Orientalism: Depiction Of Arabs In Hollywood
Are Americans brainwashed by what they see on the silver screen? Is it possible that Americans form views about a certain people or culture just by the images on the silver screen? Hollywood’s images of Arab and Islamic people have an important impact on how we see the Middle East. When Americans see Hollywood movies that contain images of a mysterious, dark, fanatical Arab, that image has just become a filter that effects how we see the world. Orientalism is a way of seeing the Eastern world as exotic, dark, mysterious and erotic. Many Hollywood movies have displayed this Orientalist view on the screen. Three recent blockbuster hits made millions for their producers by projecting this incorrect image of the Near East on the silver screen: Paramount Pictures Rules of Engagement (2000), Twentieth Century Fox’s The Siege (1998), and Disney’s Aladdin (1992). Each of these films portrays a negative attitude about Arabs, or “the other”. 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
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,
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Approximate Word count = 1956
Approximate Pages = 8 (250 words per page double spaced)
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