Erotic Fantasies of the Emirati Woman & Man
“A woman falls victim to a dominant mafia boss, who imprisons her and gives her one year to fall in love with him.” (Netflix 2020) The movie 365 days tells the story of an Italian Mafia man who kidnaps Laura, a Polish tourist in Sicily, whom he gives 365 days to fall in love with. This highly sexual film became the number one hit on Netflix in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), surprisingly making it past the film regulatory authority. In a city, where viewing, discussing or engaging in sexual behavior is quite taboo, it is amazing to see this erotic film play well into the country. While many claim that 365 days translated well to the UAE solely because of its erotic sexual scenes and a handsome male lead, I claim that the critique of the lack of Emirati women’s freedom- embodied in the symbol of the kidnapping of female protagonist Laura and her subservient characterization-was missed by many here. Furthermore, there is evident tension between the erotic component and “kidnapped female” trope, which ultimately satisfies the stereotype of the damsel in distress and reinforces patriarchal expectations of the Emirati society. It is not only a question of why the erotic content has rendered this film so successful, but rather it is the erotic content- viewed by a less expressive sexual society-mixed with the trope of the “trapped woman” who finds love at the end of the film, but is still denied her fate in deciding her own sexuality and future. 365 day’s plot parallels the arranged marriage structure of the UAE in its entirety, including its gender roles, courting and monetary aspects of arranged marriage, as well as its struggles.
The protagonist of the film 365 days is the character Laura Torricelli, the kidnapped female trope. Her characterization and symbolic representation of (bride kidnapping,? female oppression) is significant when explaining the movie’s positive translation into the culture of UAE. In traditional Emirati culture, “both men and women are married at a young age and marriages are arranged by family members, typically fathers.” (Tahirih 2014) Given the restrictions on female autonomy in Dubai, women and girls have very little control over whether, when and whom they marry.
Gender roles portrayed by Massimo and Laura play a significant role in understanding why it parallels so well with gender roles of the UAE. The characterization of both the male and female lead represent the ideal role society expects to be played by an Emirati husband and wife. This is precisely why Emirati viewers have accepted this film right into the culture. Women of the UAE feel they resonate with Laura, who is kidnapped and forced into a deal with the antagonist of the film, because they too feel unlucky and oppressed. She is stripped of her freedom, however is granted an assurance that she will not be touched by Massimmo unless he is given consent. Laura is given a time frame of three hundred sixty-five days to fall in love with him and remain his hostage, however if she does not fall in love with him, she will be granted her freedom. Arranged marriages work quite similar to Massimo’s proposal for falling in love, as the Emirati culture believes with time the pair will learn to love each other. Emirati women in particular, who represent the targeted female audience of this film, resonate with the circumstances and characterization of Laura’s persona, as they resemble her capturing to that of their own. They must somewhat also feel kidnapped as they have to accept arranged marriages and hope to fall in love with partners they haven’t chosen nor slept with prior.
Massimo and Laura’s relationship dynamic is symbolic. The image portrayed of the couple is that of a patriarchal couple. Emirati wives experience the same situation, giving up their freedom to their husband not only in the so-called name of love, but to appease societal expectations. As an Emirati wife, “you will have to adjust towards the house rules, abide by the local traditions, dress very modestly in public and respect your curfew.” (Tahirih 2014) In the film, once Massimo captures Laura, she is forced to abide by all of Massimmo’s rules. Massimo restricts her outings, forces her to dress modestly and has her accompanied everywhere she goes. She allows for the patriarch to steal her freedom and she goes on to enjoying this, mistaking it for love and serving as his submissive. Emirati wives are subjected to the same male dominance, and forced by the very same rules Laura faces. I’m not saying that all Emirati men lock their wives up in a room, but I’ve heard stories here and there of men house arresting their own wives. On the other hand, Massimo performs a similar gender role to that of the Emirati husband, where he, like the Emirati, diminishes his partner into a doll-like figure. Massimo is the breadwinner of this so-called relationship as well as is the dominant figure, therefore he asserts all authority over Laura, dictating her every move. He believes through his assertion of masculinity through his taking of the woman’s freedom, as well as his financial power, Massimo feels he basically owns Laura. This brings us to the parallelism of symbols with the theme of money to the financial aspects of arranged marriages.
The movie uses lavish shopping sprees, yacht voyages, and fine dining as distractions that seemingly work to seduce Laura. Williams cautions viewers against using the movie to romanticize bad behavior in their own relationships. “It just does not erase the fact that this lady is being kidnapped,” Williams says. Similarly, Emirati women are seduced the same way, with million dollar weddings, honeymoons in Paris and unlimited shopping sprees. Emirati husbands do it to make up for the fact they haven’t been allowed the privilege to fall in love, let alone get to know the girl. They feel seduction through money is the best way to capture their wives hearts, just as Williams mentions. I’m one to have bore witness to my own Emirati family, where my grandfather thought buying my grandma a Rolls Royce would make up for the fact he married a second wife in secret? We see a culture who makes up for the lack of real love and soul connection with their partners with meaningless materialistic things. Well it’s not all that sad for most, some Emirati ladies would much prefer an ostrich Birkin bag instead of a loving intimate relationship.
Now onto the sexy part of this movie. Watching the scenes, you may have wondered whether they are romantic or purely erotic? I’d say they are somewhat erotically romantic scenes and i s what has rendered it the jaw dropping movie of the season. They translate especially well in the United Arab Emirates, as they serve as fantasia escapes for the sexually oppressed society, where both sex out of wedlock and porn are prohibited. The antagonist and protagonist of the movie are unmarried, but still engage unlawful sex. This would typically be frowned upon in Emirati society, but interestingly the women have been in awe of engaging in sexual relations with no marital commitment.
Not only were these erotic scenes appetizing for Emirati ladies, but could be a way for men as well to fuel their sexual appetites. The movie speaks to the Emirati man, as they exert7 possessiveness over their women, and Massimo’s characterization represents the stereotypical patriarch of UAE society. The movie allows them to fantasize lustful sprees of sex, as society restricts them from acting upon all sort of sexual desires. I do not even mean just sex & beyond; society dissaproves of any sort of flirting or affection at all.
