Remark: I’d like to thank Ilana for helping me think through this post even though she might not completely agree with it.
Following a (way overdue) statement by the Lebanese Psychiatric Association that homosexuality is not a disease, a recent article in the Economist highlighted the increased intolerance towards homosexuals in Lebanon. Of course, there is still a long way to go; people’s attitudes in general are still far from acceptance and we continue to witness revolting practices like the Internal Security Forces subjecting individuals to anal examinations.
One interesting angle from which we can try to tackle Lebanese people’s attitudes towards homosexuality is media representations of LGBTs, the most prominent of which is probably Majdi w Wajdi.
Majdi and Wajdi are two gay men (played respectively by Abbas Chahine and Adel Karam) who are recurring characters on the Lebanese comedy show Ma Fi Metlo (previously La Youmal). To paint a more concrete picture, this is one of the first episodes where they appear, and this is a more recent one – unfortunately there are no subtitles for people who don’t speak Arabic, but you’ll get the idea. The idea is that Majdi w Wajdi are highly stereotyped: they are very effeminate, they have an insane obsession with sex and anything that has a phallic form (batteries, carrots, etc.), they have unstable relationships full of drama, etc etc.
The first thing I’ll say about Majdi w Wajdi is that the fact that they were on air on a show as popular as the show they are on is an indicator that people’s attitudes have changed. This would be unthinkable in most other Arab countries and even in Lebanon one or two decades ago. The other thing I’ll say is that, in my mind, there is no doubt that these two characters have – probably unintentionally – done a lot to increase people’s tolerance of homosexuality.
Ma Fi Metlo, La Youmal before it, and the legendary SL Chi are incredibly popular shows that draw their strength in great part from their ability to represent Lebanese society – in all its diversity, fragmentation, and ridiculousness – to itself. Each one of their characters reminds me of someone I have met in real life, and I think every Lebanese person feels the same way. A few examples that come to mind are Mr Loughat, who keeps trying to impress his interlocutor by speaking in (the worst) French and English, El Rafi2 Doumit, the boisterous, reckless Christian Lebanese Forces supporter, and Jean-Luc, the Americanized, hippie youth who starts every sentence with “mèèèn.”
The presence of Majdi w Wajdi on this show, despite how inaccurate a depiction it is, is a – again probably unintended – message that homosexuals are part of our society – they exist as much as the Doumits and Jean-Lucs of the world. The fact that a lot of other characters on the show (their friend Titi in the clip from the first link I included, the gym coach in my favorite Majdi w Wajdi episode) interact with them normally while acknowledging their homosexuality is also great. In considering Majdi w Wajdi, I would say it’s important for people who care about Lebanon’s homosexual community to step back from an immediate reaction of taking offense at how stereotypical they are and consider other, more positive, changes occurring.
That said, we should also realize that (like this paper on media representations of gays in the Philippines notes) a very skewed representation of gays like Majdi w Wajdi develops prejudiced attitudes and a simplistic, unfair conception of what being gay means. However, in making representations of homosexuals in the media okay, it opens the door for more accurate and complex depictions. For instance, Nadine Labaki has represented more human homosexual characters in two Nancy Ajram video clips (mentioned here by the gay Lebanese Blog “Hi mom. It’s me Beirut Boy.”) and her movie Caramel. I hope we can see more of these depictions in the future, as they can help increase acceptance of LGBTs in Lebanon and the region given the dissemination of a lot of Lebanese cultural production throughout the Arab World.
PS: I googled around a bit and I found two very interesting posts by gay Lebanese bloggers about Majdi w Wajdi; one lays out why he hates Majdi w Wajdi, and the other (on “Hi mom. It’s me Beirut Boy.”) explains his more nuanced feelings about it, which are probably closer to mine.
