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This weekend I was at a friend's where I happened to watch a new episode of the popular TV-show 24. This is the first and only episode that I ever saw about this show, although it's already the 6th season and it has been hot since it first came out in 2001. The show tells about the story of a member of the L.A. Counter Terrorist Unit, Jack Bauer, who must stop bombs, viruses, assassination attempts, and usually save someone he cares about at the same time[1]. I myself have been a fan of American TV series, Friends, Desperate Housewives, Lost, Studio 60, just to name a few. However, I was not that interested in 24, and after seeing an episode of it, I don’t think I’ve missed anything. .jpg)
The main reason why I am not into this show is because it appears too violent to me. Also I don't know if it's just so "natural" in most American audiences' minds that: Arab equals terrorist. (I still cannot believe in the show, this college student named "Ahamed",who happens to be Arabic, happens to be a terrorist too!)
Of course 24 is not the first Hollywood production (including movies and TV shows) that portraits Arab people in a "special" way, and I don't think it will call an end to this trend either. We can say that aftermath the 9/11 terrorists attacks and the war with Iraq, the anti-Arab emotion among Americans seemed to increase. But the biased views towards Arabs and Arabic countries and their cultures have long been planted into Americans, and even the foreign audience like me, by the Hollywood films and TV shows dated back to 1930s. If you close your eyes and think about the Arabs you’ve seen on the screen, what will come to you first? Over-sexed Bedouin bandits? Submissive maidens? Buffoons and barbarians? Neither of these will surprise me because I have the similar images too in my head and I am not even American!
So I am curious, how does an Arab-American feel when s/he watches 24? Will s/he enjoy as much as audiences from other ethnic backgrounds? I doubt it. And I have even less confidence that Arabs living in the Arabic countries would stand to watch the show without feeling offended and hurt.
Some Arab people have certainly started "fighting back" on Hollywood. Based on Dr. Jack Shaheen's best-selling book, a documentary film directed by Dr. SUT JHALLY named Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People examines the slanderous Arab stereotypes produced by America’s dream factory for the past 100 years. But fortunately this film is not another Scary Movie which mocks and makes fun of other movies, Reel Bad Arabs aims at promoting "critical reflection" on the varied global impact of American media and building cultural bridges[2].
Some Arab people have certainly started "fighting back" on Hollywood. Based on Dr. Jack Shaheen's best-selling book, a documentary film directed by Dr. SUT JHALLY named Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People examines the slanderous Arab stereotypes produced by America’s dream factory for the past 100 years. But fortunately this film is not another Scary Movie which mocks and makes fun of other movies, Reel Bad Arabs aims at promoting "critical reflection" on the varied global impact of American media and building cultural bridges[2]. 
On the other end, efforts are given by some American organization in rebuilding positive images of the United States and American people in the Middle East world. On the Road, a TV series made by an American nonprofit group Layalina, features a caravan of young, good-looking Arabs crisscrossing America on a mission to educate themselves and the people they encounter along the way. This show is licensed to Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC), an Arab satellite TV network and now aired in many Arab countries. The production, financed mostly through foundations and without government help, seeks to counter the image of America often conveyed to the Arab world via Hollywood: that of an arrogant, self-absorbed, bellicose nation[3].So, can an Arab be an American film hero? Or, can an American be the "good guy" in an Arabic film? I don't have the answer now, but I'd like to keep my hope and see.
[2] http://dubaifilmfest.com/en/2006/11/07/reel-bad-arabs-how-hollywood-vilifies-a-people.html
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/arts/television/31road.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/arts/television/31road.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin
3 comments:
Becky, I highly recommend you watch a video called Planet of the Arabs. It can be found on YouTube. It's a 10 minute "trailer" which is basically a montage of Arab stereotypes from movies, cartoons, and TV shows. I found it quite eye opening and it only reinforces your point.
Not to downplay the negative stereotyping of Arabs in mainstream American media, but 24 has featured terrorists of many different ethnicities not just Arabic.
If we want to truly have an open, non-racist media system than we should strive for a world where any ethnicity can be a terrorist, even Arabs.
I don't think the issue is that we show Arabs, or any ethnicity, in a negative light its that we almost never show Arabs in a positive light. We don't think twice about movies featuring Irish terrorists (like Patriot Games or The Departed), but that's because we have plenty of films where Irish people are heroic (like Rudy).
I think the reality show with the Arab youths is a very interesting idea. Bringing these young people here and having their perception of Americans change during the course of the show can be interpreted as a positive role for the media. (There may be something here for the future of international relations...perhaps shows like American Idol can find a positive role with its 32,000,000 viewers). In "On the Media" they mention some of the "heavy hitters" involved in the show. (p.s. It reminds me of what my dad did in Ireland (south) in the early 70's. He organized Catholic and Protestant youths from the North of Ireland to come to the south for vacations and to co-habit - their perceptions changed too for the better)
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