CAIRO - The key mission of TV drama should be to imbue the viewing public with lofty values, say media experts. However, TV show-makers nowadays seem to have another target on their minds, which is to make large money regardless of the harmful impact of their works. Every year, Egyptians, celebrating the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, are bombarded with TV soap operas. The current Ramadan is no exception. Still, this year's fasting month is different in coinciding with the second wave of the revolution, which peaked on 30 June with huge street protests resulting in the army's overthrow of Islmist president Mohamed Morsi. Egypt's political polarisation and turmoil have since deepened. Although Egyptians are riveted by home politics and eagerly view local political talk shows, there is a remarkable increase in TV drama productions. TV producers are scrambling for capturing the public's attention. In this fierce competition, TV shows are packed with audacious and taboo-breakers. Local soaps being shown on local TV stations tackle pedophilia, incest and sexual abnormalities, which are taboos by Egyptian standards. The shows are also notorious for vulgarities and steamy scenes, which debase the spirituality of the month. For example, the TV series, el-Qaserat (Underage Girls) revolves around the marriage of young girls to far older men. The veteran actor Salah el-Saadany plays an old villager married to two child girls. He is seen in a shocking scene featuring his wedding night with his third wife, who is hardly 12 years old. Another controversial soap, Moga Hara (A Heat Wave), dramatises the hidden life of prostitutes and sexual relations between women in prisons. In Hekayet Hyaht (The Tale of Hayat), illicit affairs are featured. "Two years ago, I realised that these TV soap operas are not made for us. That's why I keep television switched off in Ramadan and never allow my children to watch these series," Amal Ra'afat, a schoolteacher, said. Unlike Amal, Heba is keen on watching Ramadan shows, but she says she has been shocked this year by "provocative scenes and words". "I regularly watch the TV series 'Zaat'. It is a good drama, but I was traumatised by the cruel scene of Zaat (the protagonist) going through female gentile mutilation," said Heba, an optometrist. "I was sitting with my family watching the series and then I left because it was improper to see this scene with the family." Daring scenes have long been familiar in Egypt's films. But conservative Egyptians say such scenes are unacceptable on TV. "If there is a movie in a cinema, you have the choice not to go to watch it. This is not the case with television. Everyone of different ages can easily see what is beamed into our houses on TV. That's why it's important to have censorship on works that deal with taboos," Heba added. Entertainment critics, however, say that TV drama only mirrors what is happening in real life. "The people should be aware that the spoken language out on the streets has changed a lot. Some words, which used to be regarded as offensive, have become a normal jargon," said critic Tareq el-Shenawy. "Most script-writers this season are from the young generation. So they use the vocabulary of their generation. What we see on the screen expresses the reality that we can't be separated from it."
