Cinema marks Arabic as indecipherable babble while English alone is normative human speech.

Evidence

See Jack G. Shaheen, The TV Arab (Bowling Green, OH: Bowling Green State University Press, 1984), for an analysis of damaging representations of Arabs, Muslims, and Middle Easterners on television and film through 1984. For a more recent study by Shaheen, see Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (Northampton, MA: Olive Branch Press, 2014). — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 674 (#exemplifies, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Arab and Muslim representation in American film has been persistently vilifying — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 674

Related

• Arab and Muslim representation in American film has been persistently vilifying (similarity 0.88)
• More than 1,150 American films have defamed Muslims and Arabs. (similarity 0.83)
• Rare positive portrayals of Muslims cannot offset the dominant dehumanizing narrative (similarity 0.82)
• Hollywood has produced over 1,150 films maligning Muslims and Arabs since 1896 (similarity 0.80)
• Arabic speech is coded as indecipherable babble in Western film (similarity 0.80)
• Muslim lives are less grievable than American ones in public memory (similarity 0.78)

Broader Connections

• Arab and Muslim representation in American film has been persistently vilifying #exemplifies (0.70) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 674