Arab Portrayals in Film: A History of Stereotypes

In the original version of the classic Disney movie "Aladdin" (1992), there was an opening scene song in which the lyrics were sung and sung by the movie Arab character. "In rare cases, under the pressure of the Arabic Discrimination Prevention Committee, Disney changed the boundary one year after its release, but in the song it remained" barbarous ". Lyrics Aladdin is not the first example of Arabs or the Middle East negatively or stereotypically in the film, but this is just one example of wide-ranging interest in the film history of the last century.

Dr. Jack Shahin, author of "Lille Bad Arab" and "Arab: Stereotype Archive in American Popular Culture" analyzed Arabs in the American film and television of the last century. The way it is drawn. In 2006, his book "Lille Arabs: How to Destroy Hollywood" was revised as a documentary and presented to domestic and international audiences. In his book, Shahin says, "What is the Arabs? Hollywood insists on answering in myriad movies: Arabs are arrogant murderers, dirty rapists, religious fanatics, oil Rich fool and woman Shaheen 's book and documentary highlights many examples of American media explaining the same negative stereotypes that Arabs and the Middle East repeated in the last century.

The figurative custom of Orientalism such as endless desserts, harem girls, belly dancers, etc. never changes and it depicts Arabs and the Middle East as being incompatible with Western morality. These movies depict the dichotomy between the east and the west, and between the ordinary and the two, making Arabs mysterious in the world. One noteworthy example is the movie "Lost Ark Raiders" (1981). This shows how the contemporary protagonist of the movie passed through the Egyptian markets and encountered a scimitar swing villain surrounding these two roles.

The contemporary depiction of the Arabs in the movie turns into painting them not as merely as desert retrograde residents, but as obsession with violence, anger, and destruction of the West. The movie quoted by Shaheen depicts Arabs as a ruthless oil chief trying to destroy Western society or a helpless terrorist. In the popular movie "Back to the Future" (1985), the enemy who shot the hero was explained as a terrorist in Libya who shouted Arabic ibted when he defeated the hero ruthlessly .

Shaheen's research in the film and media industry will help Hollywood determine the inhumane nature of Arabs and the underlying factors of these personality. Shaheen has more than 1,000 movies depicting Arabs, but 932 people draw stereotypical or negative Arabs, only 12 people have a positive depiction.

On March 23, 2015, Dr. Jack Shaheen will screen "People Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Destroys People" at Pepperdine College and then a panel discussion on the Arab stereotypes. You can book event tickets here.

Arab and Arab American women are also drawn in stereotypes with TV and movies. Jennifer Bing - Canar and Mary Zerkel are exploring these depictions in their article "Reading the Media and Myself: An Important Media Literacy Experience with a Young Arab American Woman". In this article it is worth noting that Arab women may be seen as adultery, belly dance, a woman with excessive sexual desire, or a persecuted woman wearing a head scarf. In both explanations, women are objectively or suppressed by men. It is more common among Arab women, but there are also less frequent stereotypes that describe Arab women as terrorists.

Before considering the Arab film itself, it is useful to focus on the important dynamics that have constantly influenced the relationship between the Arabs and the movie, that is, their images in Western movies. Many Arab and Arabian filmmakers believe that the image of the West Arab world is a major obstacle to screening, promoting and evaluating the basic and active Arab film culture . From the beginning of filming, it was a standard practice to make Arabs fake and stereotype them. Hollywood specializes in SCHIRMER ENCYCLOPEDIA OF FILM

History shows that Hollywood movies have distorted arab women since the movie began. Obviously, the filmmakers did not create these images, but inherited the Arab stereotypes that existed in Europe. These images were created long ago; in the 18th and 19th centuries, European artists and writers used fictional versions of women as exotic "items" for bathing and submission. As a result, stereotypes are thought to be effective over time and will be a permanent part of pop culture in Europe (Cheney, 1986)