez Abu Seada, director of the Egyptian Organization for Human Rights, told Daily News Egypt that there is nothing called "tarnishing Egypt's reputation. "These TV series are nothing but a type of art that is meant to deliver messages to society to draw attention to certain issues and to entertain, Abu Seada said, who also added that the drama can be criticized for its artistic merit, "but to relate it to Egypt's reputation, this is completely irrelevant.
