Moroccan Myths

My previous two blog posts had to do with the commodification of religious festivals and the stereotyping of culture as a means to boost tourism. The tourism industry in Morocco is a product of modernized globalization. Morocco is, by far, the most visited country in Africa. It's diversity, gorgeous architecture, and art make it a haven for a variety of media influencers. In Travels in Paradox: Remapping Tourism, edited by Claudio Minca and Tim Oakes, Minca and Oakes provide a vivid example of daily life in Morocco.

In Travels in Paradox: Remapping Tourism, the city of interest is Marrakech and it is known as the "city of spectacle, [with] carts brimming with oranges and roasted wheat, women who have travelled down from the Atlas to sell baskets, story-tellers, musicians, dancers, old scribes shielded from the sun by black umbrellas, fortune-tellers, potion-sellers, healers spice merchants...[at night] acrobats move on to...their place in restaurants. The kerosene lamps light up one by one. In the starry night, the moon becomes just another of the infinite number of lanterns illuminating the Jamaa el Fna" (Minca and Oakes, p. 174). Pretty picturesque. This description was in the brochure of the National Moroccan Tourist Office. Those who work in the tourism industry in Morocco know how to use vivid imagery and recollection in order to persuade interested travelers and in truth Morocco is all of those things; however, the tourist agencies commodify the culture through their descriptive learning and use their heritage as a way to boost their economy. More frequently observed in Morocco, now than ever before, is the amount of fortune-tellers and story-tellers within one marketplace. A reason for the more numerous amount is the fall of Morocco's economy. Tourism provides a good economic boost.

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"City of spectacle, [with] carts brimming with oranges and roasted wheat, women who have travelled down from the Atlas to sell baskets, story-tellers, musicians, dancers, old scribes shielded from the sun by black umbrellas, fortune-tellers, potion-sellers, healers spice merchants...[at night] acrobats move on to...their place in restaurants. The kerosene lamps light up one by one. In the starry night, the moon becomes just another of the infinite number of lanterns illuminating the Jamaa el Fna" - Minca and Oakes

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Foreign television and film productions have taken advantage of Morocco's desert landscape and oasic vistas. This practice started early with the production of Casablanca directed by Michael Curtiz. Foreign filmmaking has become somewhat of a trade-off deal between Morocco and other countries desiring to use Morocco's aesthetic views. According to Variety magazine, "international productions lensing in Morocco this year include 18 feature films and 16 TV series. The biggest film productions this year include Ciro Guerra’s Waiting for the Barbarians, based on J.M. Coetzee’s novel, starring Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 3, starring Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry, and F. Gary Gray’s Men in Black International, starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson" which circulates a huge wad of money for the Moroccan economy.

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"International productions lensing in Morocco this year include 18 feature films and 16 TV series. The biggest film productions this year include Ciro Guerra’s Waiting for the Barbarians, based on J.M. Coetzee’s novel, starring Johnny Depp and Robert Pattinson, Chad Stahelski’s John Wick 3, starring Keanu Reeves and Halle Berry, and F. Gary Gray’s Men in Black International, starring Chris Hemsworth, Tessa Thompson, Liam Neeson and Emma Thompson"- Variety

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The growth of the international film and television industry in Morocco has thoroughly increased traction on local productions and has given Morocco the ability to globalize their own film industry.

In fact, rather recently, Morocco has also experienced a boom in the advertisement industry.

Chloé, a brand I know and love, recently began an ad campaign for their new fragrance known as "Nomade."

The setting is based in Morocco and they play into the perceived nomadic lifestyles of the locals. More and more ad campaigns are using foreign locations to promote and manage their brand. This can also commodify a locale by only using it for aesthetic purposes. Chloé's campaign shows the allure of being a "modern nomad" but realistically speaking it does nothing to show for the true culture and lifestyle that is lived by Moroccan nomads.

Although as a whole, the commodification of a country's goods and culture, appears to benefit the nation-state's economy, the true damage being done is the flushing out of authentic traditions and traits that were once seen within these places.

If we are to be tourists, we must do so in a way that doesn't effect the already diverse landscape. We are there to observe and blend in. Standing out leads to detrimental effects such as the procurring of tourist traps and damaging locks on bridges (the lock bridge in France for example). We are made to be citizens of earth and to do that we must educated ourselves in other cultures while being respective of one's way of life.

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