The representation of Muslims in popular Western media is imbued
with negative, political connotations of violent, deceitful and villainous
characters. Essentialist stereotypes have been reinforced in western television
and film, where 80% of the population gets their news (Iman). Crude and
exaggerated stereotypes fuel Islamophobia, from popular media to news stories
and infotainment.
In a post 9/11 world, Islam has been denotatively linked to the
war on terror, symbolizing a binary opposition between the Shariah faith of the
East and the secularism, liberalism, and predominately Judeo-Christian values
of the West. The politicization of this binary has arguably been a key element
for the justification of War in the Middle East. To further this motif, Western
media represents Islam as a religion of oppression, punishment and war.
According to a study by the Islamic Human Rights Commission, in
popular film, from Disney’s ‘Aladdin’ to the Indiana Jones blockbuster ‘Raiders
of the Lost Ark’, representations of Muslims have helped “demonize Muslims as
dangerous and threatening, and reinforce prejudices” (Ward, 2007).
Overwhelming, Muslims are often the violent character or ‘bad guy’. Failing
that, as in Aladdin, they are daft, impractical and bordering ridiculous in
their beliefs and speech. Where Aladdin has an American accident, the rest of
the cast has daft and exaggerated ‘Arabic’ accents, and Aladdin’s hometown is
explicitly referred to as ‘barbaric’. Ostensibly, the hero or protagonist is
overwhelmingly never Muslim in
Western film.
The villain Jafar, from the movie Aladdin, one of the only characters to retain his Arabic name from the original story.
Source: Wikicommons
Source: Wikicommons
Some of these representations pre-date the 9/11 attacks,
thwarting any suggestion that such representations are a natural recourse
against the terror attacks. Instead, the representations indicate a deeper
politicization of Islam more generally, a faith apparently endemically linked
to violence. Since 9/11, this has only become more exaggerated.
Popular news perpetuates this myth. In news stories, the
juxtaposition of mass prayer alongside horrific images of bombs and killing
implicitly links terror as part of the ritual of Islam. Western media arguably
used 9/11 to “capitalize its political gain”, depicting Islam as fundamentalist,
extremist and radicalist (Imam). There has been little media in response to
this, with images of indiscriminate terrorist acts, underscored by emotive text
like ‘Why do they hate us?’ and ‘Is Islam compatible with democracy?’ helping
the media to show that the west, collectively, are victims of terrorism and
terrorism is inherently linked to Islam.
What is needed is a seismic shift in media representation,
starting with a sense of responsibility for the imaging and typecasting of
ethnic groups and better education about different groups. The Muslim voice is
missing in Western media. Only when the viewing public starts to hear that
voice, and understand the religion as fundamentally a peaceful one, will these
negative stereotypes be redressed.
References:
Iman, Mizra MESIC. The
Perception of Islam and Muslims in the Media and the Responsibility of European
Muslims Towards the Media. Conference
paper given at Madrasah,Zagreb Mosque, Zagreb, Croatia. Available at < http://www.culturelink.org/conf/dialogue/mesic.pdf>.
Ward, Lucy. 2007. “From Aladdin to Lost Ark, Muslims get ‘bad
guy’ film images.” The Guardian. Retrieved
29 April, 2013, from <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2007/jan/25/broadcasting.race>.
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