Reel Bad Arab Stereotypes

698 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Muslims portrayal in media

Turn on the news and you are bound to see something about Islamic terrorist, you watch a movie about war and you bound to see Arab blowing up anything in their path to bits then they curse the western world. This image is spread throughout our country and has made a group of people singled out to be victimized. Before the attacks of september 11, 2001 Arabs in most roles of tv shows and movies were portrayed as terrorist, to stupid to understand how much money they had, they were overly attracted to American women and only seen women as objects. These stereotypes have been ingrained into American society and have been very detrimental to our country. In the film Reel Bad Arab! By Dr. Jack Shaheen. Its begins by explaining from a young age that films like Aladdin give a negative portrayal of Arabs. The film opens up with the song Arabian Nights and the second verse includes “Where they cut off your ear If they don't like your face it's barbaric, but hey, it's home”. To include this in a children's movie is ridiculous, Dr Jack Shaheen talked about if they had depicted African Americans or people of It show them trying to destroy the West and will do or kill anything in their way to destroy America and the western world. In Designated Survivor a popular show on ABC all most all of the American government high powers are killed in a massive explosion. Right from the beginning the show starts going after muslim and blaming terrorist. It shows a reinforcement that today this portrayal of Arabs is still present. The same goes for the movie american sniper, the main character chases down a terrorist sniper that is terrorising american and allied forces. He finally kills him and makes the Arab look like a villain and the American a hero yet

Show More
Related

  • 'Imperialism In The Film Argo'

    1255 Words  | 3 Pages

    ...ome to us at an interesting time, before the Revolution, 40 percent of Tehran movie theaters were showing pornography. The function of this office is purification as well as promotion for the arts.” The first part notions the Western stereotype of the Orient since the same as the time when it was discovered, but now the people of the Orient realize the stereotypes and are changing the way they see themselves because of these stereotypes. It is only by correcting these assumptions, stereotypes, and misconceptions of the Orient at the heart of society today, the media can Orientalism be fixed. The Eastern people must be allowed to sympathize in movies and films to humanize them and have intimate interactions. Otherwise, the Orient will be continued to be known incorrectly as a place with people who are without reason, screaming, protesting, and in swarming mobs.

    Read More

  • Gillo Pontecorvo's The Battle of Algiers

    967 Words  | 2 Pages

    ... of the French quarters and the poverty of the Casbah in the previous sequence, between the European youths and Ali La Pointe, visually justifies Ali’s rebelliousness.

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Racial Profiling

    1433 Words  | 3 Pages

    Every time a terrorist attack happens the media jumps all over it, and puts their own twist on what had happened. “Thus, the media has a strong potential to influence how the public thinks about social problems like terrorism, especially because most people only experience terrorism through mass-media accounts...This research also finds that media portrayals of terrorism increase anxiety among the viewing public.” (Chermak, 2006) The media is one of the leading causes of stereotypes, and what influences our beliefs today. When you think of a terrorist, you may think of either a middle aged muslim male or a middle aged white male with some sort of mental or social disorder. This isn 't always the case. A terrorist can be of any race, age, and social class. Due to the media 's influence, we all believe in the same stereotypes and imagine the same description of what a terrorist may look like. This is one of the main reasons behind racial profiling.

    Read More

  • Analysis Of Hollywood Harems

    2137 Words  | 5 Pages

    For example honor killings, including female genital mutilation, is a traditional patriarchal custom where, male family members subject Muslim women to murder in case they lose their virginity before marriage either by rape, falling in love with the wrong men or the victim of incest they refuse to accept an arranged marriage. This behavior is considered socially acceptable and a dishonor to the family, especially among the underprivileged classes where they can achieve honor more than prosperity. This film encourages the idea that honor killings are linked to Islam, however, it is not mentioned in the Quran and it has occurred in other religions such as Judaism and Christianity as well as in Islam. Women are victimized through established religious restrictions that are neither condoned nor confined by the principles of Islam. Egypt and Jordan witness cases like this, even though they are not motivated by honor. A considerate number of NGOs and legislation succeeded in imposing sentences to people committing these crimes, these acts are still occurring in silence. (Husseini,

