From Mecca to Metropolis: Creating Superheroes for the Islamic World
Dr. Naif Al-Mutawa, Founder & CEO of the Teshkeel Media Group, spoke at The Fletcher School about the recent launch of his Islamic inspired comic book series, “The 99,” to the Middle East and beyond. Sponsored by the International Business Program’s Global Speakers Series, Al-Mutawa also discussed his strategy for securing financing and navigating government approvals.
While studying at Tufts as an undergraduate, his studies of psychology, and especially the ideas of Joseph Campbell, ignited an interest in finding a deeper meaning for cultural products. “Tufts is where I found my echo – the voice I wanted to use,” Al-Mutawa said.
Al-Mutawa explained how Campbell’s ideas about hero archetypes show the many similarities between comic book heroes and religious leaders. Comic book characters and prophets share many stages in their story arcs, including the call to adventure, the refusal of the call, the relationship with a mentor, and an ordeal. He joked, “I’m the guy you don’t want to go to a movie with because I whisper in your ear the entire time trying to explain what the movie is really about.”
Of course, there are some differences, he noted, joking, “When it comes to superheroes, the reward is a girl, but for the prophets, it is slightly different, depending on the religion.”
Religious archetypes in entertainment, however, extend beyond comics. Movies like Waterworld that draw on religious stories but don’t use religious language or symbols, Al-Mutawa pointed out, are much more effective in communicating their message to audiences. “You draw on a basic idea that is already shared by millions of people within that tradition,” he said. “If it ain’t broke don’t fix it – that’s why these stories are repeated over and over again.”
Al-Mutawa also pointed to how comics and cartoons from different cultures also reflect larger ideas about the role of hero and individual. He noted, many Western superheroes are orphans who work alone and can do anything, in the tradition of Western individualism. In contrast, “In the Japanese inspired Pokemon series, each character can only do one thing well and has to be trained and paired with others, reflecting the role of teamwork in Japanese culture.”
While these ideas form the intellectual background of “The 99,” the creation of the series was inspired by Al-Mutawa’s reactions to prejudice in both America and the Middle East. “A lot of my story has to do with luck or fate, depending on how you look at it,” he said.
One inspiration for The 99 occurred when Al-Mutawa took his children to a puppet show in New York City. He joked that what he expected would be a relaxing break from work resulted in him furiously taking notes during a performance that featured blatantly anti-Islamic characters and plotlines. The performance was an alarming reminder to him of the power of messages in entertainment for children and young adults.
By creating “The 99,” Al-Mutawa believed he could provide entertaining and worthwhile reading material for Middle Eastern youth, whose access to books and magazines is restricted by censorship. “I didn’t read Arabic growing up because so many books were banned and there was nothing else interesting to read. We’re talking about a situation where Orwell’s Animal Farm was banned not because it was about totalitarianism but because there was a pig on the cover,” he said.
Just as Western comics draw on hero archetypes, the powers and interactions of the characters in “The 99” reflect Islamic tradition. Each of the characters has a special power or ability, such as strength or insight, based on one of the 99 attributes of Allah. “The heroes each embody one virtue, but they need to work in teams of three to solve the problems they face,” Al-Mutawa explained.
The story of “The 99” begins in the 13th century, when Mongol armies are about to destroy Baghdad and its huge libraries. To protect the wisdom of the books, scholars work to capture the knowledge of the city’s books in the form of 99 gemstones. After the destruction of the city, the gemstones are spread around the world – some via the Silk Road to Asia, and others to America via Columbus after the fall of the Muslim kingdoms in Spain.
When the gemstones are rediscovered, each one imbues its owner with one of the 99 powers. The main conflict of the story, then, is between people who use their powers to improve the world and those who wield them for domination. “The struggle within the comic captures the struggle within Islam today,” Al-Mutawa explained.
Despite the religious inspiration, Al-Mutawa avoids making the series too overtly religious. “We have cross cultural conflicts, but we stay away from explicit discussions of religion,” he said. He stressed that while many of the characters are Muslim, their dress and attitudes reflect the diversity of Islamic practice around the world.
Charles De Simone, MALD 2007