Mostafa Mamoudi
1081107434
amooshelby@gmail.com
One of the biggest issues that comes to mind after watching the film about the presentation of Arabs in culture as evil in “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People” is the way the classification by the film’s narrator Dr. Shaheen of Arabs in Hollywood films as “subhuman” and “stock villains” is being played out in real-life in politics and foreign as well as home politics. Far from being senseless comic relief figures as sometimes represented in Hollywood films, the damaging images of the Arab as fearless terrorists and villains willing to take their own lives and the lives of others is actually being played off of by America’s leaders as they make certain to use words in speeches like “the axis of evil.” The images represented in films depicting Arabs or Middle Easterners, even for those made for young children such as Aladdin which, as the narrator of the film “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People”, discusses utilizes every possible stereotype of Arabs are indoctrinating, however unwittingly, even young Western children to the negative images of Arabs as one-dimensional caricatures who are either completely violent, evil, or bumbling and backwards.
This notion of the negative stereotypes of Arabs as revealed in the film “Reel Bad Arabs” is even further contributing to the problem in Western society and the human condition more generally to make assumptions, even if it is because of a lack of thought to the impacts of what is being seen on the silver screen, because it makes us open to believing great unjust things about an entire group or culture. The only way to stop this cycle of negative stereotyping that is allowing those in power to play off of these images of Arabs to create more fear is to raise awareness about these representations and eventually, with enough dissent, producers and other creative persons behind Hollywood films will see that the stereotypes they are presenting are completely wrong and worse, quite harmful and limiting.
the problem of arab countries goes back to older days, which they though that they have oil and tich mineral materials and beacuse of that they live with all facilities in peace and without any problem. and most of them always rely on the u.s. sometimes they don't have any intention to change their corrupted goverment beacuse they had money and freedom. nowadays, you can see there is recolution betwwen all the atab people which is noticable and much more respectfull than older days. if you want something no one can stop you. it's the same, after these revolutions, the face of arab countries will change for all around the world, and they don't think of arab people like older days. they have the new face with power and new positive stereotype which is called brave people.
ReplyDelete