Arab Media Stereotypes

Introduction

The media has stereotyped Arabs and Muslims in different racial undertones. Throughout the history of media, Hollywood, western media, and other films have portrayed the Arabs as terrorists, barbaric, and oil sheikh. Thus, the media portrays Arabs negatively by adopting stereotypical roles. Arabs emerge barbaric, uncivilized, and extensively dangerous to global peace and civilization. After the September 11 terror attack, the western media changed its coverage of Arabs and Muslims worldwide; hence, western newspapers, television coverage, film, and social media interactions set the agenda that focuses on the oriental perspective.

Description of the Four Movies

Souad (2021) is an Egyptian drama film that presents the harsh social dynamics of Arab women. The film portrays Arab women as oppressed. The film tells the story of Souad’s suicide and the attempts of her sister to search for answers. The conflict between religious conservativeness and modern social media emerge, indicating the dilemma of younger generations struggling to meet the expectation of the older generations. The neorealist lens through which the film depicts the Arab society heightens the complexity of how the traditional outlook of the society creates a personal identity crisis among the young.

On the other hand, the American comedy, Around the World in Eighty Days (2004) portrays Muslim women as sexual objects. The film captures the Turkish Sultan in the company of women in skimpy dresses, moving seductively without any emotions (Bayraktaroğlu 128). These women’s movements are against the orientalist principles of Arab society.

The Day I Lost My Shadow (2018) is a Syrian film that links Arabs to barbarism and war. The film invokes the images of domestic terrorism as it follows the mother in s in the middle of internecine conflict in the Syrian war (The Day I Lost My Shadow n.p). Although the film does not capture the religious or political undertones in linking Arabs to war-minded people, Kaadan attempts to foreground the experiences and feelings of general Arab citizens caught in the middle of the Syrian conflict. However, Aladdin (2019) is an American musical fantasy that contains harmful racial stereotypes of the Arab culture (Aladdin n.p). The film captures barbarism in Arab society and emphasizes female empowerment.

Analysis of Significant Patterns of Media Stereotypes 

The most emerging stereotype from these media is that Arabs are barbaric, uncivilized, and dangerous. The films have stereotypes that represent Arabs Muslim women and Islam distortedly. The emerging pattern is that the films show a significant percentage of negative images of Arabs and Muslim women. Souad (2021) represents Arab society as conservative, which oppresses its women. The oppression drives modern women to commit suicide because of their inability to survive the conservative Arab society (Souad n.p). Also, The Day I Lost My Shadow (2018) positively depicts the pains and suffering that ordinary Arab citizens find themselves in the middle of a crisis. The patterns contained in the Arab films dwell on creating an image that explores the need for Arab societies to develop socially responsible interventions to conflicts.

The prevailing negative image in the media generates a sense of otherness, pitying the Arabs and the rest of the world. According to Adams, the stereotypes and representation in entertainment media negatively create a sense of otherness (1). The documentation of social and political climates leadings to media stereotyping and subsequent discrimination of Arabs. American films tend to depict Arabs negatively. Around the World in Eighty Days (2004) sexualizes and objectifies Arab women through different scenes that reduce their roles to people whom society requires to wait for their time to serve the sheikh’s needs.

Aladdin (2019) showcases the need for Arab societies to empower their women. There are abundant negative and repetitive stereotypes of Arabs in American films that are misleading. Therefore, the American film portrays Arabs and Muslim women by emphasizing their radicalization. The stereotype distorts the Muslim identity and link Arabs to Islam as a religion. As a result, western films succeed in shaping the narrative where the majority of the people associate Arabs with Muslims because films and other media platforms often identify Arabs as Muslims.

Interpretation of Media Portrayal

Different media in society set an agenda on a given social concern. The media influences people to adopt behaviors, build stereotypical images, and assume attitudes that affect their perceptions and actions in real life. Nittle argues that Hollywood films frequently depict Arabs as misogynistic villains with strange cultures (para 1). Also, the mass media has portrayed Arabs as Muslims, thereby overlooking the Arabs who belong to other religions and live in different parts of the world. Media stereotypes’ impact on Arabs lies in triggering hate crimes, racial discrimination, and racial profiling.

