Another Country (Part 2)
| Series | |
|---|---|
| Work In Progress | |
| Original Broadcast Date | |
| 1986 | |
| Cast | |
| Joe Frank | |
| Format | |
| Serious Monologue, Narrative Monologue, 60 minutes | |
| Preceded by: | Another Country (Part 1) |
| Followed by: | Another Country (Part 3) |
"'Don't think for a moment', she said, 'that Israel did this without America's permission.'"
Another Country (Part 2) is a program Joe Frank produced as part of the series Work In Progress. It was originally broadcast in 1986.
Synopsis
Naim lights into Protagon (the unnamed fellow who's the protagonist of the story) for Israel's brutality in their invasion of Lebanon, mentions the massacre at Sabra and Shatila(1982 September 16-18).
Protagon is working to defend Israel's reputation at B'nai B'rith, his employer.
3:30: Residents of the boarding house rent-strike, which Protagon gets involved in.[1]
4:50: Naim gets a job at the Computer Science Corporation way out in Reston Virginia teaching Saudis English.[2]
6:00: Naim rides Protagon about housekeeping, haircuts, slovenliness, etc.
7:30: Protagon says to Naim, 'We've been together for over two years.'
7:50: A trailer for Rollover,[3] which depicts stereotypical sinister Saudis, and violence, angers her.
8:50: Naim's visa runs out. She wants to marry.
9:50: Protagon's brother marries.[4] He doesn't want to take Naim to the wedding.
10:50: Naim decides to return to North Yemen.
12:20: 'Last year she'd been asked to dance at the Georgetown University auditorium at a multicultural night and she'd choreographed a performance in honor of the Palestinians who died in Sabra and Shatila.'[5]
14:20: Naim's unhappy with the conditions in North Yemen and her job.
15:00: Protagon dates Sheila, a Jewish woman he met at B'nai B'rith.
17:20: Protagon mails Naim a birthday card and cassettes in March; they don't arrive.
18:00: In March Naim writes, will be in DC and the end of May for 2 months. Protagon drops Sheila, just after their first episode of love-making.
18:40: Protagon meets Naim at the airport.
19:50: Sheila calls, has missed a period. Protagon is unsympathetic.
20:20: Naim gives Protagon a traditional Yemeni sword and headdress, is disappointed by his unenthusiastic reaction.
20:50: Naim wants him to buy a nearby apartment; he doesn't; they fight. She wants to get married, he doesn't.
23:40: They vacation in Jamaica, which is unpleasant. Because their airline, Air Florida, goes bankrupt while they are there, they have to arrange another flight back.[6]
32:50: Naim's mother visits; he moves out during her visit.
33:30: They see John Guare's Gardenia, a play about a failed attempt at a utopian community after the Civil War, in which Naim sees the failure of her life, her relationship with Protagon. They argue.
36:50: 'She alluded to a time years ago when he suggested that they both become photographers together and travel around the world.'[7]
38:20: 'she was going to be turning 35' 'he was turning 29'[8]
38:50: Protagon leaves B'nai B'rith, takes a job at some friends' recording studio.
40:20: Protagon flies to North Yemen.
45:40: Protagon runs in the Hash, an eccentric cross-country run started by British soldiers.[9]
48:30: Next weekend, Protagon chews khat.
53:00: Protagon meets Ali, Naim's lover before Protagon, at the Peacock café. Instead of his PhD program at Harvard he's in North Yemen because, 'I could be more useful here'.[10] Ali gives Protagon a short summary of Yemen's history, 1962-then.
56:00: An old man tries to sell a watch (probably stolen) to customers at the café.
56:30: A boy tells an old woman that he went to a Hallowe'en party as evil. He tells the old woman that evil is power.
The man continues his work defending Israel. He organizes a rent strike. They fight over personal issues. She begins to suffer from a degenerative disease, has nightmares. They discuss violence in movies. Her visa runs out. He doesn't invite her to her brother's wedding. She leaves for Yemen, gets a job teaching languages through a US state department office. He dates a Jewish woman. She returns for a few months, wants to marry and buy a home. He resists. They take a vacation to Jamaica - they are disappointed, he suffers an infection. He meets her mother. He visits her in Yemen. They participate in scavenger-hunt like footrace sponsored by the British embassy. He learns to chew qat. They watch the local news program. He talks with her ex boyfriend about Yemeni politics.
Music
- "First Light" - Harold Budd & Brian Eno (from Ambient 2 (The Plateaux Of Mirror), 1980) | YouTube [13:45]
- "Spiritual Healing" - Toots Hibbert (from Spiritual Healing, 1983) | YouTube [27:54]
- "Qu'ran" - Brian Eno and David Byrne (from My Life in the Bush of Ghosts, 1981) | YouTube [41:15]
Additional credits
The original broadcast credits state: "Technical production by Tom Strother."
Commentary
The narrator says 'Canada Dry' is popular in North Yemen. Yemeni Redditors tell me it is today.Arthur Peabody (talk) 20:22, 16 March 2022 (EDT)
A Yemeni Redditor wrote that Ali's summary of the history of Yemen is basically correct.Arthur Peabody (talk) 20:22, 16 March 2022 (EDT)
Footnotes
- ↑ He had moved out in part 1.
- ↑ She already has this job in part 1.
- ↑ released 1981 December 11, nearly a year before the time of this story
- ↑ Protagon was an only child in part 1.
- ↑ Since Sabra & Shatila happened 1982 September 16-18, the year must be at least 1983.
- ↑ Air Florida went bankrupt 1984 June 3.
- ↑ years ago? It's 1984, they didn't meet before 1981.
- ↑ They were 30 and 25 when they met.
- ↑ This is a real thing, at least elsewhere; Yemeni Redditors have no memory of it and the Wikipedia page doesn't list Yemen as a site.
- ↑ Odd, because Ali's Algerian, not Yemeni.
