Orientalism: Depiction Of Arabs In Hollywood

Orientalism is a concept introduced in 1979 by Columbia University professor, Edward Said. His theory implies that the Western world thinks about the Eastern world as an exotic far off place, which symbolizes sensuality, mysticism, darkness, and timelessness. This view of the Orient as “t

It’s barbaric, but hey, it’s home!

The real problem with all of this is that the average American does not realize the prejudices that are thrust in their face on a daily basis. The film industry defends their movies by saying the works are just fictional and should not be taken literally. If that is the case then where is the warning. When a violent television program is aired, there is usually some disclaimer about the images being fictional. Should there be disclaimers for overly prejudice Arab films? “The film you are about to see has graphic images of Arabs depicted as fanatical suicide bombers and terrorists. These images are not a true depiction of the culture or people of Islam.” Americans need to be educated about the unacceptable Orientalist ideas of the Hollywood film industry. There is no excuse, even if it is fictional.

he other” is the basic element of Orientalism. Orientalism tries to understand why the West has this preconceived notion of the Middle East. When Americans examine the East, they look through a lens that distorts actual reality (Said, video). The misunderstood and misinterpretations of the East and Middle East form a barrier to the “communion of two worlds” (Salaam). The barrier could be called a framework that is made up of filters that influence a person’s thought about a topic, in this case their view of an Islamic Arab. Media are one of these filters. Every movie or news story or magazine story or television program has an influence on our thoughts and beliefs. The entertainment that we love so dearly distorts our view of the world, especially the Arab world.

The Siege is but one of the Hollywood concoctions that lead to an unrepresentative image of Arabs. Paramount Pictures shows their interpretation of Arabs and Muslims in their movie Rules of Engagement. The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC) describes this film as “probably the most vicious anti-Arab racist film ever made by a major Hollywood studio” (Gorguissian). Samuel L. Jackson and Tommy Lee Jones star in this disgraceful movie about the American embassy in Yemen, which is surrounded by a frenzied mob of Yemenis. Samuel L. Jackson’s character is a Marine Colonel who is sent to rescue the ambassador and his family by helicopter. In the process of rescuing, three Marines are killed. To retaliate the Colonel decides to give orders to his men to shoot into the crowd of demonstrators. Within seconds, eighty-three Yemenis are massacred and about one hundred are wounded. Of the massacred people, some include women and children.

During the opening scenes of the movie, real news clips from other Arab conflicts were used to help portray Arab’s as evil hateful terrorists. News clips of the aftermath of the bombing of the military barracks in Saudi Arabia that killed several U.S. soldiers are just one of the many real life situations in the opening s

Some topics in this essay:
Yemen Arab, Muslim Arab, Paramount Pictures, Middle East, Zionism Israel, Rules Engagement, Land Israel, Americans Hollywood, Anti-Discrimination Committee, Aladdin Jasmine, middle east, film industry, notion middle east, negative images, islamic people, paramount pictures, hollywood movies, rules engagement, notion middle, silver screen, bad guys, preconceived notion middle, images arabs depicted, middle east americans, eastern world exotic,