No, they are who we thought they were!
Posted on 06/05/2011 10:26:22 AM PDT by QwertyKPH
Directors and critics in the Middle East are divided about how Hollywood portrays Arabs.
JERUSALEM — As he watched the news coverage of the Arab Spring, Palestinian filmmaker George Khleifi wondered what the TV footage might mean to the West.
"If 30, 40 or 50 years ago this revolution in Egypt would have taken place, I think maybe not 10 percent of Americans would see it," Khleifi said. "Now with satellite and the internet — there is a revolution and Arabs are not who they thought they were."
Khleifi hopes Hollywood will take cues from Tahrir Square to improve its portrayal of Arabs on film. According to Emory University professor Jack Shaheen, the West has long seen Arabs as petty, dishonest and lecherous.
Shaheen's book, "Reel Bad Arabs," published in 2001, takes a sweeping look at 900 films featuring Arabs and made between 1896 and 2001, and finds them obsessed with the "three Bs" of Arab archetypes: bellydancers, billionaire sheikhs and bombers.
"What is an Arab?" Shaheen asks in the book. "In countless films, Hollywood alleges the answer: Arabs are brute murderers, sleazy rapists, religious fanatics, oil-rich dimwits, and abusers of women."
Shaheen, raised by Lebanese-Christian parents in Pittsburgh, Pa., claims that these movies shape how Americans see the Middle East. In the last decade his seminal work, which includes an A-Z catalogue of his commentary, also became a documentary film of the same title (2006) and inspired a short movie called "Planet of the Arabs" (2005).
But Arab directors and critics in the Middle East are divided on Shaheen's thesis.
(Excerpt) Read more at globalpost.com ...
stereotypes exist for good reason
Why are Arabs always the bad guys?
Because the are?
Did this guy ever watch any of the “Die Hard” or “Lethal Weapon” movies?
typecasting
I would have to say because they are Godless heathens.
Yes. They were the bad guys in “Sum of All Fears”...
Hollywood goes out of their way to only portray white guys as the bad guys....didn’t they change the bad guys in the Tom Clancy novel to be White militia guys instead of Arabs, for one of the movies?
According to Hollywood, the only one hundred percent reliably bad people are Christians.
I guess that you are too young to remember “Lawrence of Arabia”
I’ll take Blatantly Obvious for $2000, Alex.
No, they are who we thought they were!
Whereas in the real world they are...
In UNKNOWN’, the Arab prince was a do-gooder who funded “free corn” for the “entire world” so who’s the bad guy again? I thought WHITEY were mostly the evil guys..
if the foo $h!ts, wear it....
but lets give credit where credits due...there are also the Kurds, Shiites and any other Muslim sect you can think of.
In the first season of 24, the Moslems were the bad guys. Then, all of a sudden, the Russian mobs took on the role. Jack’s cell phone worked 300 ft below ground, in a steel enclosure whether the Moslems or Russians abounded. I want one of those ancient phones.
From: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20110513102230AAqZEPj
"Does the quran say to kill unbelievers?
It is claimed by muslims here that I don't understand the quran and take it out of context. They claim that the quran doesn't say to kill people. That is nonsense. Let's look at one quran verse (though there are many).
"But if they turn away from Islam, seize them and slay them wherever you find them. 4:89"
"In muslim countries, this is actually the law of the land. All the children of a muslim man are considered muslim. If one says he is a Christian (for example) he is arrested, charged with apostasy, and executed. The penalty is also death for blasphemy (aka saying anything against the quran or mohammed). This is the law of the land in Saudi Arabia and other muslim countries.
"Where islam is the law of the land, they kill unbelievers. Therefore, it is foolish deny that the quran orders the killing of unbelievers."
Also note, if there is a conflict between verses in the Quran, the Latter are considered authoritative over the former. The Latter verses say to kill, the former were about peace.
Thus, the Quran teaches to kill Christians, Jews and all other non-muslims. That is not typecasting.
Sounds fair; we'll have all those who were raped as part of the victory celebrations take over the script supervision. All those who were shoved out of the way by radical groups seeking a return of religious fundamentalism can also supervise, to ensure that there's no dishonesty in portraying what happens to 'moderate' Arabs.
Was it Tahrir square where they gang-raped a reporter and subjected females to virginity tests? Yeah, I think it was. Hollywood, are you taking notes?
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