Rebranding Arab Society

We spent a good deal of time in Thursday’s class pondering why the popular portrayal of Arabs in film and television appears to be overwhelmingly negative. As was made evident to us, films and televisions shows produced since the inception of the medium have predominantly featured Arab characters in violent, barbaric roles. In earlier cinema, the typical Arab character was a wealthy, exotic, short-tempered man in possession of a host of women. They would either help or hurt the (usually white) main character, depending on their fickle attitudes.

Today, such images have largely been discredited and discarded. Though classical portrayals are nevertheless heralded as classic masterpieces of cinema, to re-imagine that stereotype in the present day would be terribly distasteful. Yet, the modern image of Arab characters is perhaps even more on the antagonist side. They appear more often than not in the role of a terrorist or other form of militant, usually rebelling against Western culture in general. Though several attempts have been made to balance the spectrum with heroic Arab characters, the efforts usually appear forced and fall flat.

What causes such a continual negative portrayal? Are Hollywood and the entertainment industry guilty of holding such base racist beliefs? Aren’t they aware that elements of the public have caught on to this trend?

I would make the case that such stereotypes are not perpetuated consciously today. In fact, films that make honest and intelligent attempts to portray current troubles in the Arab world can have exactly the same effect. While I cannot speak for earlier films, whose portrayal of Arabs may have been based on uninformed assumptions, I posit that the image of the Arab world as a violent place comes not from fiction, but from real events. In the American film market, viewers are more likely to make a connection with a film if they identify with its main characters, and American viewers, like viewers of any nationality, are best able to understand their own culture and perspective. For this reason, the great majority of American films feature American protagonists. However, in order to attract an audience, a film must also hold the viewer’s attention, and this is often done through portrayal of violent conflict. Nowadays, the Arab world provides an ever-fresh medium for non-fiction violence, so it easily acts as a viable setting for politically-contextual fiction.

However, when the Arab world is so ubiquitously used as a violent setting, it can create the impression in the minds of the viewers that whatever actions are transpiring on the screen are representative of everyday life in that setting. Without appropriate balancing forces, the only image Americans receive of the region and its people is overwhelmingly negative. Such a balance does not exist because films showing the positive side of Arab society would likely not appeal to American viewers, as they would likely be thrown off by the cultural and linguistic differences. The only entertaining way of presenting Arab society nowadays is to filter it through a current events context, making the problems there seem far more pervasive than they actually are.

So, what to do in order to alleviate this problem? To be honest, I don’t know. I’m sure Hollywood would love to hear an alternative, but the idea simply hasn’t been formulated as of yet. I suppose a good example of filmmakers attempting to cross cultural barriers would be the recently-produced Slumdog Millionaire. In that case, a foreign culture was shown for both its benefits and drawbacks, but in a believable and humanist sense. Unlike the violent Middle East, the India portrayed in the film featured social hierarchy and competition that was understandable to Americans, yet retained Indian cultural symbols. If only one such film could be made about the Arab world, it may help dispel the inaccurate perceptions that are currently being transmitted.

Perry Landesberg