Why is cinema prohibited in Saudi Arabia ? Why are the women there banned from driving ?

Jennifer: Why is cinema prohibited in Saudi Arabia ? Why are the women there banned from driving ?
Why is cinema prohibited in Saudi Arabia ?
Is it true that there is really no cinema there , or the rule is just confined to certain area?

Why are the women there banned from driving?
What’s the consequences if they happened to break the rule ?

Thanks in advance for those answering my question.

Answers and Views:

Answer by Licey
Because Saudi Arabia is an Islamic theocracy and a few princes control most of the wealth and whatever they say goes.

Answer by alaskamusher2
Because they live in a country that is more of a cat box than a country and they still live in the 13th century.

Answer by Eldoggg
…the men are afraid their women will see something better onscreen……the women aren’t allowed to drive because the men are afraid the women will leave…….death or castration is the penalty for disobedience…….

Answer by x x
I served with a female doctor in Saudi Arabia and she said “They hate their woman, that’s why”! Very simple but true.
p.s. she did not take any BS from those 4th century throw backs
God bless her and all the people she helped.

Answer by te144
Mohammed, revered as he is, has not been rewritten, like the Bible, so while non-moslems blanch at the strict islam, Islams, themselves practice adherrence as best they can, but some are more show than bow. You didn’t mention polygamy–yeah, it’s Candyland! Women are getting pretty fed-up, although an ankle bared can get one stoned to death in the streets. All this extra oil wealth is probably viewed as their ‘due’ for their piety. If we don’t like it, I guess we can buy an ‘electric’ feeding off of nuclear.
Cinema depicts the real world which the clerics think dilutes their power. They actually run the place.
Don’t worry about Obama — he broke his ties. May be on a few death lists.

Answer by Theresa
Saudi Arabian society (unlike Western societies) is extremely private. Groups of strangers sitting in a cinema together is simply not a part of the culture. Even in restaurants, there is a section for single men, and a section for families. (Single women aren’t allowed out in society unless chaperoned by their families). So, movie watching and other social activities take place in the home.

The culture originated from a tribal society in which the tribe protected its members, and even though it has all the modern amenities of a developed nation today, the thinking is still very much centered on the family as the basic unit of social activity.

The women are banned from driving because Saudi interpretation of their responsibilities to protect women and their honor (upon which the honor of the family rests) means that the women must always be escorted. Some women have tried to overturn the law, but without much success. I believe the penalty for driving would be a jail sentence.

However, I used to teach Saudis english, and the women told me that their fathers took them out in the desert and taught them how to drive just in case of an emergency.

Saudi Arabia also has very strict rules about pornography and much of what is shown in cinemas today would be classified as pornography – bare legs, kissing, men and women who are not married engaging in any kind of intimacy whatsoever. All of the marriages are still arranged there.

Answer by Freelancer
Cinema is seen as ‘Unreal’ therefore, ‘unholy’….as for banning women from driving…………lucky devils!