MTV Arabia Beams “Bling” to Gulf

“Respect and reflect, that has been our mantra from day one,” repeats Bill Roedy, vice-chairman of MTV Networks, as he prepares for the launch of the network’s 60th channel. In partnership with the Dubai-based Arab Media Group, the programming will serve the Gulf region and reach an estimated 190 million young Arabs. Youth in the Middle East are caught between the extreme opulence of cities like Dubai and the war-torn destitution of nearby Iraq; between young women on TV screens, writhing in gold bikinis, and fundamentalist demands that women cover their hair and faces; between youth who identify with a culture of entertainment and those who pursue activism and political protest. As religious censorship and multinational corporations clash and collaborate, some remarkable images slip through: a local UAE woman, for example, who raps in her black abaya. MTV’s presence in the Middle East may stir some cultural outrage, but will also emphasize commonalities among the world’s young people: intolerance for the chasm between rich and poor along with an irrepressible desire to express that intolerance – often in an artistic form borrowed from “another” culture. –YaleGlobal