“Reel Bad Arabs” media 10

Aziz El Bakkali – July 3, 2012 A PowerPoint presentation on Arab and Muslims’ Screen Images Ghadeer Mourad – June  10, 2012 Introduction: 1. Description of Arab people sen in films such…

Source: Reflections

Reflections

Aziz El Bakkali – July 3, 2012

A PowerPoint presentation on Arab and Muslims’ Screen Images

Ghadeer Mourad – June  10, 2012

Introduction:

1. Description of Arab people sen in films such as the disney film Aladdin. in the film aladdin, they portray Arabs as violent, angry, and barbaric people. the women ae portrayed as belly dancers.

1. I think Arabs are represented so negatively in hollywood films because of the relationship between the united states has with arab countries, For example one main event would be 9/11.
2. I do believe Arabs are “the most maligned group in the history of hollywood” because of the way they ‘re represented in many types of films. Other groups of people that are being negatively depicted in hollywood films would be African-American people. The consequences of negative media representations lead people so see most Arab or African-American as violent people.

Myths of Arabland

1. When i think of the phrase “Arablands” the sorts of images that come to my mind are deserts, rocky roads, outside markets, sheeps on the road, etc…
2. I don’t think that we should take images represented in films seriously, but there are people who do take them seriously. Since Aladdin is a children’s film, the children who watch it do believe hat arabs are violent, cause wars, and the women are all belly dancers. Another movie that i can think of the invludes stereotypes is the film Fat Albert, Which makes African- American look like trashy,ghetto, and over-weight people.
3. Hollywood can simultaneously depict Arabs as imcompetent and as a dangerous threat because thats how many people see arabs, and most of the films are just adding to the idea.
4. The stereotype that Arab men often depicted as lusting after western women is also used against African-Americans throughout history. the want to make them seem like pigs, that don’t know to to treat a women.
5. I think hollywood inserts demeaning images of Arabs into films that have nothing to do with the middle east to make Arabs look bad.
6. When i think of Arab women i think of my mother and grandmother, house wives who stay home take care of there children and husband, clean, make something out of themselves,  and have fun in life.

The arab threat: Mideast politics and hollywood

1. When DR. Shaheen says that the politics and film go hand to hand he means that they both give wrong descriptions of who arabs are nd how they live. i agree with what he says because they make arabs look really bad. When Jack Valentini said that hollywood and Washington spring from the same DNA, he meant the same thing that DR.Shaheen was saying that they make the arab look bad with these representations.

Fatima Ayoub – June 9, 2012

1. I don’t know any movies that show how they show the image of arabs because i hardly watch any Action movies. From what i know, the images they have showed are  Arabs always violent people and people who are always planing a way to take over the U.S.A or teaching little kids how to be Terrorist.
2. I think Arabs are showing such a negative way is because it’s what people hear about them or they see in movies/ news/ or shows. Some producers just do it to gain fame since its what it is mostly the  media is interested in.
3. I do agree with the statement that Arabs are “ The most maligned group in the history of Hollywood”. I haven’t seen any other being negatively shown in hollywood films, but i seen some clips in school or home were they show some other groups like jewish people in a negative way.
4. When i hear the word ‘Arabland’ the images that come to mind are the villages in the Lebanon i have seen. These images come to mind because of what i have seen in Lebanon.
5. I think the images that they show in such films as “Aladdin” seriously because they are trying to show young kids “hate” in such a young age, and these kids will grow up to believing what they see and it becomes in them to believe that, but also some don’t understand them yet, but eventually they would.
6. Some ways that Hollywood show arabs as a threat is by showing they are danger and they are Terrorist, that you can’t be around a normal arab without thinking they are danger. These contradiction because of the 9/11 attack and what other country show of us that are non-arab countries.
7. The stereotype about ‘arab man are always lusting after western woman’’ has been used against other groups throughout history. It has been used sometimes with americans that they are lusting after eastern girls.
8. Hollywood interests demeaning images of arabs into films that have nothing to do with the middle east because they know a lot of people don’t always watch movies that have to do with actions, so they try to put that image in there in any possible way.
9. When i think of arab woman i think of what i seen of images of arab women’s. What i seen are images of normal woman who are always smiling, laughing and caring.  These images come to mind from what i seen and what i have experienced.
10. When Dr.Shaheen said that “ Politics and film go hand in hand, is that he means what happens in the real world are often made in too films. It’s basically also how people believe it because what happens in the political world is true, so when they do make it into movies sometimes half the things in there are not true, but they do believe it.

