Names Redefine Values; Sugarcoating the Bitterness by A Robe

Consider a destination for the future holidays? Browsing through various pages on Instagram or other social media platforms may give you an idea of what you like, where you desire and how you decide. If a celebrity or renowned figure offers a place, the decision-making process may prove more of an uncomplicated matter. You might even pass over the responsibility to the children for whom the source is more authentic as they have more confidence in their favorite artists or athletes. The option is still reserved for more considerate people as exposure is the main source of decision-making en route.

The mental pattern has provided the countries and tourism destinations with a strategy to boost their chances of attracting the attentions. Visit Britain was a recent initiative during the 2010s where the number of visits and investment return grew dramatically after the country utilized figures like Dev Patel and Judi Dench who celebrated the country for the infrastructure and glamorous spots. Saudi Arabia followed the track under Vision 2030 program to diversify its economy away from total dependence on hydrocarbons.

Following the tenure of the young prince, dozens of A-list artists and athletes flew down to the kingdom to attend the glamorous events held across the country. A 35-year ban on the movie industry was abruptly followed by various cinematic events and festivals that host renowned figures like Jason Momoa, Shah Rukh Khan, John Travolta, Idris Elba, Katie Holmes and Jackie Chan. The country opened Red Sea International Film Festival that is expected to be a regional and trans-regional cinematic zone and raised the hopes for a growing command of cinematic productions. Back in 2017, Jeddah hosted the Saudi Comic Con, a pop culture convention unexpected in a country where the sexual segregation was already, and still is, in place. An engagement by Giancarlo Esposito, Charles Dance and Mads Mikkelsen helped boost the potency and success of the event as a forerunner of similar conventions.

Saudi leaders broke the music taboo in the nation holding various music festivals with renowned male ad female signers and musicians performing on stage. DJ Khaled’s performance in XP Music Futures two years ago was no less stunning than the country’s political and economic overhaul during the recent years. The MDL Beast Festival, generally known as the Soundstorm, has been hosting various musicians and artists to provide the audience with a multi-sensory experience mingling the art and culture in a traditional landscape since 2019.

The Joy Awards, a multi-disciplinary event honoring the achievements by various figures in the Arab world, was a cornerstone turning the kingdom into the regional center of cultural ceremonies with actors, musicians, artists and social media activists fancying performance and receiving prize at the event. The event has been the scene to the presence and encouragement of figures like Sofia Vergara, the Colombian actress, Shah Rukh Khan, and Jackie Chan with the latter receiving the honorary Joy Excellence award in 2019.

At the peak of A-listers visiting Saudi Arabia was Leo Messi, Argentinian football superstar. The Inter Miami player visited the country along with his wife and children while he was a player in the Paris Saint-Germain, the French club, in a campaign to promote the cultural and tourism attractions of the country. Messi has been introduced as the tourism ambassador of Saudi Arabia since 2022, signifying the influence of his involvement in Saudi grand strategy of instigating more exposure of the world people to the country and its modernizations command. Saudi reconstruction of the football Pro League through player recruitment, which culminated in contracting Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Neymar, was part of the grand project with exorbitant expenditure.

X-Washing

The Kingdom’s grand plan of securing the country’s future through diversification of the economy has been faced by multiple obstacles, at the top of which was the allegations it faces concerning the human rights conduct. Critics believe that Riyadh is using money to distract the attention away from the repression it employs on various groups of the society, including women, political activists and media. Using compound terms like arts-washing, sports-washing, Image Laundering, or whitewashing, critics believe that the Saudi Leaders’ utmost concern is to sugarcoat the bitterness of living in a religious-stricken society where the rights of homosexuals and other minority groups are yet to be recognized.

The kingdom is spending billions of dollars through the Public Investment Fund, currently with a reservoir of over $750 billion, to entice the A-listers from across the world. In a recent example, Johnny Depp’s attendance in the Red Sea Film Festival was criticized due to the American actor’s receiving of over $1 million, to walk in a lane ironically called by the critics as the ‘blood red carpet’. Human Rights Watch describes the phenomenon concerning as the artists who owe their fame to the freedom of expression in their own homeland lend hand in promoting a sovereignty that insists on restricting the local media and citizens. The endorsement syndrome may cost lots of lives and the well-being of new generations in Saudi Arabia.

Beyond that, the country is building an empire that may impact the pop culture and economic landscape of the whole region. Saudi Arabia means to introduce itself as the regional hub for the cultural events, distracting the whole world from other nations’ bid to continue with their ambitions to have their footprints in social and artistic productions. Saudi Arabia’s football campaign has already been criticized by footballers like Tony Kroos as detrimental to the development of the game in the future. The Oil capital has been able to redefine the valuation system of various disciplines ranging from sports to cinema and social crafts. The kingdom has made use of this redefinition to face off from a theocratic governance to an open society, appealing for people and renowned figures across the world. Only a gradual overhaul in the governing system and the humanitarian codes within the Kingdom, which are based on religious tenets, could resolve the concerns or the result, in the long run, will be a deconstructed state of affairs in diverse facets of societal life, totally shaping the culture, that can form a modern totalitarianism in 2020s.