A million little Osama's

Hollywood is arguably the most important ISA (ideological state apparatus) in modern America. More than from parents, school or church do children get their ideas and values from the celluloid. This imposes on the movie industry’s executives the great responsibility of not only entertaining people, but also to be the guardians of the set of values the Western world holds dear: equality, freedom and maybe most importantly, respect for one another. According to Professor Jack G. Shaheen, Hollywood is not taking this responsibility when it comes to one ethnic group: Arabs.

For Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People, Shaheen screened over 900 films that have come from the Mecca of American film since 1898 and he came to a dazzling conclusion: Hollywood depicts Arabs as evil villains. They are either crazed terrorists who want to destroy America or wealthy oil-sheiks with large limousines, who aim at taking over America by simply buying it. Shaheen’s argument is in concordance with the writings of Edward Said, who in Orientalism showed how Westerners view Arab culture as a whole, neglecting the fact that it is as diverse as ‘European culture, and

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However, he does not answer the question which to an American Studies scholar is relevant: why are Americans in such dire need of an enemy and why the Arabs in particular? In this essay I will argue that the conscious construction of Arabs as opposites and enemies of American culture can be explained in terms of racial and religious differences and prejudices, fueled by political aims. Unfortunately for Shaheen, I fear the only possible way to get rid of the negative stereotype is to replace it by another.

In this essay, I will try and find out why Hollywood uses Arabs when the need is there for some “convenient villains” (director John Cameron quoted in Shaheen 504). Shaheen comes up with a whole array of possible causes: the situation in Israel, politics, the absence of Arabs in the film industry, the emancipation of other potential ‘convenient villains’ like Jews or blacks and many others (Shaheen 6, 28-33). Nazi Germany made great use of the relatively new medium of film to promote their hate message: Jews with big, hooked noses stole money from decent Aryans, and therefore deserved to be killed. Thus the terrorist is a tool that adds to the belief that the West is more modern and developed in that sense. Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People. Jack Shaheen discusses Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies A People. In this case however, another ‘class’ can be added: the Arab class.

Common topics in this essay:
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Approximate Word count = 2257
Approximate Pages = 9 (250 words per page double spaced)

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