‘Do I look like
a faggot to you?’ This was Mohamed El-Sobky’s response when I nudged him to the
dance floor to avoid entertaining him in the back corner of the club. Mohamed
El-Sobky. Butcher turned movie mogul. The man most credited with the demise of
wholesome Egyptian culture. ‘Any man who dances is a faggot,’ he elaborated. Well
then, the voice in my head said. I’ll just have to dance with those ‘faggots’
over there while you down your whiskey wondering how this belly dancer snubbed
you. YOU, Pharaoh of Egyptian cinema, who could make me famous overnight. You
expect me to fall at your feet, but I won’t. I’m going to treat you the way I
would any other drunken meat hacker – with caution and disgust.
This was how I
met El-Sobky. For years I had dreamed of meeting this person, this… ‘legend.’ But
Egyptians in the entertainment business advised me against it. ‘Ma balaash,’
they would say. ‘Don’t do it. He’ll make you famous, but not without having
you for dinner. When he’s done with you he’ll throw you to the dogs like an old
bone as he looks for the next piece of meat. Are you OK with that?’
