The Arab stereotype in cinema morphed from harem-keeping greed to the Muslim terrorist
Evidence
In the late 1960s and 1970s, Arabs were portrayed as barbaric, greedy and dishonest—Âa characterization that was rooted in America’s global interest in the Middle East and particularly Israel (Naber 2000; Cainkar 2009; Alsultany 2012; Shaheen 2014). For example, Jack Shaheen (2014) traces the media- based vilification of Arabs by examining their representations in nine hundred films over a twenty-Âyear period. Through a content analysis of these films, Shaheen describes how the stereotype of Arab men as barbaric and greedy keepers of women in harems emerged, one that has morphed over time into the stereotype of the Muslim man as a terrorist, thus reflecting recent global concerns and changing political contexts. — , Selod, Saher - Forever Suspect_…, 129
Categorization
- XREF: Directly connects to Shaheen’s film analysis (Reel Bad Arabs) and to Said’s Orientalism framework of racialized representation. — connects to: Television uses token complexity to mask ongoing Muslim stereotyping — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 529; Film transformed a gentlemanly captivity into a Muslim-monster fantasy; The authentic Muslim monsters in early cinema are grotesque, subhuman figures. (+13 more)
Broader Connections
- Islamophobic tropes become real violence through perceived enemy images
#expands(0.70) - Colonial prejudices sexualized and dehumanized the Algerian Muslim
#corroborates(0.65) - Rare positive portrayals of Muslims cannot offset the dominant dehumanizing narrative
#expands(0.60) - Orientalism sustains the credibility of preexisting Muslim monster images
#corroborates(0.60) - Ottoman proximity shifted Muslim-monster stories toward miscegenation fear
#qualifies(0.60) - Sudanese characters in Egyptian realist drama remained stereotyped where Egyptian characters gained depth
#exemplifies(0.55) - Egyptian nationalists reproduced stereotypes about Sudan paralleling Orientalist imagery
#exemplifies(0.50)