Al-Jazirah The General Commission for Audiovisual Media recently denied claims that a Saudi investor and an official authority had entered into negotiations to open the Kingdom's first cinema. As usual, the denial made it look as if the news was real when this was not the case. Moreover, the Al-Ekhbariya Saudi TV channel earlier announced that it would give special coverage to the issue but later deleted the announcement from its social media handles. Many people understand and appreciate the position of government agencies regarding the issue of cinemas. This is because these people believe that cinemas will be similar to the ones found and seen in Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates. So far, the agencies have not yet responded to the demands of those who call for cinemas in the Kingdom on the basis of encouraging culture and the arts. These individuals call for cinemas to be opened under the umbrella of a government agency which would regulate everything in terms of shows and attendance in a way that is properly suited to our culture. Many people fear that cinemas will destroy our values and ethics, but this is baseless and unjustified. Look around and you will see one form of cinema or another inside most homes. Yet, the values and ethics of society have not deteriorated. To alleviate the fear of those opposed to cinemas, they can be introduced to the general public gradually. For example, cinema shows can be run during certain cultural and art events, just like the theater shows presented by the Riyadh Municipality during certain cultural events. If the results of such shows are positive, and I am sure they will be, we can start presenting more shows until we reach a time that the fear of those opposed disappears.
