Media as Global Change Agent

In my opinion

Hollywood’s Portrayal of the 'Others'

By Yuri Choi

In the article, “That’s Entertainment? Hollywood’s Contribution to Anti-Americanism Abroad,” written by Michael Medved for the book Rereading America: Cultural Contexts for Critical Thinking and Writing, the author claims that the fallacious representations of American life and society in most Hollywood films (i.e., violent, godless, and over-sexualized) contribute to an overall global anti-American sentiment. Although the author’s criticisms are valuable, it is apparent that America has not only been exporting bad images of itself but also of “others,” which I believe has brought about the impairment that has undermined U.S. opportunities worldwide.

One particular case in which the Hollywood has exported negative images of “others” is in its rather crude portrayal of Arabs and Muslims. Hollywood has had a long-standing record for vilifying and singling out Arabs and Muslims, practices which date back to the 1950s. Ever since the 1948 Arab-Israeli conflict, Arabs have been portrayed as an object of hatred and contempt, and more recently, a symbol of terrorism (following the events of September 11th). According to the article “Reel Bad Arabs: Hollywood Vilifies a People,” Jack Shaheen states that nearly “25% of all Hollywood movies, demean Arabs, contain gratuitous slurs, or portray them as being the butt of a cheap joke.”

The subsequent dehumanizing portrayals of Arabs have had damaging consequences for America as the U.S. is confronted with a rise in anti-American sentiment in the Middle East. According to some scholars, such negative reactions are part of an attempt to “preserve and protect” local identities from global, or in this case, American processes. Manuel Castells refers to the formation of “Resistance Identities” in the face of globalization. American foreign policy set aside, Hollywood, I believe has a unique opportunity, as a dominant leader in the global market and as the most powerful molder of opinion, to counter the negative and ignorant stereotypes by displaying Arabs and Muslims as “people,” and not as “others.”