Miami - Ever since the latest Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation premiered in North America on July 31st, it has been subject of many conversations. Reviews are raving for this American action spy film – 5th in the series by the same name.
Filming began late in the summer (2014) and the Kingdom of Morocco was chosen to host several of the movie’s scenes. Tom Cruise was spotted arriving in Rabat on August 30th 2014. Reports reveal the Marrakesh Highway was closed for 14 days during the shoot. Other filming locations include Agadir and the Kasbah of the Udayas in Rabat, as well as several locations in Casablanca.
A behind the scenes video was recently released showing the difficulty of the stunts performed in Casablanca. Mission Impossible used the historic part of the city to shoot car chases and action-packed scenes.
However, a leaked video of the actual film has gone viral among social media users in Morocco. A misrepresentation of the city of Casablanca is causing a stir in the Kingdom. So what has Moroccans so angered?
In the video, found on Facebook, a short scene of less than one minute shows Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) asking a man, “where is it found?” The man replies, “Morocco”. Next, an arid and completely isolated image of the desert is displayed and titled Casablanca, Morocco, along with some ‘desert music’ taken out of what seems a ‘historic Arabic film’.
Cruise and another man are pictured arriving to this “tiny village” assumed to be Casablanca, in the middle of nowhere, amongst sheep and sand-dusted infrastructures dated centuries ago.
Needless to say, Moroccans are furious that the world is getting such a primitive and erroneous image of the city of Casablanca. Mission Impossible American filmmakers have pushed the wrong buttons by portraying a cliché that Morocco is a desert.
A Facebook user commented, “Now I understand why others think that Morocco is just a desert full of camels and sheep”. Others have said, “Uneducated Americans, this is a joke”, and the list goes on.
Let’s get some straight facts. Casablanca is the largest city of Morocco, as well as one of the most important in Africa. It is Morocco’s economic and business capital and one of the largest financial centers in the African continent. Clearly, not the image of an isolated desert village.
Unfortunately, it is not the first time a film sticks to this kind of stereotype. Is it ignorance? Lack of research? A close-minded vision? And how did it go unnoticed all the way to release day?
Instead of adding the superimposed name of Casablanca to the arid image, a simple graphic change of Casablanca’s realistic aerial view could have been used to set the location. Also, placing the correct name of the primitive village used in the scene could have avoided the misrepresentation.
© Morocco World News. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, rewritten or redistributed without permission
The post Mission Impossible Trailer Depicts Casablanca as a Desert Village appeared first on Morocco World News.