The tenets of agenda-setting theory indicate that media stereotypes have adversely affected the images of the Arab people and Muslim women in society. Mass media portray Arab men as terrorists. Most Hollywood films refer to Arab men as villains and terrorists while capturing women as sexual objects in society. For example, Around the World in Eighty Days (2004) depicts the Turkish sheikh as an oppressive male who uses women as objects for his needs. The film builds on the Hollywood filmmakers’ agenda to project the wider Arab communities as villains (Hafsa 2). Media stereotypes have created significant obstacles to the status of Arab in society. The representation has helped engrave a malignant stereotype that alienates the Arabs within racial discrimination. The film depicts Arabs as religious fanatics whose purpose is to engage in female oppression. The media stereotype creates a dislike of the Arabs in the globalized space. While the media stereotype of the Arabs builds on false leads, the prevalence of negative media stereotypes captures Western media’s propaganda objective of stigmatizing Muslim women. Therefore, it emerges that the principles of agenda-setting theory fit into the film’s focus. As a result, the harmful nature of stereotypes allows people to perceive the Arabs with judgment. Although Hollywood films paint Arabs as dangerous people, the media’s stereotype touches on racial and religious segregation.

Evaluation of Arab Media Stereotypes

Media stereotypes of the Arabs draw from the orientalism perspective. The historical character of orientalism captures the deep-rooted complexities that attribute Arabs to barbaric people. Thus, the media portrayal juxtaposes overlapping perceptions based on the orientalists’ constructs (Hafsa 2). As a result, the dichotomy of media stereotypes shapes the narrative of the West versus the East. Thus, the media stereotype of the Arabs is a product of global historical events and reinforces the interests of maintaining western hegemony. Therefore, western media emphasize depicting Arabs within the idea of cultural otherness.

The West and Europe portrays Arabs by emphasizing an exaggerated narrative. The western media builds on orientalism to create the image of Arab culture as uncivilized and backward (Adams 5). For this reason, the media stereotypes operate on the assumption of Western superiority over Arab culture. The foundation of orientalism enhances the mass media’s ability to create narratives that depict the distinctions between the West and the East. The starting point for the media stereotypes is to elaborate on the social-cultural difference between the Arabs and the West and disseminate these narratives through novels, films, social descriptions, and political accounts. As a result, the media stereotype depicts Arabs as violent, irrational, and fanatic. In some films, media stereotypes create a superiority complex between the Arabs and other western cultures. Producers and film directors link Arab women to people who tolerate oppression and sexism. The common stereotype towards Arab women reflects the uncivilized women suffering oppression.

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Conclusion

The media leads in setting the stage for the discriminating agenda of Arabs. Most western media portray Arabs as terrorists and barbaric. The contentious manner in which the media depicts the Arab world is dehumanizing and creates false perceptions. The media conversations about Arabs, Muslim women, and Islam, in general, align to the orientalist perspective that exaggerates and distorts the Arabs way of life and culture. It views the Arabs as dangerous, uncivilized, and backward. Therefore, the western media sets the agenda about the Arabs and reinforces the view that the Arab cultural orientation is a threat to the global coexistence.

Work Cited

Adams, Sjanne. “Arab and Muslim Women in American Entertainment Media: A Qualitative Content Analysis of ‘Homeland.'” (2019).

Aladdin. Directed by Guy Ritchie, Walt Disney Pictures. 2019.

Around The World in 80 Day. Directed by Frank Coraci, Walt Disney Home Entertainment.. 2004.

Bayraktaroğlu, Kerem. The Muslim world in post-9/11 American cinema: a critical study, 2001-2011. McFarland, 2018.

Hafsa, Lanouar Ben. “Overcoming the Other’s Stigma: Arab and Muslim Representations in US Media and Academia.” Int’l J. Soc. Sci. Stud. 7 (2019): 1.

Nittle, Nadra. “Common Arab Stereotypes in TV and Film” January 7, 2022. https://www.thoughtco.com/tv-film-stereotypes-arabs-middle-easterners-2834648

Souad. Directed by Ayten Amin, Vivid Reels. 2021.

The Day I Lost My Shadow. Directed by Soudade Kaadan, Walt Disney Pictures. 2018.

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