By: Quentin Powell II
Haifaa al-Mansour’s Wadjda is the story of a resilient girl in a society that seeks to determine what is and is not permissible for her. Wadjda’s personal triumph in the end seems to point to a loosening Saudi state that despite all the societal and governmental restrictions it places on its women still allows for Wadjda to reach her unique form of self-actualization that is at odd with those restrictions. However, this message’s main purpose is not to galvanize or give hope to a female domestic audience but to lull a foreign audience into believing the Saudi state is a lot more progressive than it is.
Wadjda follows the eponymous young girl and her quest to buy a bike. Bicycling is not considered a feminine act and her obsession with bike and its representation of her desire to reject the calcified gender norms of Saudi society is considered wrong. Wadjda’s defiant personality and precocious attitude along with her small acts of rebellion like her black converse are supposed to be strong examples of her freedom of spirit. And on an individual level this is certainly true but on a societal level in a film that has to get approval from government censors it is a form of controlled opposition. Note that for Wadjda to get the money to even buy the bike she has to compete in a Qur’an competition. This is a subtle reinforcement of the fact for women to obtain the things that they want they need to conform to Society’s expectations of what a good women should be doing. In other words, even Wadjda’s supposed act of rebellion in buying the bike is done within a social regime supposedly based on Qur’anic law. Wadjda’s Qur’an instructor and the principal attempt to indoctrinate in the social values. The way she can get the money involves going through official channels. Even her eventual obtainment of the bike only happens after her mother is brought low by her husband’s second marriage. Wadjda’s mother acts in a reactionary manner instead of proactive support of her daughter’s non-normative behavior. All of this and more is intentional on the part of the Saudi state. The surface level nature of Wadjda’s rebellion is permitted because they do not really challenge the state and yet they mollify a western audience that is fooled by symbolic acts of rebellion. Wadjda’s most rebellious act is her declaration that she wants to buy a bike after she wins the Qur’an competition but her bold declaration which is personally cathartic but a tactical mistake that leads to her funds to get the bike going to Palestine. This focus on self-fulfillment is great in pleasing an individualistic western audience who sees Wadjda’s personal stance as brave but ultimately achieves nothing. A performative act that the state is glad to approve as it gives the state a progressive façade while changing nothing for Wadjda or the female inhabitants of the country.
Ultimately, Wadjda is a piece of state sponsored propaganda that expertly accomplishes the goal of giving the Saudi state a sheen that a skittish western world can approve without really challenging the institutions or structures that have so thoroughly subordinated Saudi women. Wadjda is happy with her bike and Prince Mohammed bin Salman is happy with his propaganda piece.
Through an Arabic Lens: the Intersection of Film and Culture 