Syrian Soap Operas and their Popularity in the Arab World

posted on: Aug 13, 2020

By: Ala Abed-Rabbo/Arab America Contributing Writer

Syrian Television Series

For many years, Arabs have gathered with their families to watch a series of televised drama at the start of Ramadan known as “musalsalat.” The shows usually run for 30 episodes, and an episode airs each day of the holy month. Before the year of 2011, Syria’s productions led the Arab TV networks.

28 Syrian series aired on about 26 Arabic television channels worldwide, in 2010. Most channels aired more than one Syrian Soap Opera; they mainly screened Bab al-Hara (“The Neighborhood’s Gate”). It was one of the most famous dramas in the Arab world focused on the daily comings and goings of families living in Damascus, Syria.

The show was watched by tens of millions of people from poverty-suffering Gaza to the expensive cities of the Persian Gulf. The series recounted the day-to-day occurrences and family dramas in a neighborhood in Damascus during the inter-war era, that took place in the 1930’s and 1940’s, under French rule, when the population longed for independence.

The show’s aim was cross-generational, and viewers included various religions across the Arab countries, such as Muslims, Christians, Druze, and Jews. The show was a massive success that ten seasons were made. “The series’ second season was an even bigger success, and the finale was watched by over 50 million viewers around the Arab World.”

Syrian Shows Televising Before and During the Civil War

Since 2012, the number of Syrian TV series produced has steadily increased as actors and producers found more political and geographical stability, either a consequence of political separation in the country or shift both away and inside the country.

At some point, the Syrian musalsalat became one of the country’s best-valued exports, with Gulf countries paying lots of money for melodramatic soaps featuring all-Syrian casts. An example is a series directed by Rasha Sharbatji, Wilada min al-Khasira (Birth from the Loins). It was possibly the most talked about in Syrian drama’s history.

Like many of Sharbatji’s works, “Wilada” is a series set that took place in the ashwayiat (slums) of Damascus and sees the lives of its impoverished residents as they deal with everyday difficulties of deprivation and corruption. However, the most perhaps controversial character is the powerful army colonel who “dehumanizes” people.

The Success of Syrian TV Drama

Moreover, the Televised Syrian Series took off in the 1990’s and has achieved significant recognition for many years. Syrians, incredibly honored of their soap operas’ success, which demonstrates they are competing with the long-leading Egyptian film industry.

For many people, television drama can be an educational part of one’s living experience, distinguishing many of their daily life difficulties or conversations with family members, co-workers, and friends. Various Syrian shows have displayed the issues that occurred within the country after the Syrian uprising in 2011. The war did not stop the producers, actors, and directors from voicing the population’s hardships and exposing them to the Arab world.

Some Syrian televised drama segment drew vivid contributions for decades, such as Al-Taghriba al-Filastiniya (The Palestinian Exile), Al-Intizar (The Waiting), Buq’at Daw’ (Spotlight) and Al-Husrom al-Shami (Damascene Sour Grapes). Most of the making was associated with the official political discourse. The soap operas approved for the portrayal of the country’s social challenges and conflicts, but specific problems were off-limits.

Why People Enjoy Watching Syrian Soap Operas

Moreover, soap operas feed the curious side of human nature. They depict real-life characters that we can relate to.

Usually, soaps fulfill one’s need to see what goes on behind closed doors. Therefore, the Syrian television series tend to show what the people “ask for” within their hearts but cannot make it happen. For many Syrians or Arabs, it is better to watch and relate then to say and get punished for voicing out.

People should take a break from their routine or a chance to forget their troubles, so the best way is to become caught in someone else’s’ for the time being while watching the Syrian Soap Operas.

Understanding others in their society is vital, and sometimes one can be informed by television shows. Some story-lines are indeed at best improbable, but most soaps also carefully consider serious issues. Syrian series have stayed popular over decades and across generations. The rise of soaps is just a part of a broader portrait of social change. They embody life in a glorified picturesque form where everybody tends to live in a tight-knit community and support one another.

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