Angry Muslims

By GARY O'SHEA

January 26, 2007

ANGRY Muslims yesterday complained that films always portrayed them as terrorists and villains — even in the cartoon Aladdin.

A string of blockbusters — even those made before Osama Bin Laden’s Twin Towers attack — were accused of giving Islam a “bad name”.
They included the 1981 smash Raiders Of The Lost Ark, Bruce Willis’s The Siege and Halle Berry flick Executive Decision.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission polled 1,250 British Muslims and found just four per cent thought they were fairly represented in films.
The commission’s report said Arabs in movies were given “exaggerated and ridiculous accents”.
And it claimed films played a crucial role in “fostering a crude and exaggerated image”.
Chief researcher Arzu Merali said: “You don’t get a good Muslim guy in a movie. This stretches back before the 9/11 attacks in the United States.
“Cinema has helped to demonise Muslims. They are portrayed as violent and backward. That reinforces prejudices.”

The report complained the 1992 Disney cartoon Aladdin gave “good Arabs” American accents.And it said the film, featuring Arab baddie Jafar, linked Islamic culture with “harsh punishments and oppressive practices”.
The opening song refers to a place where they “cut off your ear if they don’t like your face”.
The Indiana Jones thriller Raiders of the Lost Ark was accused by the commission of using “cultural stereotypes”. It shows veiled women dashing through bazaars with snake-charming music playing in the background.

And the 1998 Bruce Willis movie The Siege — about a terror attack on New York — reinforced the “stereotype of the Muslim being violent and ready to be martyred”.
The film “brings into focus some of the worst American fears — Muslims or Arabs attacking the country, murdering men, women and children and attacking the way of life”.
It also hints that “terrorist acts are intrinsic to Islamic beliefs and practices”. The 1996 Halle Berry movie Executive Decision was attacked as “almost defining terrorism as an Islamic ritual”.
The report called for British film censors to be given greater power to cut out “objectionable material”.
And it said media watchdogs should be more effective in making sure Muslims got “responsible coverage”.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007040263,00.html

And the 1998 Bruce Willis movie The Siege — about a terror attack on New York — reinforced the “stereotype of the Muslim being violent and ready to be martyred”.

old goat wrote:

Some stereotypes come about BECAUSE THEY ARE BASED ON REAL LIFE.

iluvfreebeer wrote:

old goat wrote:

Some stereotypes come about BECAUSE THEY ARE BASED ON REAL LIFE.

In fact, I would say many, or even most stereotypes are based on real life.

Think about it, can you walk past a muslim man wearing an overcoat and NOT fear that he has a bomb strapped on under it?