Perhaps many of those who watched the Arab movie “Friends or Dearest”, which the global Netflix platform began showing a few days ago, might be surprised at the volume of uproar and the sharp criticism it raised, at a time when critics believe that most of the criticism raised by the film came from those who consider themselves “guardians of virtue.” “In Arab societies, and those who consider it wrong to expose the defects of society, even if they exist.
Since its first scenes, the events of the film seem to be taking place within a social framework, and an environment that does not represent the wide sector of Arab societies, which suffer from various concerns, most of which are panting after a living, and suffer from fuel shortages, high prices, and managing their living costs. Most of the film’s protagonists They seem to be from an upper-middle class, live different lives, and have different concerns.
However, the film exposed common human and social issues, in which all classes may share, such as marital infidelity and homosexuality, and the role of modern means of communication in harming marital relations. The controversy that has followed the film since its inception has focused on many aspects.
We will present some of them here, and the most important of them first: whether drama in all its forms should reflect a true picture of society? Second: The issue of the actor and how the audience sees it, in light of the attack on one of the heroines of the film, the Egyptian actress Mona Zaki, and then the issue of the role of modern means of communication, in turning family members into closed boxes of secrets.
