Arab characters in Western media are fixed as lecherous and treacherous

Evidence

In the films and television the Arab is associated either with lechery or bloodthirsty dishonesty. He appears as an oversexed degenerate, capable, it is true, of cleverly devious intrigues, but essentially sadistic, treacherous, low. Slave trader, camel driver, moneychanger, colorful scoundrel: these are some traditional Arab roles in the cinema. The Arab leader (of marauders, pirates, “native” insurgents) can often be seen snarling at the captured Western hero and the blond girl (both of them steeped in wholesomeness), “My men are going to kill you, but—they like to amuse themselves before.” He leers suggestively as he speaks: this is a current debasement of Valentino’s Sheik. — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 729

Categorization

• XREF: This catalog of cinematic Arab stereotypes is precisely the representational machinery the later Islamophobia readings build on; the depiction of the Other as oversexed-and-treacherous recurs in the reader’s scaffolding on representation.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 729