Comment is free Brokeback desert

Comment is free: Brokeback desert http://commentisfree.guardian.co.uk/brian_whitaker/2006/03/brokeb...Brokeback desertIt is a pity Brokeback Mountain isn't showing in the Arab world, because it resembles current reality there. March 21, 2006 11:12 AM | Printable versionWith a couple of hours to kill at Doha airport in Qatar a few weeks ago, I wandered into a shop selling newspapers, gifts and a small selection of books. Among the rather bland titles on display, one book stood out a mile: it was Brokeback Mountain.There was only one copy in stock, and I suspect it had somehow got there by mistake, since the film version of Brokeback has not been shown anywhere in the Arab world and there's no sign that it will be any time soon.The ministry of culture and information in the United Arab Emirates has already banned the film on the grounds that it "will destroy the values and morals" of society."Brokeback Mountain is a film which has nothing positive about it," said Dr Abdullah al-Amiri, a prominent member of parliament in Sharjah emirate. "The portrayal of the sexual behaviour of its main character [sic] is offensive to eastern societies, particularly Muslims and the Arabs, since Islam forbids abnormal behaviours like homosexuality ... The film will upset the people of this culture and tradition." In Saudi Arabia the question of showing Brokeback simply doesn't arise: the ultra-conservative kingdom sidesteps the problem of censoring films by not ...