Sawsen Al Abdullah

The whole of season one felt a little predictable and non-progressive. I couldn’t face watching season 2. It was full of stereotypes and cliches. I found myself eye rolling to many of the different scenes throughout. For example, the portrayal of the wife being moody/emotional/grumpy and the husband being a bit of a fool/someone that doesn’t understand women. The storyline between Rita and the teacher was a little weird, in what progressive country do men almost pressurise women into being in a relationship with them. I really dislike the character of Hordis, so many dramas portray oversized women as geeky/goofy/nerdy/bullied/no social skills etc and it’s getting too predictable- why is this always the personality given to over-weight women? And Rita, she’s tall and blonde so of course she has to be strong and sexy. I really disliked Rita’s character. I think there is a fine line between portraying female empowerment and a women who just sleeps around with anyone that she pleases while ruining families in the process. I have no idea what the intention was with this character but I saw Rita as a chain smoker who’s home life was a wreck, who neglected the needs of her own children whilst being quite childish in her own emotions and needs. I found her character to be far from empowering, she was more selfish. I also found the lack of diversity within the casting quite off putting - is this is a reflection of their society? Who knows. The only time I saw someone of Asian or Caribbean heritage was as the cleaner in school - why is this the only role someone of that heritage is capable of playing within this series? The production crew should have made more of an effort to diversify their castings. The stereotypes within this series felt incredibly outdated. Again, perhaps it is reflective of their society but it was a very painful watch.