Cairo, City of Contrast

If you hear things are “normalizing” down in Cairo, keep in mind that everything is relative. I mean, it’s only been three weeks: How long do you expect a revolution to take?  Besides, even when things finally do begin to settle down, let’s remember that “normal” by Cairo standards is kinda like “friendly” by Tasmanian devil standards. For the last ten years, Egpyt’s been a magnet for terrorist attacks. Before Tahiri Square was swamped with tanks and angry teens with Molotovs, Egyptians had already seen every iteration of ‘conventional’ terrorism, from bus bombings and bus shootings, to suicide bombers in pedestrian thoroughfares and private resorts.

Of course, it wasn’t always this way. In fact, Egypt used to be a fave hang-spot for aliens who built the pyramids because, like, that’s a pretty hilarious prank to pull on a freshly civilized species. After the aliens, Egypt became a hot spot for rich white people. In 1938, to promote the city as a tourist destination, director James A. Fitzpatrick took a camera crew to Cairo where he shot the short film Cairo, City Of Contrast as part of his Traveltalk series for MGM. Take a trip back to a simpler time in Egypt, before the streets ran red with innocent blood–or at least before the most recent torrent of innocent blood flooded Cairo.