Hollywood...
Hi!
I used to watch A LOT of movies, that's how I learned English.
in these movies I saw humanitarian stories, social issues, beautiful pictures from nature, and a lot of comedy, which is all nice and cool, but what really annoys me is the that most of movies, show countries and cultures other than USA, as less educated people and less important cultures (less important? i am trying not to use terms like Barbaric, premitive): labels, you can see labels everywhere...
whenever there is a Russian man, he MUST be either a terrorist or an ignorant.
watch "the red corner" and see how it shows China.
watch that movie that I cant remember its name and see how it shows Thailand, these two American girls going in a vacation to Thailand and the police found drugs in their bag (its not for them, some guy they met used them to get it through the borders) and puts them in jail, the rest is another version of the Red Corner.
watch "talented Mr reply" and see how it shows Italians, they sure didn't forget to add remarks like: I will call the states, if I could find a phone working. And small remarks like that.
when there is an Arab, he is either a terrorist or rich man from gulf surrounded with girls...If they want to show Arabs, they show them in the dessert with a camel and a tint!! ( I saw few camels in my life, and I see the desert only when I go to Jordan, the high way goes through the desert)...
I don't know...Just notice next time when you see a movie about other countries, it just puts labels on EVERYONE, its sad.
other than that, I saw this movie few time before, its an old one, which I also don't remember its name O_0 (sorry terrible memory), in that movie, the devil himself, in a body of a women, comes to this clumsy guy and offers him seven wishes, in return of his soul...
well, two things I want to talk about here:
the first is the girl ( the devil ) : awww myyy GGODDD...She is incredibly, unbelievably, enormously, beautiful, I mean...I am sure that none of those who watched the movie understood a word of anything that was said while the camera is on her, OOOHHH MMMYYYY GODDD...I want to make a whole blog just to describe how beautiful she is, and that British accent she has, I mean....I meannn....If I was blind I would marry her the first time I hear her talking, aww myyyy God, I am so in love:))))
wake up khalid wake up, ok ok I am so sorry I cant get rid of my shallow manly roots, excuse me for that:)
lets get back to our subject:
its about tough choices: Seven wishes (which can bring you all what you want in this life, and much more) or your soul? (as she puts it: what is it anyway, you cant smell it or see it!).
its mean isn't it?
wait, let me explain, imagine that this guy is standing on the edge and about to fall from the top of a mountain, just the moment he lost his balance and was about to fall, a wizard appears from nowhere, freezes time and offers the man to give him a hand, if he promised to give him his soul, that would be mean don't you think? taking advantage of the man's volunorabale situation?
please be patient with me for a moment.
what if this wizard helped the guy, without freezing time, and AFTER helping him, and while the guy was about to say "thank you" and walk away, the wizard said: sorry I saved your life, you must give me your soul, its not an option, I saved you and I think I have all the right to take your soul!!
wouldn't that be just the meanest?
this is exactly what happened in Iraq!
The American adminstration invaded Iraq, without freezing the time to ask Iraqis whether they want to be "liberated" or not, they did it anyway, and after they "saved" us and took Saddam off the power, we were about to say "thank you! see you around" when they said" sorry we saved you we have every right to occupy you, so just act like you don't see us, we will build just six military bases, leave 140 000 soldiers, and leave right away! And don't you dare make us troubles you ungrateful terrorist baathists, we liberated you!!!"
aw, did I forget to mention that about 13 000 civilians died in the process?
khalid*
16 Comments
Fantastic post. Please find out who this British chick is! I'd love to know!!
The US administration didn't invade Iraq to liberate the Iraqis. Of course we wanted to liberate Iraqis from Saddam, but that was not our main purpose. Our main purpose was to secure Saddam's weapons of mass destruction. Unfortunately the weapons were gone by the time we invaded. This should come as no surprise since we gave Saddam nearly a year's advance notice we were going to invade!
I'm sorry you feel wringed by the US administration. But I know in my heart that we are doing the best we can to help you get on your feet. Sure, it may seem like we aren't doing anything sometimes....but trust me, the American military does not rest. We're always working to accomplish our mission. Right now our mission is to secure Iraq. I can tell you for a fact many hundreds of thousands of man-hours are being spent on securing Iraq...and this is from US military not even in Iraq. I am in the UK and I work every day to help our mission in Iraq.
I am sorry you've had a rough time. Stay strong. Freedom isn't free, my friend.
"wringed" should have been "wronged." Sorry...I'm a bad speller sometimes.
"Right now our mission is to secure Iraq."
That is the heart of the matter. By "securing Iraq" the writer means : to remove all Iraqis who want to be able to govern their own future and decide for themselves how they want to live.
