Critic accuses Hollywood of vilifying Arabs
Bayrut (Reuters) - American films and TV dramas snapshot since the Sep 11 attacks have reinforced screen images of Arabs and Muslims as fanatics and villains, inculcation harmful stereotypes, argues an writer on the subject.
In his book "Guilty -- Hollywood's Finding of fact on Arabs afterward 9-11", Jack Shaheen praises more or less post-September 11 films for oblation a more sympathetic paradigm of Arabs and Muslims, wHO he argues have been castigated for decades by Hollywood.
Merely he says that too many have got portrayed them in always darker shades, criticizing films including "The Kingdom" (2007) and "The Quaternion Feathers" (2002) and condemning the creative activity of a new "Arab-American boogeyman" in TV dramas such as "24".
"In the United States, you stern say anything you want about Muslimism and Arabs and catch away with it. In other actor's line, as someone said, 'You can hit an Arab free'," said Shaheen -- as well author of "Reel Badly Arabs -- How Hollywood Vilifies a People".
Shaheen, an American English of Lebanese descent, has examined the discussion of Arabs and Muslims in close to 1,000 films, including to a greater extent than 100 crack since Sep 11.
From action at law movies such as "True Lies" (1994) to comedies including "Padre of the Bride Portion II" (1995) and Disney's animated "Aladdin" (1992), Shaheen identifies films that let perpetuated damaging stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims.
"The images have remained principally fixed and have only been changed in the sense that they have go to a greater extent vindictive and damaging," he told Reuters in an interview in Beirut.
"What enables these images to persevere and predominate? Ace of the primary reasons is silence," said Shaheen, a retired professor of mass communication theory wHO worked as a consultant on "Syriana" (2005) and "Trey Kings" (1999).