    Read More

  • Emile Durkheim Ideas on Terrorism

    662 Words  | 2 Pages

    I will start with what the terrorists did. The negative feeling they had against the American people did not develop over night. These feelings had been simmering for a long period of time to form what Durkeim would call their “collective consciousness”. A collective consciousness is the collective representations and sentiments that guide and bind together any social group. (Allan p. 109) They committed suicide. Durkeim would call this Altruistic Suicide. The people who committed these horrible acts had a high group attachment. They took their own life for what they thought was to the benefit of their own group. Durkeim says that when there is high group attachment the life of the individual is not as meaningful. The group becomes his or her only reality. The terrorists obtained their effervescence or emotional energy from a common misinterpretation of their religious text, the Koran. They believed they were doing what they needed to do to please their GOD, Allah. Allah and the misinterpreted Islamic faith became their symbol that gave them the necessary effervescence to not only kill millions...

    Read More

  • Racial Stereotypes In Sherman Alexie's Flight Patterns?

    779 Words  | 2 Pages

    The first thing that every person says when you mention stereotypes being mean or hurtful to people is that stereotypes don’t really affect anyone or the way that people act towards them and treat them. However, after 9/11, Muslims in America quite often felt that the people around them were constantly judging them. This however is true for in the story

    Read More

  • Post 9/11 Racial Profiling of Muslim Americans

    2655 Words  | 6 Pages

    Movies, one can argue, are one of America’s greatest pastimes. Unfortunately, after 9/11, films have become increasingly prejudiced against American Muslims. In movies Muslims are frequently portrayed negatively. According to James Emery, a professor of Anthropology, Hollywood profits off of “casting individuals associated with specific negative stereotypes”. This is due to the fact that viewers automatically link characters with their clichéd images (Emery). For Muslims, the clichéd image is of the violent fundamentalist, who carried out the terroristic attacks on 9/11. As a result, the main stereotypes involved in movies display Muslims as extremists, villains, thieves, and desert nomads. An example of a movie that has such a negative character role for Muslims in film is Disney’s cartoon Aladdin, depict...

    Read More

  • The Media Portrayal of Islam

    965 Words  | 2 Pages

    Islam is portrayed and is commonly accepted as the most violent and largest direct threat to the West. This is a generalization made by most of the West, but it is not particularly the West or the Islamic people’s fault. There is constant turmoil in Islamic countries in the Middle East and these conflicts are what make the news in the West. The only representation in the media that the Islamic nation gets is that of war. Though most Islamic people are not violent, the select few that do participate in terrorist groups give the rest of the Islam nation a bad image.

    Read More

  • Islam in America

    2522 Words  | 6 Pages

    Islam in America has historically been misunderstood, and this is due to the misconception of culture and religion as well as lack of education and incorrect portrayal in the media, which gives a skewed idea of Islam. Especially in the United States, Islam has been seen as the “terrorist religion” or a religion for the extremists and a religion in which freedom is not an option. Among the countless misconceptions, the basis of stereotypes by Americans is due to the mix up between religion and culture. Furthermore, the media only fuels fire to these misunderstandings and lack of factual information about Islam causing Americans to lash out on American Muslims without reason.

    Read More

  • Dealing with Offensive Stereotpes

    915 Words  | 2 Pages

    All in all, Running into offensive stereotypes is common among Arab Muslims. People will not stop making new stereotypes, and the only way to stop them from being spread is by correcting them. Stereotypes are basically wrong information based on an sophisticated perception. It is critical to deal with these situations with reason and intellectuality. People may have different ways to solve these kinds of problems, but it is important to make sure it is in a healthy and effective manner. Stereotypes are wrong information that needs to be corrected, so it is very important to educate society about the misunderstandings associated with the stereotypes.

