Tuesday, July 24, 2012

`Adil Imam in Tel Aviv

`Adil Imam is a famous Egyptian comedian: like Steve Martin, the last time Imam was funny was sometimes in the 1970s.  Never funny again and his recent movie appearances are painful to watch.  He was a hard core Nasserist but he made so much money in recent years that he counted himself as a businessman who is part of the entourage of businessman around Husni and Jamal Mubarak.  He opposed the Egyptian uprising and then pretended that he did no such thing.  He lost quite a bit of support for his stance.  So Ramadan is the season of competing TV serials, and he has his own serial, called The Naji `Atallah Team.  I saw parts of the first two episodes and they deal with an Egyptian diplomat in Tel Aviv.  It is an odd show: it is a mixture of anti-Israeli expression and an expression of Arab public detestation of Israel and its crimes over the years, combined with repugnant anti-Jewish expressions (the typical vulgar anti-Semitic stuff about Jews being stingy and such), and mixed with mild expressions of acceptance for dealing at some level with Israel.  Not sure yet what the guy wants from the program.