MBS Whitewashes His Reputation by Introducing the LGBT Films Into the Saudi Conservative Society

In April 2018, Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) attended a lavish dinner hosted by the American Jewish media giant Rupert Murdoch at his home in Hollywood. The dinner was attended by many celebrities, including the actor Dwayne Johnson, known as "The Rock."

At the time, bin Salman aspired to open new horizons through cinema productions. He attempted to put his country at the center of the cinema industry in the Middle East in order to brighten his reputation. He was portrayed in the media as a rejuvenating leader who will change Saudi society, known for its conservative lifestyle.

Months later, bin Salman's dreams were shattered by the murder of Saudi journalist Jamal Khashoggi on October 2, 2018, inside his country's consulate in the Turkish city of Istanbul. Global anger erupted against the young prince, because of his direct involvement in the crime.

Today, bin Salman is seeking to penetrate the global film industry. He is trying to attract Hollywood film producers to the Kingdom as part of the entertainment plan on the one hand, and to obtain more soft power and improve his image, which was badly damaged in the wake of Khashoggi's murder on the other hand.

 

Cinematic Pole

This was confirmed by the French Intelligence Online magazine, specialist in intelligence affairs, through a report published on December 28, 2021, under the title "Bin Salman's attempts, with the help of his advisers, to become a cinema magnate."

The report stated that Mohammed bin Salman is attempting for the second time to enter the world of Hollywood celebrities.

The first attempt was during the term of former President Donald Trump (2017-2021) before the murder of Khashoggi, but it later failed.

This time, MBS can succeed with the help of a group of his advisers, led by the Saudi businessman Mohammed bin Turki.

According to the French magazine, MBS wants to make the kingdom a Middle Eastern destination for international production companies, by pumping billions to produce Saudi and international films.

As part of a strategy to diversify economic resources and manage a global public relations campaign to whitewash the prince’s reputation, after the horrific accusations of human rights violations he was subjected to.

The magazine said that: "Any artistic event sponsored by the man accused by the CIA of possibly ordering the assassination of Khashoggi, risks failure in the United States."

 

Mohammed al-Turki

MBS entrusted his great confidence to the Saudi Mohammed al-Turki to lead this strategy, to formulate the new era and overcome the existing troubles. Muhammed al-Turki, is the son of Abdulaziz Ali al-Turki, who, along with his brother Saleh Ali al-Turki, owns two of the largest commercial conglomerates in Saudi Arabia, Rawabi Holding and Nesma.

Mohammed al-Turki, 35, is considered a model for a new generation of Saudi businessmen close to MBS, as he displays through his account on Instagram his pictures with celebrities and artists and shows off his friendships with them, such as actress Michelle Rodriguez and actor Ed Westwick, as he promotes himself as a film producer.

Al-Turki is the mastermind of Bin Salman’s media strategy. He succeeded in attracting many French movie stars, including Catherine Deneuve, Vincent Cassel, as well as Thierry Frémaux (the chief organizer of the Cannes International Film Festival) to the Red Sea Film Festival, from December 6 to 15, 2021, an unprecedented event in Saudi Arabia.

The festival was held in the large coastal city of Jeddah and opened its doors only two days after the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron to the Kingdom.

MBS and Muhammad al-Turki, aimed to classify the festival as one of the prominent events in the world of the global film industry, similar to the Venice and Cannes Film Festivals.

In early January 2022, the Saudi Esquire Arabic website stated that al-Turki had established a large network of relations with icons of American and international cinema over the past ten years.

 

Hollywood Ambition

On November 7, 2021, Bloomberg agency published a report on bin Salman’s steps in the Saudi film industry, as well as his penetration to Hollywood.

It said: "Saudi Arabia is seeking to fulfill the Hollywood dream with a budget of 64 billion dollars, and thus the desert kingdom became a destination for filmmakers after ending a decades-old ban on cinema."

It stated that Bin Salman's decisions and Hollywood ambitions brought him directly into fierce competition with the UAE, which still represents the main center of attraction for global companies and investments in the region, including cinema, film production, festivals and attracting Hollywood stars.

Thus, cinematic influence became one of the most prominent areas of competition between Saudi Prince Mohammed bin Salman and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed.

The US agency did not overlook the guilty side of bin Salman, when it reported his human rights record and his imprisonment of his opponents, silencing critics of his policy, and accusing him by Washington explicitly of ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a charge that Saudi Arabia denies.

However, it said, Bin Salman is seeking to attract social media influencers and Hollywood stars, in order to whitewash his image in the West.

 

LGBT Penetration

Cinemas did not exist in Saudi Arabia until 2018 and were banned as part of a package of measures that also included banning women from driving, segregating the sexes in restaurants, and banning most forms of entertainment, from concerts to movie shows.

However, MBS had a different methodology when he decided to remove social restrictions and launched the Riyadh season through concerts and entertainment events, and now he is preparing the Kingdom for the era of international cinema.

In January 2019, Netflix pulled an episode of the Patriot Act program from its broadcast service in Saudi Arabia, after it criticized the Khashoggi assassination.

In September 2020, the CEO of Netflix Film Company, Reed Hastings, said that: "Saudi Arabia agreed to broadcast sexual content on its platform in the Kingdom, in exchange for blocking a program that criticized Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman."

Hastings said, in an interview with CNN, that the company agreed to Riyadh's request to block the satirical program of Hassan Minhaj in early 2019, but Netflix in return, broadcast films and series that include sexual and LGBT content.

It is noteworthy that during bin Salman's visit to Hollywood in April 2018, not everyone was happy with the hospitality that the prince and his delegation received, during the Trump era.

Activists in the feminist movement Code Pink demonstrated outside many of the Saudi delegation's meeting locations, to raise awareness about the Saudi-led bombing campaign in Yemen, which resulted in the deaths of thousands of people and the displacement of two million citizens.

Activists carried banners saying: "MBS is not the Prince of Dreams."