Left to right: Muammar Gaddafi, Clementine, Riad, and Abdel
My name is Riad. In 1980 I was two years old, and I was perfect.
The Arab of the Future is a French graphic novel series by French-Syrian cartoonist Riad Sattouf. It's an Autobiography of his life growing up in the Middle East, and explores the cultural clash between his fatherland Syria, and his motherland, France.
Much of the story revolves around the relationship between Riad's parents, Abdel and Clementine, who met when Abdel skipped out on his Syrian military service to attend University in Paris. Abdel likes to call himself a "modern Muslim," believing that religious laws like praying and dietary restrictions are artifacts of the past, and that the Arab world needs to be dragged into the future kicking and screaming. Despite this, he is a fierce pan-Arabic nationalist with a Stay in the Kitchen attitude towards women, and nothing but disparaging remarks for non-Arabs and other religious groups. Meanwhile, Clementine finds Abdel's Syrian way of living backwards, uncultured, and scarcely better than the abject poverty most of their village, Ter Maaleh, lives under.
Riad himself finds himself trapped between these two worlds, not really fitting into either one. Because of his beautiful blonde hair, other Syrian children call him a jew and an Israeli. Because of his Arab heritage and Unfortunate Name ("Sattouf" sounds like the French words for "her pubes") he doesn't quite fit in with French children either. Nevertheless, he manages to make friends in both worlds, and strives to do his best in school to make his father proud. Along the way he discovers a talent for drawing, and an interest in early computer gaming.
Each volume of the story usually covers a couple years, and paints each country Riad visits a different color; Libya is yellow, Syria is red, etc. There are currently five volumes printed; Sattouf announced the sixth book will be the final installment.
The Arab of The Future contains examples of:
- Accidental Kiss: Eight-year old Riad gives Tarek's wife Sabah some flowers at Clementine's prompting. Sabah tries to give him a peck on the cheek, but he accidentally turns his head and kisses her full on the lips.
- All of the Other Reindeer: Poor Riad. In French school he gets made fun of, excluded, and mocked for being Arabic. In Syria, he gets made fun of, excluded and beaten for supposedly being jewish. One of his cousins even tries to kill him or his mother!
- Always Chaotic Evil: Despite how bigoted and cruel Syrian society is portrayed as, Riad ultimately averts this in his total devotion to his father, and to his friends Wael and Mohammed. Not to mention other good characters such as Tarek, and Riad's third school teacher.
- Art Shift: Whenever Riad depicts a piece of media that isn't his own. There's a long segment of him illustrating the plot of Conan the Barbarian (1982), where it's made abundantly clear that Riad is still in love with the movie, over thirty years later.
- Autobiography: By Riad Sattouf, it's about his life growing up in Libya and Syria, being raised by a Syrian father and a French mother.
- Berserk Button:
- Don't insult Clementine in front of Riad. In the earlier volumes when he's younger, he lets himself be pushed around, but when he comes back to Syria as a pre-teen he attempts to fight Anas and Moktar twice.
- Abdel has two enormous ones, which are, ironically enough, for opposite reasons. The first time, his mother tells him they're all going to hell for his refusal to circumcise his sons, and he blows up at her. The second time, he's become more religious and says those who don't respect God are cursed. When Clementine laughs at this, he lights a match and burns one of her bare soles. Both times trigger a My God, What Have I Done? moment.
- Big Brother Bully: Riad fully admits to pushing around his younger brother Yahya, and to a lesser extent, his brother Fadi. This infuriates Abdel to no end, as he was the youngest in his family growing up, and experienced this from his own brothers. To make matters worse, he finds out his older brother sold a large portion of his land since he was away from Syria for so long.
- Brick Joke: Abdel shows Riad how to draw a Mercedes by making it extremely flat, and making the wheels rectangular. Riad is naturally confused as to how a car with block wheels would be able to drive. Later on, the family is invited to ride in an actual Mercedes, and Riad notes with great indignation that the wheels are indeed round.
- Domestic Abuse: Abdel refuses to physically discipline his family unlike most of his peers, even intervening when Riad is sentenced to severe corporal punishment at school. Until he burns his wife's sole for laughing at his religion.
