Pop Culture Favorites From Effat University Students
Dana Al-Dakhil
Adele
Television: 2 Broke Girls
Movies: Skyfall
Books: The Secret
Celebrities: Adele, Kim Kardashian
Saudi Arabia: Banat Al Riyadh (novel dealing with sexuality in the kingdom) , Karima, Kef al-Hal? (film starring the first Saudi cinema actress), Joelle
Uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr
Doesn't really think that there is pop culture in Saudi Arabia, but definitely in the United States
Movies: Skyfall
Books: The Secret
Celebrities: Adele, Kim Kardashian
Saudi Arabia: Banat Al Riyadh (novel dealing with sexuality in the kingdom) , Karima, Kef al-Hal? (film starring the first Saudi cinema actress), Joelle
Uses Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr
Doesn't really think that there is pop culture in Saudi Arabia, but definitely in the United States
Tamara Al-Harkan
The cast of The Vampire Diaries, a popular teen supernatural drama on the CW
Television: Grey's Anatomy, The Vampire Diaries, Revenge, Gossip Girl, The Big Bang Theory. (Her all-time favorite TV shows are Boy Meets World and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air)
Movies: The Notebook, Serendipity, Sweet November, Batman, Think Like A Man (and of course, all Disney movies)
Books: Anything by Nicholas Sparks
Music: Everything - House, R&B, Alternative. Especially Lifehouse, Daughtry, Adele, Enrique Iglesias, Frank Sinatra, The Script, Sia and Armin Van Buuren
Saudi Arabian Musicians: Hussain Al Jasmi, Rashed Al Majed and Abdel Halim Hafez (Egyptian)
She does use Facebook, but she is not as active as she was before. Now more active on Twitter and Instagram
Q: What do you think pop culture in Saudi Arabia includes? Do you think that there is pop culture in SA, or is most of it from another country?
It includes a variety of things such as food, clothes and jewelry. Living in Hijaz area makes us get a lot of piligrams every year which makes us learn a lot from their cultures. We use many spices in our food like Indian people, design our gold a jewelry with a touch of Egyptian people's designs and also Indian and dressing up with a touch of Turkish and Asian costumes using fine fabrics from India and Egypt. So yes I do think it has its own pop culture by taking other countries culurture's and adding them to our own which makes such a unique mix known as the Hijazi culture.
Amal Eskandar
The Hunger Games
Movies: The Hunger Games, One Day, Mirror Mirror, The Amazing Spiderman, Brave, Magic Mike, To Rome With Love, This Means War
Excerpt from Elena Rivera's Intercultural Journal #4 (October 2, 2012):
"First off, it's worth noting that Channing Tatum's attractiveness is obvious in every single culture. Amal, Carolyn and I finished our skype date applauding the superb dancing skills, comedy timing and face/abs of Channing Tatum. We had asked Amal what movies she had seen that showed her a bit about U.S. culture (because while we had learned about Saudi Arabia in class or through books, she learned about the U.S. through pop culture osmosis), and she said one of the latest ones was 21 Jump Street. Channing Tatum is the universal language of the world. (United Nations, take note)"
Excerpt from Elena Rivera's Intercultural Journal #4 (October 2, 2012):
"First off, it's worth noting that Channing Tatum's attractiveness is obvious in every single culture. Amal, Carolyn and I finished our skype date applauding the superb dancing skills, comedy timing and face/abs of Channing Tatum. We had asked Amal what movies she had seen that showed her a bit about U.S. culture (because while we had learned about Saudi Arabia in class or through books, she learned about the U.S. through pop culture osmosis), and she said one of the latest ones was 21 Jump Street. Channing Tatum is the universal language of the world. (United Nations, take note)"