Reality Checking in Yemen

The disconnect between the real world and the “reality” of the cinema world seems to have had some disappointing (if not dangerous) consequences. Here are the lead paragraphs from a report that just appeared on the Web site for the London Telegraph:

The Yemen Tourism Promotion Board said they had been "inundated" with requests about the Western Asian country following the cinema release of Salmon Fishing in the Yemen.

Benjamin Carey, Yemen Tourism's UK spokesman said today : "There's been a real surge in visitors to our website since the film. There's been thousands of visits to our website.

"One negative is that salmon fishing isn't actually that popular in Yemen, but there are excellent sea fishing opportunities in the country.[“]

Those who try to balance their movie viewing with keeping up with international news know that this is not the only “negative.” Bearing in mind that these days it probably does not make sense to single out any country as the most dangerous place on Earth, the fact remains that Yemen is a serious contender and has been for some time. The Foreign and Commonwealth Office in Britain has given the country a red warning, which amounts to telling everyone to avoid any travel to any part of the country. The irony is that the movie is all about world peace through salmon fishing, so to speak, which should be enough to convince anyone that the movie is pure fiction!