According to the BBC, Egyptian Karate player and actor, Yousef Mansour, is producing an Egyptian version of the U.S. Baywatch series â based on hot girls wearing swimsuits and posing as lifeguards.
| Y'mean, like, with boobs and everything? This I gotta see... |
While Mansour told the BBC he intended to change the commonly held vision of the Middle East, his idea infuriated Egyptian intellectuals and artists alike. "The foreign view is that there is nothing but war and killing in the Middle East. In the West, our image is of people driving camels," Mansour claimed.
| Maybe not quite that extreme, but I don't go to sleep dreaming of Egyptian beach bunnies... |
Dr Sahar El-Mougy, an Egyptian feminist writer and activist told IOL: âThis canât be the right way. The West has its own rules and traditions that are definitely different from ours. Changing the Middle East vision does never mean to be a copy of the West. You have always to preserve your national identity. Baywatch, even in the West, is looked down upon as a mere commercialization of the body of women. The series has no artistic or cultural value, thatâs why feminist groups and intellectuals slam such products. So, carrying out such an idea is merely reproducing the worst in the West.â El-Mougy is also an English Literature teacher in Cairo University and a Radio-Cairo announcer.
| Gawd help us all if innocent Egyptians are subjected to fluff and nonsense, instead of a daily dose of Koran... |
According to the BBC report published Monday, May 19, auditions (for the infamous series) are under way to find 10 actresses and five actors to play lifeguards in the show, Action in Hurghada. Mansour is searching for a cast to act in swimsuits.
| But they gotta have boobies... |
âI believe the idea and its owner do not even deserve comment. I mean the so-called producer (Mansour), who is he on the artistic level? How many people will be keen to watch and be affected by anything he performs or presents,â one of Egyptâs promising directors told IOL, preferring not to be named... To me, the whole idea is too ridiculous even to write about. Let him try to change the image â what image is he talking about?"
| The one with the turbans and automatic weapons... |
"Anyway, had such a stupid idea come from some valuable actor, weâd have fought it accordingly, for fear of affecting the people,â the young director added.
| Yeah. Couldn't have that, could we? |
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