    Read More

  • Prejudice and Stereotyping in the Movie, Crash

    713 Words  | 2 Pages

    In the first scene we observe a Muslim man inside a firearm store, attempting to buy a gun. The owner is a white Caucasian male that presents a negative attitude towards the customer because of his Muslim background. This feeling triggers in the owner, negative attitudes based on the assimilation and stereotypes with the Muslim race. Being immediately associated with the Al Qaeda terrorist group, which was responsible for suicidal bombers that have killed thousand of Americans.

    Read More

  • To Any Would Be Terrorist Naomi Shihab Nye Summary

    1205 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are seven billion people in the world, and out of those seven billion people there are those who live in anguish, who live in fear, who would rather be labeled as an ally, a friend, and an equal, not a terrorist. For one, the portrayal of the Arab and Muslim people has impacted citizens from the Middle East in a negative way. These offenses are what Naomi Shihab Nye speaks about in her writing “To Any Would Be Terrorist.” Nye is both disappointed and understanding towards the Americans and middle east. She takes both sides on the issue that offends her people and her family.

    Read More

  • Stereotypes In The Film Reel Bad Arabs

    532 Words  | 2 Pages

    the film further explained that the Arab image began to change after WWW2 when the Palestinian Israeli conflict, the Arab oil embargo in the 70s, and the Iranian revolution. And how those three events brought the middle east to Americans, and whereby these events helped build foundations to the stereotypes, and prejudice in movies. the scenes of the show host who is "mad as hell and can't take it anymore" about the Arabs buying out the tv station. The movement started a large hatred for a large group of people. Another example would be the way cinema represented the Palestinian

    Read More

  • Islamophobia: Muslims and Terrorism

    1154 Words  | 3 Pages

    After 9/11 has induced negative attitudes towards Muslim peoples who tend to be strongly associated with any act of terrorism. The media has played a colossal role in developing such negative association wherein it constantly portrays Muslim people in combination with violent terrorist acts. It does so in a way that they both go hand-and-hand. In other words, it has made it as though the Islamic religion is synonymous with terrorism. The media has perpetuated Muslim stereotypes over the years that followed the 9/11 incident. Because of this, society has developed, and still has developed, this prejudiced mindset about the Islamic religion and the Muslim communities around the world. People immediately assume that any violent act being depicted through the media is the direct result of Muslims. They automatically generate this idea that the act was performed by a Muslim terrorist even when they were not involved whatsoever. Regardless of whether it was true or not, Islamic religion and its Muslim adherents are at the top of societies’ agenda just waiting for the evidence to be generated so that they can then safely blame them for such world affairs. Again, this has led to the attack on the Islamic religion itself wherein people have come to postulate Islam as an act of oppression, violence and hatred towards non-Muslims. Anti-Muslim sentiments and campaigns have resulted from such misinformation the media has been generating and feeding its viewers.

    Read More

  • Media Propaganda and Stereotypes

    1639 Words  | 4 Pages

    Our society consists of consumers that buy into stereotypes and the propaganda that is being fed by the government and the media. Stereotypes steer individual's perceptions of a group of people in a certain way, usually negative, and generalize that opinion to all members of the group. Aware of the influence stereotypes have on people's views, governments use stereotypes already imbedded in society as a propaganda tactic to persuade people's thoughts, opinions and beliefs in order to benefit their cause. The media was used for disseminating stereotypes the effect violent music has on teenager's behaviours such as in the shootings at Columbine. After the September 11 attacks, the U.S. government used the media as an outlet to emphasize Muslim stereotypes to influence people to support the invasion of Iraq. Stereotypes and other propaganda techniques such as "name-calling, manicheanism, and censorship" are powerful instruments used in propaganda, because it tactfully influences the population to think in the way that the government and media want them to think (Shah, 2003). However, its success depends on how strong the stereotypes are instilled in society, how well they are maintained within propaganda and if the public is unaware of the propaganda techniques used.

    Read More

More about Reel Bad Arab Stereotypes

Open Document