Hwages review

Review Hwages by Maud Dik

Hwages-8IES

“Hwages” or in English, “ Concerns”.<ref>http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-38520492</ref> Was Posted on Youtube December 23th. The video is created by media production company 8ies. The video has around 7 million views since it has been uploaded on Youtube. What is so special about this videoclip? The videoclip has been made by a Saudi Arabia located company, this is not weird or special. What special is, is that the content in the videoclip highlights the oppression of women in Saudi Arabia. Something that is not accepted in that culture. neither is that women drive, swim in public pools, work out in gyms, enter cemeteries, browse fashion magazines, open their own bank account, file for divorce, wear anything other than an abaya in public, and so on. Women aren’t aloud to do much in that country. Yet all these things that I just named are the things this video clip makes fun of<ref>http://www.dailydot.com/irl/saudi-women-break-stereotypes-music-video/</ref>.



About the videoclip

The women are playing basketball, skating, breaking out in dance, and rinding in some bumper cars. The only men that are featured in this video clip are the driver, which is a little boy, two disapproving official types and a Donald Trump cutout<ref>http://www.ibtimes.com/womens-rights-saudi-arabia-viral-feminist-pop-song-music-video-calls-end-men-watch-2468707</ref>. By showing these men in the video, they show how ridiculous the rights are for women. They show that even a little boy has more rights by let him driving the car but women don’t. Donald Trump is in the video probably because these days he is strict on women rights and cuts them down. The producers want to show that there are similarities in the way trump thinks about women and the way Saudi Arabia think of women. The lyrics that is sung in the clip can be translated to “ May all men be erased as they’ve given us mental illness” and “ If only God would rid us of men”. <ref>http://edition.cnn.com/2017/01/04/middleeast/saudi-song-women/</ref>These are some confronting sentences but are a good and direct way of letting people, especially in their home country , know how sick and tired they are of the male-dominated society in Saudi Arabia. it expresses women’s frustration. Something i really like about this clip. It may be controversial but it shows the direct messages and you can’t look away from it. you can’t also interpret it differently.

Opinions

By the controversiality of this videoclip there are also a lot of people whom have an opinion on this project. The reactions are very diverse if you look at the comments on the Youtube page. They differ from "The video clip is beautiful. With all the comedy, it shows one aspect of oppression girls are subjected to." to "Unbelievable video clip!! The voice is bad and the content is worse.. Imagine the girls drive (cars) and men are dressed like that and dance. May Allah protect us." but also "Foreign newspapers are mentioning it. Creatives - let the world know that there are talented people who appreciate art in Saudi Arabia. It is not all about religious police, clerics IS members and retardation." The diversity of these comments is something i really like about this project. People start talking about it, it starts a cultural discussion without intention. It has been produced and created only by men, so when i first found out I kind of thought it was weird. In a country where the men has so many rights and power. why would they make something so specific critical on those rights and powers they posses. The only thing 8ies studio co founder wanted to say about this production is "We are a creative company that produces entertainment videos through social media platforms.”<ref>http://www.8iess.com</ref> I don’t know if they intended to make such a controversial entertainment video but I think the fact that it are men whom made this, fully contributes to the message that it publicize.

I think it is a good social project because ( intended or not intended ) they take a social and political problem that apply for their country : male-dominance. By showing what women can do and making fun of the fact that they can’t because of men they create new images and a new narrative. They create a visual that shows how it could be. How they do this is very professional. they show it by the visuals but also with the songtekst. they have thought of the many sides of a videoclip and how it could communicate best. They could have chosen for images of women but instead they use “ real life” women who are acting in the activities.