Stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims

Stereotypes of Arabs presented in Western culture and in American culture. Stereotypical representations of Arabs are often manifested in a society's media, literature, theater and other creative expressions, but often have adverse repercussions for Arab Americans and Muslims in daily interactions and in current events.

Early Depiction

In his essay "Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Image", Scott J. Simon argues that of all the ethnic groups portrayed in Hollywood films, "Arab culture has been the most misunderstood and supplied with the worst stereotypes":

Rudolph Valentino's roles in "The Sheik" (1921) and "The Son of the Sheik" (1926) set the stage for the exploration and negative portrayal of Arabs in Hollywood films. Both "The Sheik" and "The Son of the Sheik" represented Arab characters as thieves, charlatans, murderers, and brutes.

Other movies of the 1920s share a common theme of power-hungry, brutal Arabs ultimately defeated by white westerners:
*"The Song of Love" (1923) [ [http://movies2.nytimes.com/gst/movies/movie.html?v_id=111031 Movie details and plot summary New York Times - Movies] ]
*"A Cafe in Cairo" (1924)
*"The Desert Bride" (1928)

Simon singles out "A Son of the Sahara" (1924) as "the strongest subconscious attack on the Arab culture of all the Arab movies of the 1920s." [ [http://pages.emerson.edu/organizations/fas/latent_image/issues/1996-04/arabs.htm "Arabs in Hollywood: An Undeserved Image" by Scott J. Simon] ]

The same themes prevailed into the 1970s and beyond:
*"Black Sunday" (1977) concerns an Arab terrorist plot to bomb a stadium during the Super Bowl.
*"The Black Stallion" (1979) opens with Arabs mistreating a horse aboard a ship, then attacking a boy with a knife and stealing his life jacket.
*"Back to the Future" (1985) went so far as to name a specific country, referring to antagonists in the film as "Libyan terrorists".

Billionaires, bombers, and belly dancers

A report titled "100 Years of Anti-Arab and Anti-Muslim stereotyping" by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh (director of media relations for the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee) specifies what some in the Arab American community call "the three B syndrome": "Arabs in TV and movies are portrayed as either bombers, belly dancers, or billionaires":

Thomas Edison made a short film in 1897 for his patented Kinetoscope in which "Arab" women with enticing clothes dance to seduce a male audience. The short clip was called "Fatima Dances" (Belly dancer stereotype). The trend has shifted over the years and was predominated by the "billionaires" for a short while especially during the oil crises in the seventies. However, in the last 30 some years, the predominant stereotype by far has been the "Arab bombers." [ [http://www.ibiblio.org/prism/jan98/anti_arab.html 100 Years of anti-Arab and anti-Muslim stereotyping] by Mazin B. Qumsiyeh]

In a piece in the "Los Angeles Times" published July 28, 1997, Laila Lalami offers a 12-step guide to making a successful Arab-bashing movie, including such items as "the villains must all have beards", "they must all wear "keffiehs", "they must all have names like Ali, Abdul or Mustapha" and "have them threaten to blow something up." [ [http://www.moorishgirl.com/condor.html Why Hollywood Owes Me Money] by
Laila Lalami]

After the September 11th tragedy, Arab-American actors have found themselves even more likely to be type-cast as a terrorist. [ [http://209.85.207.104/search?q=cache:3XIB2jWzJhUJ:www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article%3FAID%3D/20071025/ENT10/710250377 More work, same role for Arab actors, Ashraf Khalil, Los Angeles Times, October 25 2007] ]

Jack Shaheen, Professor Emeritus of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University, documented these trends in his book "The TV Arab" (ISBN 0-87972-309-2), which identifies more than 21 major movies released over ten years which show the U.S. military killing Arabs. These include:
*"Iron Eagle" (1986)
*"Death Before Dishonor" (1987)
*"Navy SEALs" (1990)
*"The Delta Force (film)" (1991)
*"Patriot Games" (1992)
*"Executive Decision" (1996)

In "Reel Bad Arabs" (ISBN 1-84437-019-4), Shaheen writes that "television's image of the Arab is omnipresent [and] is becoming a part of American folklore." He also writes that Arabs have "consistently appeared in American popular culture as billionaires, bombers, and belly dancers." [ [http://iml.jou.ufl.edu/projects/Spring01/Chebli/page4.htm The Portrayal of Arabs in American Media] ]

Arab Muslims are fanatics who believe in a different god, who don't value human life as much as we do, they are intent on destroying us (the west) with their oil or with their terrorism; the men seek to abduct and brutally seduce our women; they are without family and reside in a primitive place (the desert) and behave like primitive beings. The women are subservient — resembling black crows — or we see them portrayed as mute, somewhat exotic harem maidens. [ [http://www.thirdway.org/files/articles/antiarab.html Patrick Harrington interviews, Jack Shaheen, author of "Reel Bad Arabs"] ]

The movies which Shaheen identifies as the three worst in terms of negative portrayal of Arabs in modern films are:
*"" (1987); "Arab thugs... plan to ignite Los Angeles... killing millions."
*"True Lies" (1994); "Arnold S. INC." shoots dead Palestinians like clay pigeons. "
*"Rules of Engagement" (2000); "a film which "justifies" US Marines killing Arab women and children." [ [http://www.thirdway.org/files/articles/antiarab.html Patrick Harrington interviews, Jack Shaheen, author of "Reel Bad Arabs"] ]

Positive portrayals

Despite the vast majority of American films portraying Muslims negatively, there have been positive portrayals of Muslims in American movies.
* Rambo III - Muslims are portrayed as heroic and brave with the film dedicated "to the gallant people of Afghanistan".
* In Raiders of the Lost Ark and Indiana Jones And The Last Crusade Indiana Jones' trusted friend Sallah, an Egyptian Arab, helps him with his quest and even saves his life on occasion.
* Morgan Freeman's character Azeem in helps and fights with Robin throughout the movie eventually saving his life at the end, even saying that he was fighting the sheriff even though he was not an Englishman.
* The 13th Warrior - Antonio Banderas' character Ahmad ibn Fadlan, of Arab origin, is portrayed as an intelligent and courageous traveler who aids a group of Scandinavian adventurers in a battle with a tribe of cannibalistic raiders.
* Kingdom of Heaven by Ridley Scott portrays the great army of Saladin composed of legions of Muslims, i.e. Saracens, along with those Muslims inhabiting Jerusalem in general. The Muslims are portrayed in a highly positive manner throughout the film. Saladin, who was of Kurdish descent, is portrayed in the film by Syrian actor Ghassan Massoud, revealing a thoughtful, compassionate, respectful, brave and ultimately very human leader that audiences connected with (beyond Orlando Bloom and his somewhat underboiled performance as Balian.
* Mohammad, Messenger of God ("also known as The Message in the US"), by first-time director Moustapha Akkad, was a big budget Hollywood-style epic film, in the vein of David Lean, which related the story of the birth of Islam in modern day Saudi Arabia. Starring Anthony Quinn and Irene Papas, the film was an ambitious effort to bring the story of Islam to a world audience. It garnered international acclaim, and remains to this day perhaps the definitive cinematic presentation of early Islam.

ee also

*Anti-Arabism
*Ethnic stereotype
*Ethnic stereotypes in pornography
*Freedom of Speech, First Amendment, United States Constitution
*Stereotype threat
*Racial profiling

Bibliographies & Videographies

* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/arabbib.html Arabs in Film and Television: A Bibliography] via UC Berkeley library
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/MRC/imagesarabs.html Images of Arabs and the Middle East] videography of films on video and DVD in the UC Berkeley Media Resources Center

References