2024-04-03 11:29:15
A few days before the end of the month of Ramadan, a number of Moroccans began evaluating this season’s Ramadan works, whether shown on television or on digital platforms.
Maryam Slaoui, a doctoral student in aesthetic education, says, “I think that Moroccan television presents works that do not respect the mentality and taste of the Moroccan viewer. We find repeated vulgarity every year despite the critical voices. I do not know if it is belittling the Moroccan viewer?”
Maryam is one of the Moroccans who criticize dramatic and entertainment works on Moroccan television during the month of Ramadan. The intensity of these criticisms has escalated in the past few years with the expansion of the margin of freedom provided by social media, and alternative artistic works have appeared on digital platforms that have affected the taste of viewers, according to Reuters. .
High viewership despite criticism
However, despite the high viewership rates and the multiplicity of dramatic and comedic productions, negative comments continued, confirming the followers’ dissatisfaction with what is presented on screen, to the extent that some works on Moroccan television were described as “vulgar” and “does not respect the awareness and culture of the Moroccan viewer” and is satirically offensive to some social groups. and established professions.
In the 2024 Ramadan season, statistics from the company “Maroc Metri”, which specializes in measuring viewership rates in Morocco, indicate an increase in viewership rates for local dramas shown on Channel One, as the series “Get to Your Home” topped the list with regarding 12 million views, followed by the series “2 Faces.”
As for the second channel, the series “Ash This” was at the top with a number of views of approximately 11 million, followed respectively by the series “Dar Al-Nisa” and “Awlad Iza.”
While criticism reached its peak in 2019 with calls to boycott Ramadan TV series and programs as they drain public money, those responsible for production in Moroccan television refuse to comment.
Views do not mean success
Art critic and researcher in aesthetics and philosophy, Idris Al-Qari, confirms that high viewership is not a criterion, considering that:
- Ramadan activities coincide with the time of breaking the fast. How many people turn on the television without paying attention to it, or turn it on in order to wait for the Maghrib call to prayer. Ten million views does not necessarily mean 10 million followers.
- It is related to a structural crisis in Moroccan television, especially works related to entertainment.
- Financial and legal independence, the inability to produce properly, and the failure to assign matters to specialists, including competent artists and intellectuals who are intellectually independent and have no connection to the state’s mentality and its red lines.
Maturity of vision
There are other factors mentioned by art critic Said Mezouari that cause the weakness of the content presented on Moroccan television and viewers’ dissatisfaction with the works, including:
- Lack of proper preparation and lack of time to produce series and programs, whether Ramadan or non-Ramadan.
- There is a need for a kind of maturity, the maturity of the vision, and working on the script and actors before the start of filming, and the filming itself must take the necessary time to try things out.
Critic Mustafa Al-Taleb adds to these factors, who says, “Every month of Ramadan, the same video is repeated on public channels because of:
- Too many ads.
- Repeating the same dramatic momentum, both its social and comic aspects, which in most cases does not live up to the aspirations of viewers as a whole.
- The same production companies take over Ramadan productions due to their popularity, even if they are not at the required level.
Competition with digital platforms
In parallel with the repeated criticism every year, some comedic works appeared by Moroccan artists who chose digital platforms and social media to address the public, as is the case with the Moroccan artist Basso in the “Si El Kalala” series.
The first four episodes of the “Al-Si Al-Kala” series achieved nearly 10 million views. In the Moroccan colloquial language, “kala” symbolizes “strong mediation.”
While some considered him an alternative to what was shown by the two official Moroccan channels, others described his style as “crude” and “direct” in criticizing and mocking the Moroccan reality, especially with regard to talking regarding corruption and nepotism.
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