Joud Al-Amri Saudi Gazette JEDDAH — The political uprisings in the Middle East have changed the habits of television viewers in the Arab world. Many young men and women who are usually keen on watching TV drama series in Ramadan are no longer interested in them this season. There are several reasons for such changes of attitude but the most important one is the impact regional events have left on the quality of TV shows. Sulaiman Al-Hamdan, 19, used to stay glued to his TV in Ramadan to watch the various shows. But now everything has changed and this habit has become a matter of the past. “Watching TV shows in Ramadan used to be so much fun. This Ramadan, most serials contain inappropriate content, which should not have been aired in this holy month. However, comedy shows are fine and I watch them,” he said. Reham, 25, says Ramadan is a holy month and the last thing Muslims want during this month is to be distracted by inappropriate TV scenes depicting dancing and singing. "Watching such scenes increases our sins in this holy month." Hutoon Ahmad, 30, feels sorry about what happened in the Arab world, particularly in Egypt. She said pre-revolution Egypt used to produce excellent TV series focusing on significant social problems in addition to entertaining sitcoms. “I grew up watching the Sherihan show, which was very entertaining and did not have any inappropriate scenes, and all actresses dressed modestly.” In her opinion, the quality of current TV shows is not even close to the old ones. She believes that today's TV shows will have a negative impact on future generations. Khalid Al-Maree, 20, believes that the turmoil has had its toll on TV producers as many of them seem to focus on violence. He said most series send subliminal messages about violence to viewers. “This is a month of mercy and worship. There should be more religious programs to help Muslims draw closer to Allah.”
