Representations of jihad in American film and television are also very relevant to how Americans view jihad and Islam.

Evidence

What Americans know—or think they know—about Islam is largely influenced by the media, especially for Americans who are not acquainted with a Muslim or who have little to no formal education about Islam. 66 This is because the media is right at our fingertips. However, when the media determines who is telling the story, what is included or excluded, and how the story is packaged and presented, there is an obvious bias in the information being presented. 67 Many Americans (politicians, Islamophobes, etc.) are afraid of the “Islamization of America,” in which shari’a would take precedence over the U.S. Constitution. They are afraid that armed jihad (violent extremism) is just one step of this elaborate plan to Islamize America, in which all Muslims will participate because that is what the Qur’an and Muhammad supposedly call for. For this reason, they oppose jihad, Islam, and Muslims as a whole. — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, 75 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Media framing shapes American attitudes toward Islam and jihad — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad: A Cause of…, 75; Mainstream American television has a history of misrepresenting jihad — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad: A Cause of…, 47; There are also traces of terrorism in American film, going back as far as 1926 with Old Ironsides. Jack Shaheen, an expert on the portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in Hollywood films, claimed that American movies in recent decades ‘regularly link the Islamic faith with male supremacy, holy war, and acts of terror, depicting Arabs and Muslims as hostile alien intruders, and as lecherous, oily sheikhs intent on using nuclear weapons.’ He also estimated that, as of 2008, there were more than 1,150 films that defame Muslims and Arabs. A very clear example of the misrepresentation of jihad in American film is Rules of Engagement (2000)… The movie portrays all Muslims in the crowd, even children, as anti-American terrorists motivated by religious extremism. (+12 more)

Related

• Jihad, which has come to be perceived as ‘holy war’ in American media and by many Americans, is a hot topic of debate throughout the world but especially in the West. (similarity 0.96)
• There are also traces of terrorism in American film, going back as far as 1926 with Old Ironsides. Jack Shaheen, an expert on the portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in Hollywood films, claimed that… (similarity 0.94)
• Among American Muslims who said it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. in recent years, the second most-answered reason for this was negative media portrayals. (similarity 0.90)
• Among American Muslims who said it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. in recent years, the second most-answered reason for this was ‘negative media portrayals.’ In addition, 53%… (similarity 0.88)
• Mainstream American television has a history of misrepresenting jihad (similarity 0.88)
• More than 1,150 American films have defamed Muslims and Arabs. (similarity 0.87)
• Media framing shapes American attitudes toward Islam and jihad (similarity 0.87)
• Post-war Middle East events made violence central to US Muslim depictions (similarity 0.86)
• Arab and Muslim representation in American film has been persistently vilifying (similarity 0.86)
• American media conflated Iranians, Arabs, Sunnis, and Shiites into one Muslim menace. (similarity 0.85)
• 53% of Americans think that coverage of Islam and Muslims by American news organizations is generally unfair to Muslims and Islam. (similarity 0.84)
• Rare positive portrayals of Muslims cannot offset the dominant dehumanizing narrative (similarity 0.84)
• Fictional TV portrayals of Islam shaped actual US and UK counterterrorism programs. (similarity 0.83)
• Hollywood has produced over 1,150 films maligning Muslims and Arabs since 1896 (similarity 0.82)
• Structural media economics favor religious explanations over complex political ones (similarity 0.82)

Broader Connections

• There are also traces of terrorism in American film, going back as far as 1926 with Old Ironsides. Jack Shaheen, an expert on the portrayal of Muslims and Arabs in Hollywood films, claimed that… #exemplifies (0.90)
• Media framing shapes American attitudes toward Islam and jihad #expands (0.85) — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, 75
• When we think of jihad, what comes to mind? Holy war? ISIS? Violence? Terrorism? These are very common conceptions of jihad due to Western media portrayals of the term. When we turn on the news,… #expands (0.85)
• Arab and Muslim representation in American film has been persistently vilifying #corroborates (0.80) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 674
• Media framing constructs the reality audiences accept about Islam. #corroborates (0.80) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 497
• Among American Muslims who said it has become more difficult to be a Muslim in the U.S. in recent years, the second most-answered reason for this was ‘negative media portrayals.’ In addition, 53%… #expands (0.75)
• Mainstream American television has a history of misrepresenting jihad #corroborates (0.70) — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, 47
• Real-world conflict makes Hollywood Muslim stereotypes seem more credible to audiences #expands (0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 544
• American media conflated Iranians, Arabs, Sunnis, and Shiites into one Muslim menace. #expands (0.70) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 254
• Post-war Middle East events made violence central to US Muslim depictions #expands (0.65) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 521
• Jihad, which has come to be perceived as ‘holy war’ in American media and by many Americans, is a hot topic of debate throughout the world but especially in the West. #expands (0.60)
• Four interconnected groups jointly project the Muslim-enemy image #expands (0.60) — Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politics of Empire, 537
• Television uses token complexity to mask ongoing Muslim stereotyping #qualifies (0.55) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 529
• Even non-terrorism shows define Muslim characters through violence #qualifies (0.50) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 533