She has been called a phenomenon, a YouTube star and even a spy. But now, well-known Egyptian puppet Abla Fahita has returned with billboards and a promo of her first ever TV show, "Live From The Duplex." We have only seen the promo and it is already the topic of heated controversy.
Earlier in January, Abla Fahita announced that she was taking over the theater where Egyptian satirist Bassem Youssef used to present his show, "El Bernameg," commenting via Skype on a TV show, "I thought, instead of a stranger taking the place, turning it into a kofta place or something, better for me to take it than someone we don’t know.”
The news and claims were vague until the Egyptian capital city was scattered overnight with billboards showing the puppet in what seems to be seductive photos, with a comment "Come here ... I'm like your mother", and a disclaimer that the show is for adults.
While many spectators were uncertain what the billboards or the show are all about, the release of the show's promo added new layers to people's confusion and increasing questions about the show, which is to soon air on TV channel CBC.
In the promo, Abla Fahita is seen in a nightgown with two well-built, half-naked men standing at the foot of her bed, saying, "Are you the bodyguards? Let's start with the body, take off your jackets ... and the shirts. Stretch your chests. Bend over to pick up the boots with your teeth. The boots with feathers, feathers!"
Both billboards and the promo were met with a wide range of skepticism and criticism, referring to the show as "puppet pornography."
To think that a puppet can single-highhandedly stir all this controversy is wondrous, and leaves its fans, critics, and spectators with no option but to wait and see what this will all turn out to be. We can't wait.