Barakah Meets Barakah 

Barakah Meets Barakah is a charming 2016 rom-com about Saudi Arabia’s disillusioned Millennial generation. Saudi director Mahmoud Sabbagh uses the love story between Barakah, a middle-class civil servant, and Bibi, a famous internet star, to highlight the modern difficulties of finding love in Saudi Arabia. After meeting Bibi by chance, Barakah is immediately smitten with her. Bibi, however, is more reserved and pessimistic about their potential relationship, concerned that they will not be able to get to know each other naturally without catching the attention of the religious police. Underlying the couples’ amusing schemes to meet face-to-face is political commentary about Saudi society, specifically how it has changed (for the worse, in the eyes of young couples like Barakah and Bibi) since the 1979 siege of Mecca’s Grand Mosque. Through Bibi’s empowering social media posts, which are cropped to carefully hide her face, and Barakah’s reflection on his parents’ generation via slideshow, Barakah Meets Barakah highlights the complex emotions of Saudi youth in the face of cultural change. 

This is best exemplified by the defeat Barakah felt after his plan to meet Bibi at Adventure World resort failed. He returned home and asked his uncle, who is on an oxygen machine and doesn’t speak throughout the film, what have they become? A slideshow follows, displaying the relatively lax cultural norms of his parent’s generation, such as mixed-gender cinemas. This changed after the 1979 Siege of Mecca. After the attack, Saudi Arabia experienced an Islamic revitalization in which the government and population became more religiously conservative. As both the movie and scholars allude to, television, entertainment, education, and popular culture became more conservative (Allison, 2018). We see the effects of such conservatism throughout the film. At one point, Barakah tells Bibi that he has the perfect solution- they will become engaged! Only for formality’s sake, this will allow them to get to know each other and “trick this stupid society,” Barakah says. Bibi refuses, but it goes to show the pressure that new couples face from entities like the religious police. Moreover, the director succeeds in showing the complexity of Saudi society, critical but not orientalizing. This is also seen in the interactions between Bibi and her young fan, who asks when they will see Bibi’s face on Instagram. Bibi's response encapsulates the nuanced reality of everyday Saudis: “Not at the moment. You know the country’s customs, step by step.” I think this line also speaks to the production of the movie itself, which is the first widely recognized romantic comedy to come out of Saudi Arabia and features topics such as circumventing the religious police and drinking alcohol. Just as Bibi’s Instagram posts are slowly introducing feminist ideas to the masses, Barakah Meets Barakah sparks conversation about life in Saudi Arabia under restrictive societal expectations. 

The star-crossed lovers narrative that characterizes Barakah and Bibi’s relationship is a universal story, but the line I think American youth resonate with the most came at the end of the aforementioned slideshow. Talking to his uncle, Barakah proclaims, “Your generation lived life to the fullest, then got scared once you aged. You made it, but didn’t defend our generation’s rights.” In the American context, people experience this not in a religious context but an environmental one. Millennials and Generation Z are statistically more likely to feel a responsibility to address climate change, while the Baby Boomer generation is statistically the least likely to worry about climate change (Farber, 2020). Due to the actions (or lack thereof ) of the older generations, much of the American youth feel as though they have been saddled with the unfair job of protecting the planet and their future. Many believe that had the older generations taken the matter more seriously, the planet would be in a much better place (Farber, 2020). Americans feel similarly about the economy. Generation Z, those born between 1996 and 2012, feel they have a harder time financially than former generations (Dickler, 2024). Housing and food expenses have risen dramatically, and Gen Z carries a larger student debt balance and lower wages than previous generations (Dickler, 2024).

Barakah Meets Barakah reminds us that young people everywhere, from Saudi Arabia to the United States, are working towards a future that reflects their own values. Though cultural and societal pressures differ, desire for freedom and self-expression is universal. Just as Barakah and Bibi work around restrictive norms, young Americans confront economic and environmental challenges left by previous generations. Saudi Arabia’s first rom-com shows us that even in times of strife there is room for laughter and hope.

References

Allison, M. (2018). Militants Seize Mecca: The Effects of the 1979 Siege of Mecca Revisited. Metamorphosis. 

Dickler, J. (2024, January 18). Gen Z says they have it harder than their parents did — and the economy is to blame. CNBC. https://www.cnbc.com/2024/01/18/gen-z-says-they-have-it-harder-than-their-parents-did.html

Farber, D. (2020) Climate Perspectives Across the Generations, 60 NAT. RES. J. 297.

Available at: https://digitalrepository.unm.edu/nrj/vol60/iss2/11