- Draft Dodging: All Syrian men are required to join the military at a certain age, but Abdel got out of it by going to University in France. When he comes back he's forced to bribe the customs officers, who notice the discrepancy. Eventually it catches up with him, and he's forced to leave the country. Fortunately, Tarek manages to turn his experience as a bodyguard into a high-ranking position in the border patrol. Abdel's connection to him allows him to reenter Syria unmolested.
- Global Ignorance: The family goes to a switchboard operator so they can receive a phone call from Clementine's mother. The operator hangs up on Riad's grandma multiple times because he fails to realize they don't speak Arabic in France. He then forgets this a couple more times before he finally connects them. When Clementine starts speaking to her mother in French his face gradually turns from amusement to outright astonishment.
- Honor-Related Abuse: One of Riad's cousins, Leila, gets pregnant out of wedlock is subsequently murdered by her own father and brother. At first, Abdel joins the others in condemning the killers to get them sent to prison. Unfortunately, under pressure from the family and their community, he stands aside as they convince the judge to lighten their sentence.
- Hypocrite: Hypocrisy is a major theme throughout the series. Riad sees everyone around him extolling virtues they don't have, and it makes him doubt the existence of God.
- This is Abdel's defining personality trait. The man is a mess of contradictions. The one constant in his life is how much he loves Riad.
- At the beginning, he claims to be an atheist but still says that the idea of God is sacred. He also avoids drinking alcohol and teaches Riad the first sura of the Quran.
- He wishes the Arab nations would band together and kick the Israelis out of Palestine, but is a draft dodger.
- He constantly moans about racism towards Arabs, mainly from the French (including his wife Clementine) but constantly denigrates blacks, Whites and jews.
- He praises French nationalist Jean-Marie Le Pen for his anti-immigrant stance, but tells Riad that if Arabs work together France will be an Arab state in three generations.
- It's brought up numerous times how some Muslims, especially in Saudi Arabia, will break the rules regarding alcohol.
- Practically every Arab in the series hates Israel and the jews for occupying Palestine, but they talk openly about making France a Muslim country where Christians are forced to pay the jizya.
- This is Abdel's defining personality trait. The man is a mess of contradictions. The one constant in his life is how much he loves Riad.
- Instantly Proven Wrong: While it's not exactly instant from Riad's POV, less than a page after Abdel predicts Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait will humiliate America, George Bush launches Operation Desert Storm.
- Karma Houdini Warranty: After three books of constantly messing with Riad and his family, Anas and Moktar finally get what's coming to them when they almost murder Clementine. Sadly, as Riad's not there for the beating, it happens off-screen.
- Kissing Cousins: Cousin marriages are a normal occurrence in Riad's village, in order to keep money and family from going elsewhere.
- Loop Hole Abuse: According to Abdel, the reason why so many homes in Syria look destitute is because the government only levies taxes on finished houses. No one wants to pay, so no one finishes their house.
- Loose Lips: Abdel loses his job in Saudi Arabia simply for making fun of the Emir of Kuwait. They make it clear to him that, if not for his French passport, he would be in prison.
- Love at First Sight: Riad falls hard for his cousin Qamar, when he visits Ter Maaleh for the summer. At the same time, he also finally figures out how babies are made. He desperately wishes he could marry her, but she despises him for not praying, never visiting his father in Saudi Arabia, and wearing shoes inside.
- My God, What Have I Done?: Abdel says "curse your God" to his mother after she says they're all going to hell because Riad and his brothers aren't circumcised. No greater insult exists in Islam, and saying it to a fellow Muslim is a grave sin. Abdel retreats to the balcony and repeats the words "My God forgive me for what I said," over and over.
- Later on, Clementine laughs and mocks the idea that people who don't respect God are cursed. Abdel burns the sole of her foot with a match. He spends a lot of time after that desperately begging her to forgive him.
- Sadist Teacher: Syrian teachers commonly beat their students to make them behave, or simply when they get an answer wrong. At one point, Riad's class bring in submissions for a new cane for their teacher to use. When he finds one he likes he tests it on the boy who brought it, even though he'd done nothing wrong.