Ah! I hear him reply ... then why don't they express their will through elections? Simply because elections supervised by the occupying power (who has great stakes in their outcome and who has manipulated governing structures in iraq in the past and who is currently trying to stack the cards in favour of its current darlings) are highly unlikely to be anything like free and fair.
That movie would be bedazzled, and the british chick would be ... Elizabeth Hurley...
http://imdb.com/name/nm0000167/photogallery-granitz-0
*when there is an Arab, he is either a terrorist or rich man from gulf surrounded with girls...If they want to show Arabs, they show them in the dessert with a camel and a tint!!*
One of the highest rated TV series in the U.S. stars an Arab who also produces it. His name is Tony Shaloub. He plays a detective. He has won awards for the series which is very popular. It is called 'Monk.'
--button.
well ya, but Tony has been in USA since ever, and he speaks english very well and lives in the states, so "he has been naturalized" he isnt a totally eveil arab by now:) besides, he is christian so he has a name that is common in the states.
i am talking about the reguler arab in the arabhomeland.
For more than two decades I have been studying the way Arabs and Muslims are portrayed in American popular culture, and its effects. Here, I will present an overview and analysis of selected portraits, with particular attention to the images generated in reports of the 1991 Gulf War, the 1993 World Trade Center explosion, the 1995 bombing in Oklahoma City and the 1996 crash of Trans World Airlines Flight 800. The impact of these stereotypical images on individuals and policies, explanations as to why these deleterious images persist, and some plausible ways of curtailing stereotyping will also be considered. This discussion will reveal that stereotyping encourages divisiveness by accentuating our differences at the expense of those things that tie us together. Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture: by Jack G. Shaheen
Khalid, I tend to agree strongly with your sentiments. I feel that in many American movies that I have watched, the side that is "good" mirrors the ideas and ideals of American society, no matter which culture we are talking about. It is an "Americans in disguise" syndrome. The "bad" guys are of course entirely evil, and completely against the ideals of America.
This black/white portrayal of the world can only reinforce the them/us idea in American minds ... if they do not like America, then they are against our ideals also ...
Khalid,
You seem to have missed something important in your rant about the portrayal of Arabs in the movies. The part you missed is that the portrayal of Americans is just as fictional as the portrayals of anyone else in the movies.
no one knows anyone that is like characters in the movies, no matter where they might be from. Sure the heroes in the movies are usually a great American, but this is a fiction, it's usually something that we wish we were, or that someone thinks that we should work to become, but no one thinks that these characters represent the truth about Americans, just like everyone understands that the portrayal of the "other" is just a fiction, to help the story line or something.
Remember that American films are not government propaganda, they are the opinion of the writers and the producers, and they no more represent "America " or it's ideals than any one poster can claim to speak for America. So if you don't like the way Arabs are portrayed in the movies, move to Hollywood and make a difference.
Madtom
Madtom --
This is my point. It is a generalised portrayal of other cultures in a certain way that gives outsiders like us a glimpse into the average American mindset through what you say in your movies. What I am saying: because essentially the same portrayals are shown by a wide crossection of different producers, it leads me to conclude that such imagery is agreeable or at least acceptable to a large chunk of Americans. Whether the people are idealized negatively or positively does not change the impact of the idea conveyed, nor the fact that it reflects the way that you think.
"the fact that it reflects the way that you think."
Bruno
You seem to need professional help and I'm not really qualified to provide, but just to make an argument, can you tell me who was the good guys in "Misty River"?
How does this movie reflect the way we think, or how does it portray Americans in some light better than others, and can you tell me Who gets justice in that movie? And, Is this movie representative of the usual way Americans look at themselves?
Madtom
About Arab Americans"If you really care to learn, of course. Far more complicated than what we might presume. Or, what we desire to percieve in relation to our bias.
PH101
Madtom --
I'm not familiar with that particular film. Nevertheless, a single excetion (if it was, but I'll take your word) does not exactly disprove a general trend. What I am saying is: American movies tend to stereotype other cultures and (b) these same movies tend to stereotype the heroes as embodiments of American values.
Finally, I would just like to say: the "all black, all evil" stereotype of the "bad guys" in the movies is also symptomatic of current US foreign policy - ie- if one does not endorse the US actions, then one necessarily opposes US values as well. That is not the case.
well damn.... Try this then.
About Arab Americans
Pfhsssst
http://www.aaiusa.org/about_arab_americans.htm
Foeign films, do they also stereotype? I believe every culture sterotypes, it is the human mind that sorts all incoming data into catagories. We all stereotype to some degree. It is the human way to sort through things and make decisions. I assure you that arabs have stereotyped americans also.
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