The Egyptian Revolution as presented by the film "The Square"

Gabriela Serrano

LY 112 

March 22, 2013 

Culture Entry#2 

For my second culture entry I will write about a documentary entitled “The Square”. I was assigned to view this documentary for my Fundamentalism class here at Boston University. This film shows the beginning, middle, and end of the Egyptian uprising during Mubarak’s rule and the consequences and painful moments for the Egyptian citizens. 

The film’s title comes from the location of the protest held by the Egyptian youth. The designated place for the protest is called Tehrin Square. The film is recorded in Arabic with english subtitles. This poses an excellent learning opportunity for students learning Arabic. The film begins with a young man named Ahmed, who has spent his entire life under Mubarak’s regime. He states how the torture that his people have faced has become insurmountable and how because of his rule’s injustice, he has had to live a life full of poverty. 

Out of frustration he goes into the streets to express his emotions, and finds thousands of his fellow citizens who feel the same way. It is obvious by watching the film that the people are protesting peacefully, but out of nowhere the armed forces charge at them and unfortunately, violence ensues. He states how at this protest he met people who amazed him with their bravery and courage. This group of people included members of the Muslim Brotherhood, a woman, and a man who would later be known as the singer of the revolution. Religion had no identifier during this time of the fight; they were all equal. 

These people were fighting for social and political reform, for democracy, and for liberty. On February 2011, Mubarak renounced his position as president of Egypt and game the power to the Armed Forces. To see how people can change an entire system that has been in place for more than 3 decades is truly inspiring.

Unfortunately, after Mubarak stepped down and the power has given to the army, nothing happened. The regime was still in place, there was no new constitution, but the perseverance remained; so they returned to The Square. The army and paid criminals kicked them out of the square using violence and arrested multitudes of people who were later tortured. 

In the film a radical change occurs when members of the Muslim Brotherhood attend the sit-in for what some people call “political reasons”. Instead of the protestors begin one united front, fights ensue and division within the protestors decreases their chances of anything changing. 

10 months after the revolution things still do not improve. As a matter of a fact they take a more radical turn and the government begins to hide the deaths of people who were killed by soldiers. The film places the Muslim Brotherhood in a negative light. They state that after the Brotherhood made secret deals with the military, they left the protesters to die in that square. After winning the parliamentary elections, they were preparing for the presidential ones. In the Winter of 2012, Mohamed Morsi, a member of the Muslim Brotherhood came to power. In the eyes of many people he gave himself unchecked powers, and did not do what the people elected him to do. 

After one year in power President Morsi stepped down and the film ends with the wait for  the arrival of the new presidential elections and a time when citizens of Egypt are not divided by religion, but are united for their love of their country.