Reel Bad Arabs
Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood vilifies a people (in German as: real evil Arabs: How Hollywood demonized a people ) is a book of the American university professor Jack Shaheen , which was published in the 2,001th He examined more than 900 Hollywood films in which Arabs play a role. Based on the book, the documentary film Reel Bad Arabs was made in 2006 .
list
Only in 12 of these films were these characters portrayed positively and in 50 films neutrally. Shaheen wrote: " Seen through Hollywood's distorted lens, Arabs look threatening and strange". The image of the Arab on American television has become omnipresent and part of American folklore. Arabs would mostly be considered billionaires, bombers, and belly dancers . being represented.
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.
“Arab Muslims are always fanatics who believe in a god other than ours. They do not appreciate the value of human life as much as we do and seek to destroy us (the West) - either with their oil or with terrorism; the men want to rob our women or seduce them brutally; they never have families and live in primitive dwellings in the desert and behave like primitive beings. The women are submissive - like black crows - or mute harem ladies. "
He compiled a list of the films that he believed would serve the most anti-Arab stereotypes. In his opinion, the most extreme examples were the films:
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Wanted: Dead or Alive (1987) - Director: Gary Sherman (Country of production: USA)
- Short summary: An Arab gang plans to detonate an atomic bomb in the USA and murder millions. An intrepid bounty hunter hunts the gang and wipes them out completely. He kills the leader by tying him up and detonating a hand grenade in his mouth.
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Rules - Seconds of Decision (2000) - Director: William Friedkin ( Country of production: USA)
- Brief summary: When a hateful Arab mob tries to storm the American embassy in Sanaa, Yemen , a marine officer shoots the crowd. In the United States he is charged with a war crime. His lawyer travels to Yemen to gather evidence, where fanatical Yemenis nearly tear him to pieces. Without exception, every Arab in this film is portrayed diabolically, which includes even the children.
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Delta Force (1986) - Director: Menahem Golan (Country: USA)
- Short summary: Arabs hijack an airliner with US citizens to Beirut. The Lebanese government shamelessly supports the kidnappers. The hostages are tortured and degraded. An American special command frees the hostages, kills the Arabs "like insects" and flees to Israel by machine. The Arabs featured in this film are beasts in human form.
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Heroes USA (Death Before Dishonor) (1987) - Director: Terry Leonard (Country of production: USA)
- Short summary: A kind of "Die Hard" in the Middle East. A single US Marine liberates an occupied American embassy in the Middle East and kills dozens of diabolical Arabs.
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True Lies (1994) - Director: James Cameron (Country: USA)
- Summary: A CIA agent exposes an Arab plot to detonate an atomic bomb in the United States. Without exception, he takes care of the Arab gang. The Arabs are a fanatical gang of terrorists who "think they are the greatest". The stupidity and sophistication of the characters depicted don't actually go together.
Also in this list are:
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Inspired by this list of the "worst movies", he made a nine-minute trailer called "Planet of the Arabs" which he presented at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival .
In 2006, Sut Jhally made a video entitled Reel Bad Arabs , which dealt with Shaheen's thesis.
The relatively very short list of films that portray Arabic characters positively includes a. the movies:
background
Jack Shaheen is a former CBS Middle East expert and Professor Emeritus of Mass Communications at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville . He has dealt with the subject of anti-Arabism in other works such as: The TV Arab (1984) and Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture (1997). He has received two Fulbright Teaching Awards, graduated from Carnegie Institute of Technology , Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Missouri . The title "Reel Bad Arabs" is a play on words with the English words Reel (German film role) and Real (German really, really).
criticism
- "Shaheen shows that the Arabs have replaced the bad Germans and Japanese in Hollywood films and that there is no balance in the ratio of positive and negative portrayals." (William Booth, Washington Post June 23, 2007)
- “Shaheen has provided a carefully researched, passionate and well-worded description of the demonization of Arab peoples in Western media. It documents how insulting stereotypes of the 'dirty Arab' have established themselves over the past 30 years, while at the same time efforts have been made to break down stereotypes among other ethnic groups. The book is highly recommended for debates on the subject of racism. ”(Andrea Slonosky, Long Island University: A Misunderstood Faith . Pages 82-83.)
literature
- Jack Shaheen: Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People . Olive Branch Press, 2001, ISBN 1-56656-388-7 .
- Book review (English)
Web links
- "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People" , a documentary featuring Dr. Jack Shaheen produced in 2004
- Biography
- Dr. Jack Shaheen on TCM's Arab Images on Film: "I no longer feel alone"
Individual evidence
- ^ John Levesque: Arabs suffer in the hands of Hollywood , Seattle Post-Intelligencer . March 21, 2002.
- ↑ The Portrayal of Arabs in American Media ( Memento of the original from July 13, 2006 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ Patrick Harrington interviews, Jack Shaheen, author of Reel Bad Arabs ( Memento of the original from July 5, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ^ A b Cast of Villains [1] William Booth, Washington Post 2007
- ↑ [2] [3] [4]
- ↑ a b c Jack Shaheen to Discuss Stereotyping of Arabs in the Media ( Memento of the original from August 14, 2011 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