Ginnan Mourad – June 10, 2012

The Reel Bad Arab: Discussion Questions

Introduction

1. Films that include depictions of Arab people would be the Disney movie, Aladdin. The images shown throughout Aladdin, shows Arab men as angry and violent. The women in the movie are shown as belly dancers.
2. I believe that Arabs are represented so negatively in Hollywood films because of the relationship the United States has with Arab countries. After events like 9/11 or the tension between Palestine and Israel, everyone perceives Arabs as the “bad guy”.
3. I personally agree with the statement that Arabs are “the most maligned group in the history of Hollywood”. Other groups of people that have also been depicted negatively in Hollywood films would be African Americans. Some of the consequences of negative media representations include the fact that stereotypes are made. Media allows people to believe that all Arabs are bad.

Myths of Arabland

1. When I think of the phrase “Arabland” the images that come to mind include belly dancers, or men dressed in very traditional Arab clothing such as turbans. I believe that these images come from what the media depicts Arabs as.
2. I don’t believe that we should take the images and representations of a film like Aladdin seriously. They shouldn’t be taken seriously because the images depicted are completely false and stereotypical. Other children’s films that include stereotypical representations of groups of people would be Fat Albert.
3. It is possible that Hollywood can simultaneously depict Arabs as incompetent and as a dangerous threat because of dramatic events involving Arabs, such as 9/11. I believe that this contradiction occurs because the public are so used to these representations of Arab, and it is seen as “normal”.
4. The stereotype of Arab men lusting after Western women, has been used against other groups throughout history so that these groups can be portrayed as people who degrade women.
5. I believe that Hollywood inserts demeaning images of Arabs into films that have nothing to do with the Middle East, so that these stereotypes can be subconsciously inserted into the minds of the public. Once that happens, this image of a “bad” Arab will be something normal.
6. When I think of Arab women, the sort of images that come to mind are those of my mother or grandma. Those images come from my everyday life.

The Arab Threat: Mideast Politics and Hollywood

1. Dr. Shaheen said that politics and film go hand in hand. I agree with his statement, and I believe that he means that the stereotypes in films, often come from the opinions formed from political affairs. Jack Valenti says that Hollywood and Washington “spring from the same DNA” because they both hold similar opinions regarding stereotypes of Arabs and other group of people. Some examples of films that I believe were influenced by real world political events or carry political messages include Navy Seals.
2. The parallels I see between anti-Semitism directed at Jews and the anti-Semitism directed at Arabs are that they are degrading. Arabs and Jews both are depicted demeaningly, and share the same type of stereotype.
3. I believe that films have the power to reinforce or challenge stereotypes and group animosities. The media is strongest way to influence people and their beliefs, so for that reason I believe that they can challenge stereotypes against groups of peoples.

