CAIRO – It is sometimes difficult to gauge the level of understanding of film theory these days: how clear must message be to for audience to “get it”, how obvious does a joke have to be to reach a massive audience, has the art of sarcasm disappeared to be replaced by meanness, or will there be no need for satires and parodies anymore. Regardless of the expected negative reaction filmmakers have towards censorship, in a way it has helped the artist actually work harder on the expression of his/her creativity to bring out a better film, and there are so many great examples such Al-Keif (1985) starring Mahmoud Abd el-Aziz and Yahya El Fakhariny, or Adel Imam's films Al-Avacato (The Lawyer, 1984), and Tuyur Al-Zalam (The Birds of Darknes 1995) or even the film Tofaha (A Girl Named Apple, 1995) starring Leila Elwi and Maged Al-Masry. Since the January 25th revolution, television especially, which is quicker to respond to current events than film, has been filled with comedy shows and or even just real talk shows. Here, let's just focus on the comedy, a genre that is now filled with jokes about the last regime, which is completely understandable; there is thirty years worth of material that has been bubbling beneath the surface that is finally free to come to light. There are still those who are a bit dangerous to touch on, like the Muslim Brotherhood, or the Salifis , who under the last regime, people were free to portray them badly or negatively, but not in a comedic way for two reasons; reason one is because since they still consider that their message is from God, one has to be careful to just go out there and make fun of them; and the second reason is because having them as part of a joke might lessen the seriousness of the danger they represented, according to the old regime. So now that the big bad is gone, and someone new will eventually take control of the country, perhaps if not definitely won't be the same aggressive hold Hosni Mubarak had, but to a certain extent, one wonder if we will be able to comfortably criticise the new leader or the regime without hiding behind fake name, or having a stock character represent who the filmmaker are aiming for. From one perspective, if that occurs, one must also wonder if the layers of drama wall disappear; the innuendos, and the supposedly under-the-table shots aimed at government officials. It's for certain that the old regime knew it was about them when they saw it, but of course let these jokes pass by so as to camouflage the oppression. It almost felt as if there was a special relationship between the audience, the characters, and even the stars on the screen – that they were only a part of the great joke, that they lived through the same things and this was a way to relate to them. Now though, the ability to relate comes from just saying not only what the audience are saying, but also thinking, because the censorship used to be about what you think shouldn't be said. So now actually the dynamic between audiences and cinema, its characters, and stars has changed; the way they relate to each other does not come from just the fact that they are in the same boat, although many have demonstrated that in Tahrir Square, when the average person was joined by many celebrities who felt the same. Now, what's interesting is that these new characters will emerge on the screen; it will not just be about having the audience feeling empathy, but it's now about leading, predicting what's ahead for Egyptian citizens and how the audience will react to that will be very telling. Not having speaking in codes may reflect reality more, but that will alter reality as well. People on the street have become so comfortable with film language that they have adopted it, especially when it comes to humour. Now films will try to mimic reality as the filmmaker perceives it, which will then reflect on reality, and it will ultimately by manipulated by what's on screen. The little jabs taken at officials and the corruption which still goes on in Egypt will be more out in the open, they will not just be “winks” sent to the audience; it will be as if the audience is participating with the characters in the conversion. That will eventually change more when the art form changes, so subjects that people usually find repulsive, or sacrilegious, or don't follow traditions will be focused in a different way. Once all the jokes and “bad-mouthing”, or showing suffering pointed the finger directly at the old regime (even within the “code”), but now the finger will eventually be pointed towards the audience, and will be more of self-criticism. Things that we could not speak about freely before will have to be approached with newfound freedom, such religion and sex. When that happens, will the criticism be straightforward, or like before wrapped up nicely with a wink?
