I LOLed when I saw the type of houses the Saudis were living in and how their children were dressed like tramps. I have lived in KSA before and the standard of living of the average Saudi is far more luxurious than that of the average citizen in my own European country. While I prefer living in my country for other reason, most Saudis live in spacious villas, own expensive cars and have servants.
S.P.E.R.M member 270
Well then you obviously lived in a rich part then. There is an article on pressTV claiming that 60% of Saudis live below the poverty line. The blogger Feras Bugnah was detained for showing video of poor areas.
The area in the film could be one of Riyadh's poor distracts such as Al-Suwaidi.
Still 'LOLing'?
Do you really think that the Saudis would have allowed this to be filmed in their country? Because I'm absolutely sure that they would have never allowed such a thing (and Jennifer Connelly would have had to at least wear an abaya). Yeah, we all know how accurate Press TV is, it was probably referring to the immigrants. While I'm aware that there are poor Saudis, 60% is a ludicrous number. Their government prioritises them where education and jobs are concerned, that's why the Gulf countries aren't experiencing the type of unrest that other Arab countries are going through. I have been around all of Riyadh, mind you and that includes areas like Bathah and Manfuhah, they definitely don't take up anything near the majority of the city.
S.P.E.R.M member 270
Your response is the only idiotic thing here. The fact that the Saudi's prevent people from filming, doesn't mean proverty is as common in Saudi Arabia as it is in other countries.
Having been to Riyadh, there are millions of Saudi's living in poverty. The sad thing, the further you are related from the Saudi Royal Family, the more likely you will be poor.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/01/saudi-arabia-riyadh-poverty-inequality
Agreed, thanks for your response.
"For dark is the suede that mows like a harvest"
Are you sure that your answer isn't simply based on the article rather than your alleged experiences in Riyadh?
First off, Riyadh is not a holiday destination. The only foreigners in Riyadh are those who work and live there or have family working and living there. Secondly, the poor areas are so hushed up that many people who come to Riyadh to work never set foot in them. I used to visit them with my father to donate food and clothes but people in Saudi like to pretend that they don't exist and they're taboo to talk about. Poverty has nothing to do with the royal family, it has everything to do with whether you're a full-blooded Saudi, an "original Saudi" or whether you're descended from immigrants. It has more to do with racism than family name. You have just displayed a complete lack of knowledge for someone who has been to Riyadh.
Who cares if I got the name wrong, that doesn't change the fact that she would have had to wear an abaya, does it?
S.P.E.R.M member 270
It was Jennifer Garner, not Jennifer Connelly. At least get the actors' names straight!
shareThe filming location information states it was filmed in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E.
I wonder though if 'below the poverty line' in a place as wealthy as Saudi Arabia is different than Western countries.
You don't choose the soy sauce, the soy sauce chooses you.
The area they were in was a non-Saudi area, it would have been working class and thus made up of anywhere between hard-working people all the way down to the breadline. When they interview the American worker from the compound they state that their gardener stood out because they were a Saudi, implying that no Saudi just like an American would do a menial job. This is because over there they equate Saudis with the middle class and the upper class, 'poor' people are migrants usually from other parts of the Arabic world, but they do exist, obviously. Every nation in the world needs a working class.
They prove it again when on the rooftop in the non-Saudi neighbourhood when Fariz tells the four of them that if a Saudi were on this rooftop then they would have stood out a mile and it will be easy to find information about them from the locals.
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