Behind the facade of Hollywood glamour, Coptic Orthodox Christian journalists covering entertainment are trapped in a silent struggle. These minority journalists fight a battle between their conservative religious principles and their profession covering a highly sexualized industry.
Rather than quit, or allow their biases to affect their impartial coverage, some Coptic journalists have devised strategies to separate their work from their religious identities; They masquerade as secular citizens while holding strong to the Coptic faith. These mundane heroes continue to provide impartial and quality work, never letting on to their deeply personal struggles.
“Hollywood expresses itself in very crude ways, and I’d have to sit through movies that weren’t so wholesome, or I’d have to quote celebrities using expletives,” Dena Beshai, a former “Variety 411” reporter said.
The Coptic faith has withstood centuries of schisms, hearsay, and persecution. Presently, it’s the societal norms appropriated by Hollywood that the Coptic church is grappling with. For the Coptic reporters in the industry, it’s a daily struggle; Coptic journalists regularly face the conflict between their beliefs and the world of sex, drugs and money they are immersed in. As these two values conflict, journalists are caught in the crossfire, and forced to find a way to reconcile their profession with their identity.
“I landed here on February 15, 1959, and I joined the association two months later,” Mahfouz Doss said, his voice deep and gravely. The association he spoke of is the acclaimed Hollywood Foreign Press Association. Doss, now a 92-year-old-man, is a Coptic journalist and former President of the HFPA.
In 1959, Doss was one of the 15 to 20 members of the fledgling organization, though since then, both have flourished. In his almost 60 years with the HFPA, Doss has served as Chairman of the Board, Vice President of the Board, and for a term in 2000, President of the Board.
Today, the organization is 93 members strong and is most notable for its annual Golden Globe Awards in which awards are given to “about 200 stars from the motion picture industry or television industry present.”
Before working in Hollywood, Doss graduated from the University of France with a degree in Chemical Engineering, as well as a Masters in Organic Chemistry and a Masters in Applied Chemistry. After immigrating to America, he did research as a chemical engineer and turned to movies to relax. In 1959, Doss approached the Egyptian newspaper “Watani” if he could write about Hollywood, in which he continues to do so today.
As for his religious beliefs, Doss proudly said, “I am a Coptic Orthodox [Christian], for generations and generations and generations. I am a true descendant of the Ancient Egyptians.” As a practicing Coptic Orthodox Christian, Doss follows the Nicene Creed, the summation of faith for Copts which affirms that Christ is the son of God and died to forgive the sins of man.
Given that he’s been able to see the decades-long progression of film, Doss is understandably disappointed with the way morality is portrayed. “Unfortunately, nowadays people they sell what the majority of people want to see and hear because they want to make money…Very few times, you find…a nice, well-balanced picture to make money.”
As for the morality in the business, Doss tries to compartmentalize, stating that “I separate my religious beliefs from what I see or what I hear. They are two different things.” Though the industry may change, and Doss hopes it does, he’s grounded in the knowledge that his beliefs will never change.
Beshai, a professional journalist for four years, put down her pen and notepad in 2008 to pursue the more challenging endeavor of motherhood. Prior to that, Beshai was an Assistant Editor for “Variety 411,” a publication that specialized in below-the-line entertainment news for those in the entertainment industry. That time in her life was filled with red carpets, film festivals and meddling celebrities. Luckily, Henry Winkler’s attempts to match her up with his son failed, as without so, Beshai would not be the wife, mother of three and Sunday School teacher that she is today.
In junior high, Beshai was drawn to the integrity of journalism, specifically, to journalists like Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer, and Christiane Amanpour. Beshai loved the journalistic intent behind uncovering the truth and the integrity inherent in the profession. Contrastly, Behsai joked that journalism has become almost “maniacal,” as agendas and Hollywood’s goals of “money, fame, and glory” have gotten in the way of integrity-driven reporting. To her, Hollywood is “an industry void of good” and lacks the ability to recognize Christ. Working in the entertainment industry, Beshai was far from the Christ-affirming, conservative upbringing she was used to.
“You really come to face what you’re willing to do and what you’re not willing to do, and because I was younger, I think I was more willing to do anything because I was just starting my career.” In retrospect, Beshai admits that her work was not edifying, though, at the time, she wasn’t as conflicted about her profession as she is now.
“Looking back on it,” she said, “it was very vain and very self-aggrandizing to tell people, ‘oh my gosh, I got to meet this person on this day’ and ‘Tom Arnold called me on my phone.’”
Now, she also recognizes the toll it had taken on her spiritual life. Despite these struggles, Beshai managed to find strategies to reconcile the conflict between her beliefs and the industry she served. She stayed true to her faith by staying true to herself: “I didn’t change who I was so professionally speaking, I tried to exhibit my Christian qualities. I think that’s all I could do at that point.”
Overall, at the time, it was fun and exciting to attend industry events and rub elbows with celebrities so she doesn’t regret her time as an entertainment journalist. However, she wouldn’t do it again. “I believe that there was a reason for me to be there. God opened that door for me and perhaps it was a learning experience.”
For another reporter at a major national publication, this Coptic journalist felt her path was paved with the struggle to maintain her Christian identity amidst an industry void of Christian values. As a current journalist, she has asked to remain unnamed so that her current coverage remains unbiased in the public eye. Such is the policy of many publications.
She shares that like “a good Coptic girl,” she attended graduate school. Besides that, she’s aware of her “off-the-beaten-path” personality, especially amidst a Coptic community rife with doctors, lawyers and dentists; She even “toyed with the idea of law school for about a week,” but knew journalism was her path all along.
She is also a practicing Coptic Orthodox Christian who found her own way of coping with the clash of her beliefs and her profession, like Doss, through compartmentalization. Gone were the laughs and lightheartedness from discussing the quirks of Coptic culture. Instead, her words were measured and thoughtful, betraying the gravity she felt the situation merits.
“It’s very hard [to maintain our beliefs],” she started. Rather than attempting to reconcile her religion and work, she prefers to “deal with” the issues by facing them head-on, comparing this with how lawyers deal with representing someone they know is guilty.
“If you look at it as an observer, as a person who’s relaying information, it makes it a little bit easier to swallow…You just do your best to not let it influence you as a person and your faith and you hope you’re not exacerbating things by participating in them.”
Explaining that though it seems like a betrayal of her religion and beliefs, as a journalist, it’s her duty is to share what’s out there. Overall, she feels that while you cannot ignore what’s going on the world, the best thing you can do is “shield yourself from whatever badness is out there.”
“As a journalist,” she reasoned, “you’re not supposed to be biased, right? We’re supposed to be unbiased and we’re covering the facts as best as we can… But can I come home and tell my family this is what I covered that day? I can, but I also feel a little bit…hesitation maybe?”
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Sophia Soliman is a third-year Political Science and Journalism student at California State University, Long Beach (CSULB). She is a member of the Board at the CSULB Coptic Club as well as a CSULB President’s Ambassador and a CSULB President’s Scholar. She’s passionate about sharing minority perspectives, particularly within the Coptic Community.
