‘The Interview’ isn’t the only piece of American pop culture causing international incidents
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Version 0 of 1. One of the key takeaways of the whole "The Interview" saga is that American-made works of pop culture can be subject to very different interpretations when looked at from abroad. The now-infamous Seth Rogen and James Franco film may have seemed like a funny way to skewer one of the world's most repressive governments, but to North Korea it apparently looked like "most blatant act of terrorism and war," to use the words of one Pyongyang official. Although the North Korean response to "The Interview" was clearly unprecedented, international outrage over an American production is far from unusual. In the past few days, we've seen two smaller-scale global backlashes to American culture – and in their own ways, they might be as important as North Korea's theatrics. On Friday, Agence France-Presse reported that Egypt was banning the Hollywood film "Exodus: Gods and Kings" because of what it said were historical inaccuracies in its plot. The Ridley Scott-directed blockbuster, which tells the biblical story of Moses parting the Red Sea, has already been criticized for a variety of liberties taken with its source material, as well as casting white actors as characters in ancient Egypt. In an interview with AFP, Culture Minister Gaber Asfour went further. In particular, he criticized what he described as a claim in the movie that "Moses and the Jews built the pyramids" and said the film is Zionist. "It gives a Zionist view of history and contains historical inaccuracies, and that's why we have decided to ban it," Asfour said. The United Arab Emirates and Morocco also announced that they would ban the film. In a separate controversy, tempers have flared in Pakistan over the latest season of "Homeland," a U.S. television series staring Claire Danes that focuses on the CIA and its role in the war on terror. The fourth season of the show takes place in Pakistan, and its portrayal of the country's Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) isn't always glowing, prompting Pakistani officials to issue an unusual public response. “Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US . . . is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US,” Pakistani Embassy spokesman Nadeem Hotiana told the New York Post, also complaining that the scenes showing Islamabad (actually shot in Cape Town, South Africa) portrayed the city as "a grimy hellhole and war zone where shootouts and bombs go off with dead bodies scattered around." These aren't entirely new situations. Egypt has banned foreign religious epics before — "Noah," a Hollywood saga about biblical floods that starred Russell Crowe was banned earlier this year. "Homeland" has been criticized for its portrayal of Islamic cultures before (an article published by The Washington Post's opinion Web site even called it the "most bigoted show on television"). And, of course, foreign governments have complained about fictional portrayals of their countries for years, and there's no denying that those portrayals often can be inaccurate or unfair. However, given the increasing interconnectivity of the world, it seems likely that such incidents may become more common — and more important. It was only a little over two years ago that an anti-Islam film called "Innocence of Muslims" led to widespread and significant protests in the Islamic world. After the brouhaha surrounding "the Interview," anything seems possible. |