Yesterday I attended the CAB and LPE event on the maker of the documentary Reel Bad Arabs. Reel Bad Arabs, which was originally a book by Dr. Jack Shaheen, discusses how Arabs are portrayed in films, most of those films being pre 9/11. I decided to do this as a blog post because we look at how religion is portrayed in films and the different type of film work that is done in some movies and I found what Dr. Shaheen said to be interesting.
Dr. Shaheen studies the different stereotypical images of groups. AS stated in the introduction to his documentary, we as a society used to have a stigma against African Americans and Hispanics which has since gone away and he believes someday so will the stigma against Arabs.
What I found especially interesting is how Arabs are actually shown in films. If you were to think of an Arab, what would you picture? Someone dressed in a head dress and a piece of material that wraps about him along with facial hair and a dark complexion? Now picture an American. Not as easy is it? Because we know there are so many different type of people in America. How would you feel if people outside of the USA pictured all Americans as the Unabomber? I believe many Americans would be shocked if that’s how we were portrayed in every film. Another thing he said was how the Arab is dehumanized in films so it makes it easier for audiences to dislike him or her. He or she is not pictured with a family; they are a sole person reeking havoc on the American protagonist.
Dr. Shaheen’s research is very interesting and hopefully some day the stereotype of Arabs will go away and we can all be portrayed as the protagonist and antagonist in films rather than pin pointing one culture or race.
If you are interested in watching the documentary, here is a link that should take you to Google video:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-223210418534585840#=
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