In “Sex and the City 2” the wealthy and conservative Persian Gulf city Abu Dhabi receives a visit from Carrie Bradshaw and friends. Abu Dhabi denied the producers permission to film there, however. This week city officials complained that the film’s portrayal of Abu Dhabi is “misleading.”
“Sex and the City 2” Gives Misleading Picture of Abu Dhabi, Officials Say
Producers at Warner Brothers originally sought permission to film in Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates. The movie sends the four main characters there on a vacation. After reviewing the script, city officials declined to allow filming in Abu Dhabi. Instead, most Middle East filming took place 4,000 miles away, in Marrakesh, Morocco. A nightclub scene set in Abu Dhabi was shot in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.
In a May 25, 2010 statement, officials from the National Media Council, the Emirati ratings agency, objected to “publicity about the fact that Sex and the City 2 is ‘set in Abu Dhabi,’ although none of it was filmed here.” They claimed, “This was a deliberate attempt to mislead the audience about where the film was shot, even though it has been admitted it was filmed on location in Morocco.”
Moroccan officials also found the script had potential to offend many Muslims. They agreed to allow filming if producers agreed not to identify the city. The film-makers complied and inserted shots of Abu Dhabi to maintain the pretense. The small, boutique Amanjena Hotel in Marrakesh stands in for the Abu Dhabi’s colossal Emirates Palace Hotel, according to NY Post gossip columnist Cindy Adams.
Abu Dhabi's Tension between Tourism and Conservative Culture
According to the Wall Street Journal, officials in Abu Dhabi “are cringing at the [film’s] title alone, which associates ‘sex’ with their city without showing its people, streets and buildings.” The capital city embraces a conservative Islamic culture that frowns on things like mini-skirts and sex outside of marriage, staples of the “Sex and the City” franchise.
Even the city of Dubai, Abu Dhabi’s flashier neighbor, upholds relatively conservative standards. Dubai attracts tourists with its luxury shopping malls, not “spring break”-style partying. Last year Dubai permitted Paris Hilton to film a reality TV show in the emirate. However, Dubai turned down a request from Warner Brothers to film “Sex and the City 2” there.
Ironically, Abu Dhabi has recently made efforts to attract film companies. Abu Dhabi also aims to woo foreign tourists with a recently-completed Formula One race track and future branches of the Louvre and the Guggenheim. The petroleum-rich city claims the record for the most costly hotel construction project in history—the Emirates Palace, completed in 2005 at a cost of $3 billion.
At the same time, Abu Dhabi maintains a relatively conservative approach to Islam, though it’s more liberal than neighboring Saudi Arabia. On occasion, police and courts enforce strict behavior laws based on the Islamic sharia. In the spring of 2010, an Emirati court found a couple guilty of the crime of kissing publicly, in a Dubai restaurant. Both received one-month prison sentences and an appeals court upheld the ruling.
"Sex and the City 2" Filmed in the Middle East but Not Shown There
The second “Sex and the City” movie, like the first movie and the television series, will not appear for public viewing in the United Arab Emirates. According to the National Media Council, Warner Brothers have not applied for permission to distribute the film. Strict censorship rules in the UAE mean eliminating scenes with kissing, nudity, and expletives. The censorship process discourages distribution companies from bringing any risqué offerings to the country.
A spokesman at Warner Brothers stated that many of their films do not play in the Middle East. Nevertheless, Candice Bushnell’s book “Sex and the City,” which inspired the original series, is a bestseller in Dubai. Several Emiratis quoted in the Associated Press expressed interest in seeing the movie abroad. Currently the one country in the Middle East besides Israel that will release “Sex and the City 2” is Egypt. Warner Bros. also plans to release the film in Morocco. Moroccans will be able to see for themselves if Marrakesh can stand in for Abu Dhabi.
Director Michael Patrick King responded to Emirati criticisms by saying that the four characters act in keeping with their own personalities. Miranda, played by Cynthia Nixon, tries to respect Emirati culture. In contrast, Samantha Jones, played by Kim Cattrall, gets into legal trouble by kissing in public. King said, "The reality is Samantha Jones is outrageous wherever she goes, whether it be Starbucks ... or Abu Dhabi. She is an unapologetic individual."
References:
“Abu Dhabi Hides from Sex and the City Spotlight,” AlArabiya.net, May 10, 2010 (accessed May 27, 2010).
Adams, Cindy, “Sex in Morocco,” NYPost, Nov. 16, 2009, NYPost.com (accessed May 27, 2010).
Kearney, Christine, “Sex and the City Takes on the Middle East,” Reuters, May 10, 2010 (accessed May 27, 2010).
Safdar, Anealla, “UAE watchdog denies banning Sex and the City 2,” The National, thenational.ae (accessed May 27, 2010).
“Sex and the City 2 Has Fans and Foes in Abu Dhabi,” Wall Street Journal.com (accessed May 27, 2010).
Qubeissi, Kamal, “Sex and the City II to be Banned in UAE,” AlArabiya.net (accessed May 27, 2010).
Jessamine Price - Jessamine Price is a writer, educator and world traveler who holds a Master of Philosophy in history from the University of Oxford (2000). ...
