Amal al-Hilali (Al Arabiya)
An unprecedented Tunisian series, Casting, has caused uproar among many Tunisian families for its flagrant and explicit airing of kissing scenes in Tunis' public TV.
Some angry viewers formed groups on the social networking site Facebook campaigning to ban the series that they claim have ‘assaulted' Tunisian traditions of family-values and crossed all red lines with repeated kissing and bedroom scenes in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
In Ramadan, families in the Arab World are entertained by the many TV series produced by competing countries mainly Egypt and Syria.
Other Arab series also deal with subjects generally considered taboo in the Arab world, most notably the famous Egyptian series is "Zuhra and her five husbands", but Casting has this Ramadan been in the forefront of provoking reactions.
Touched a nerve
A scene from the tenth episode of the show has touched a nerve of many viewers who that uphold family-values and tradition.
The episode shows a teenage girl spending the night with a man in his thirties who later asks the young girl if he was the first person to ‘sleep' with her.
In the past two years a new culture has emerged in Tunisian series which includes previously prohibited subjects such as sex, drugs and rape, a far cry from previous themes Tunisians were used to watching, including rural life and patriotism.
Some viewers have also expressed concern that the series will tarnish the image of young Tunisian women
The series have also focused on the aesthetics as it has chosen models as caste members to attract viewers.
(Translated from Arabic by Dina al-Shibeeb)
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