The Egyptian blogosphere — namely Egyptian Chronicles and Masrawy — is starting to raise objections to the name of a dog in the Hollywood film, ‘I Love You, Man.’ The dog’s name is Anwar Sadat. A character explains the dog is named for his resemblance to the former Egyptian president (not, thankfully, out of admiration for his policies, as another character asks).
Let’s not get carried away though.
The bloggers are offended though for different reasons. Masrawy puts it in the context of anti-Arab portrayals in Hollywood, which tends to depict Arabs as terrorists or barbarians. Egyptian Chronicles focuses more on the insult it is to an Egyptian national symbol, and she notes that any Egyptian leader’s name shared by a dog would be a national insult. She also compares this to the outrage over the Obama-monkey dolls and argues the film should be censored.
These are certainly interesting points but I disagree.
I have often seen anti-Arab racism expressed through name-calling, but rarely are they called dogs in the United States. Actually, “dog” in the United States is not really an insult. It is actually a term of endearment (spelled “dawg”). Even the old derogatory term “bitch” — a female dog — has lost its shine, becoming so commonplace that it is more often used jokingly and harmlessly than to really hurt someone. And when it does, it has nothing to do with its canine etymological roots.
It should be noted that in the United States, people treat their dogs better than they treat their children. This is why someone here will demean another by calling him a “child.” Naming dogs after people is often seen as an honorific. So there can be cultural disconnect over the dog issue.
In this movie, though, it is clearly to mock Sadat and elicit cheap laughs. But I am not sure it is intended to demean Arabs. I am not even sure if most viewers know that Sadat or Egyptians are Arab.
Also, their arguments are weak because overall Hollywood has championed Sadat for making peace with Israel. Thus, Sadat was the subject of a 1992 bio-pic. He was played by Louis Gossett Jr. Seriously.
Another reason I am not offended is that many Arabs have called Sadat “kelb,” I am sure, and I have called him worse names. Is this a case of ‘we can trash them but other cannot’?
Sadat is a hero only among a very small number of Arabs today, so I doubt this will explode in any kind of controversy. As the for the film, I still doubt I will see it unless maybe it is offered on a flight and I have nothing else to do.
[tarboush tip: Kamilia]
Related posts:
Actually, “dog” in the United States is not really an insult.
That's precisely the issue that I had with Zeinobia's conspiracy-theory ridden blog post. Not only do most Americans have no idea that Egyptians are Arab or who Sadat is, but they also would never think of naming an adorable dog after a leader an insult! So even if she were correct about Spielberg (which I really don't think she is), it would still make no difference amongst the American public.
Posted by JillianKF | August 4, 2009, 4:32 pmI agree with you, all the way.
and I watched the film, on a flight out of germany cuz with lufthanza's poor choice of movies, i had nothing better to watch
Posted by one eye | August 4, 2009, 4:34 pmYou make a lot of sense. I did not read Zenobia’s post yet but i already read the news of some official action in the form of a lawsuit!
I disagree with you though. The movie is not mocking Sadat in any way.
Posted by Shady | August 4, 2009, 11:49 amI can understand why Egyptians might be sensitive to the Anwar Sadat joke in this movie, but I think you are all missing the point.
I would argue that it has nothing to do with Anwar Sadat, Egypt, or Arabs at all. Instead, I believe the joke functions as an illustration of how off-beat and sometimes non-sensical the character Sydney Fife is, since his dog bears no physical resemblance to Anwar Sadat whatsoever (which is made clear in a jump-cut where the image of the dog is directly juxtaposed with the image of Sadat in a poster at Mr. Fife's home). For the joke to work, the scriptwriter just needed to enlist the name of some head of state that would appear random and semi-obscure to the American public. It could just as easily been Nicolae Ceausescu or Nikita Khrushchev.
Now I'm not denying the fact that Arabs have often been demonized and insulted by Hollywood productions–(If you'd like a recent gem of the genre go check out the recent Transformers flick). I just don't think that's what's going on in "I Love You, Man."
Posted by Alyssa | August 4, 2009, 8:30 pmI find it hard to imagine really that so many bloggers would be upset, considering the names I heard Egyptians calling Sadat over the years. He was truly a dog. In the Arab sense I mean, selling his people and the Palestinians up the river for a false 'peace'.
Posted by QuidQuintessa | August 4, 2009, 8:40 pmummm arabs need to chill out and not be offended by every single thing. im arab and i found it hilarious because the dog honestly looks like him lol. but i would recommend you see it even if you aren't going on a flight and have nothing else to do. paul rudd + jason segal = crazy awesome.
Posted by Amanda | August 5, 2009, 12:20 amLike you alluded to, people who speak multiple languages tend to read something in one language and interpret it through the cultural prism of another (I know I'm guilty of that too). Dog's in Arabic culture have that negative connotation, but they don't really have that in an American one (at least not to the same extent). Even the 2 words, "dog" and "kelb", aren't as loaded in each culture. It might be offensive to an Arabic audience to think that a former head of state has a "kelb" named after him, but it is not offensive for a North American audience for a dog to be named after a former president.
Eitherway, Sadat has been called much worse things, even by his own people. So, this is probably also a case of identity politics – we can say something because of who we are but you can't because of who you are.
Posted by Salam | August 5, 2009, 3:01 amNot in admiration of his policies? Will, I'm so disappointed. I thought you were a peace activist.
Posted by programmer craig | August 5, 2009, 8:11 amYou seem to have quite a beef against Sadat. Why is that?
Posted by Angry Arab | August 5, 2009, 6:42 pmIt is definitely an insult as what if in an egyptian film we called a dog or a donkey obama, would not it be an insult? especially that all egyptians adore sadat as his time was the golden age of all egyptian. Thanks.
Amal
Posted by amal | August 6, 2009, 10:15 amtmz reports that in the new muppets movie piggy is going to dumb kermit in order to get double teamed by two pigs named husani mubarak and abu mazen…HA!
i'm arab and i say sadat and mubarak are horrible "leaders" i dont care if somebody made fun of them in a movie, they dont represent us. If they made fun of a real are leader then i'll care.
Posted by waste | August 7, 2009, 5:23 amلا أوافق على تسمية كلب بإسم الزعيم المؤمن السادات ,
Posted by أحمد بدوى | September 21, 2009, 3:14 pmYOU ARE A SISSY FAGGOT ASSHOLE COME AND SIT ON MY BIG " EGYPTIAN " COCK U SISSY FAG BITCH
Posted by FUCK U | November 5, 2009, 1:48 amReally classy! goes to show your level of your education and culture!
Posted by Hanitizer | November 7, 2009, 12:37 pmnot because anwar el sadat fucked israel in 1973 then you make him a fun of laugh most of egyptians love americans dont make us hate america :S
he is smartest president i ever see
Posted by I Am EgYpTiaN | August 22, 2010, 9:13 pmOh dogs are so lovely, i wish i could have my own loved ones of dogs. It would make my morning each day to see them have fun.
Posted by Girl Puppy Names | September 22, 2010, 9:17 pmThis continually worked with our daughter
Posted by Thao Kalkman | October 5, 2010, 12:38 am