Islamophobia

1. Words that come to mind when I hear the words Arab or Muslim include the Middle East, Islam, home, peace, and me.
2. I agree with Dr. Shaheen’s contention that the Iraq war was made easier by a century of demeaning stereotypes because the American people couldn’t disagree with going to war with the “bad guys”. By constantly having the image that Arabs are bad, going to war in Iraq made it seem like Americans were fighting for a heroic cause. For that reason, the word “easier” basically is Dr. Shaheen saying that the American public weren’t so against the idea of war against the Arabs.
3. I believe that reporters blamed Middle Eastern terrorists for the Oklahoma City bombing due to the stereotype of Arabs constantly being terrorists. The media and film industry can be thanked for depicting Arabs as criminals with an agenda to destroy everything in site.
4. I believe that racial profiling is wrong, and unjust. I would tell someone, who pointed out that Timothy McVeigh looked like the stereotypical wholesome All- American boy, that you shouldn’t be too quick to judge people because of stereotypes. I believe that it would have made more sense that the police search everyone instead of targeting one group of people, after Timothy McVeigh bombed the federal building. By targeting one group of people, you miss the entire picture and put everyones life in danger because you overlook people that you would least expect to do something dramatic, such as Timothy.
5. Other stereotypes that are invisible to us but influence how we see the world include the stereotypes that Black people are all criminals. The Trevon Martin case shows perfectly how stereotypes can greatly influence a decision, and an innocent boy’s life.
6. Initially, I was disgusted when I heard that U.S. soldiers were torturing Abu Ghraib and Guantanomo Bay. I currently still have the same response as I did before. I believe that people still deserve basic rights, and shouldn’t be degrading and treated like animals because of what one U.S. soldier thinks.
7. Films have the power to influence how we see the world, regardless if we like it or not. Every minute of everyday, the media inserts stereotypes and images into our minds and we may not even realize it. By the time we do realize how much of an affect these films have on us, we see how much its influenced our opinions of the world.

Getting Real

1. The images that come to mind when I think of Arab men, women, and children are the images of my family members and every day life. Those images aren’t different after seeing this film because I am Arab and I know how far from the truth these stereotypes are.
2. The comparisons between the importance of religion in the Arab world and the United States is how significant it is in the people’s lives, and how diverse the religions are in the two worlds.
3. Other examples of films or television shows that challenge stereotypes of Arab people would be Lost, which had an Arab character named Saeed who helped many of the other characters and sacrificed his life to save his loved ones. Currently, there are many shows that are beginning to challenge the stereotypes of many groups of people.

Ramzie Srour – June 10, 2012

1. There are many films that include depictions of Arab people such as the dictator, Aladdin, and sleeper cell, the images were shown as women being represented as very sexual and also very repressed, also the men were shown to be very angry and scary and always be revealed as to want to take over or have power.
2. There are many stereotypes about arabs represented very negatively i believe they are represented like this because this is what  everyone was raised to believe and the hollywood films want to carry this stereotypes because it makes the American actors look so heroic.
3. I believe arabs are not maligned group in the history of hollywood and there are many  other groups of people that have also ben depicted negatively, such as latinos african americans.
4. When i think f the phrase “arabland” many images come to mind some being, the desert because in every arab movie it mostly starts off in the desert. they come from those movies that show the arabs as thieves, murders, or arab men striving for money.
5. i believe the film Aladdin portrays many stereotypical views such as the women dancing or the scary thieves and this shows  children the bad views on arabs and in some parts it should be taken seriously.
6. Hollywood depicts arabs in a incompetent way to make there lead role appear to be more brave and the lead role is usually an american therefore Americans always look innocent and heroic and the arabs or other depict characters appear to be the bad guys. Furthermore this occurs because the audience who see these films are used to how these characters are portrayed so hollywood continues to depict arabs in that way.
7. Arab men have been portrayed as lusting over western women this stereotype shows how many other people are portrayed as nothing but men lusting for sex.
8. hollywood introduces the arabs as demeaning images into their films because throughout the world in iraq arabs are shown as the terrorist, the threat, evil so therefore they show the audience is true and in real life it is the total opposite and we must show people what he truth is and we must portray ourselves and go buy what we are saying and not by what films portray.
9. when i think of arab women i think of a respected woman portrays her self as a smart and beautiful woman not by her looks but by her intellect, however many would think we are women who are forced to be married, work at home, and do nothing but the men say and also women are portrayed in  avery sexual way in the arab films which is a problem for arab women are very respectful and many Arab women are covered up from head to toe and are doctors, nurses teacher.
10. Politics and film can go hand in hand because film portrays many things that they want people to see whether it being the truth or not as long as americans look good then the rest are portrayed as bad, hollywood and washington spring from the same DNA because it reveals anywhere whether in movies or anywhere there are stereotypes that depict the arabs and show them as terrorist.
11. I  believe that films can reinforce stereotypes and challenge them because films deliver a message and that message can determine what people think and what their views are
12. When i hear the word arab or muslim i think of very religious people who strive to seek education, men who try to keep a roof over there families heads and people looking for peace between others.