Premium Essay

9/11 Stereotypes In American Films

Submitted By
Words 1237
Pages 5
Introduction
The purpose of this thesis is to show Islamic stereotypes in American movies made before and after the attacks on 9/11 and this was inspired by the movie, American Sniper, and the backlash and the response that the movie got and it begs the question why did people react the way they did and way they did it. After the movie came out, the people who saw it had a strong opinion about it, either that it was a patriotic movie or that it was offensive to Muslims. Many Americans have grown up in a post 9/11 world and don’t remember what the world was like before that fateful day and as a consequence have grown up with the “War on Terror” and trying to find the people responsible for the attacks on that infamous day in September. After …show more content…
Most of the sources found talked about terrorism in general not specifically talking about Jihad or Islamic terrorism in film. When the focus was switched to movies created after the attacks on 9/11, the sources only talk about Islamic terrorism and in turn there are also a lot more movies to choose from when it came to analyzing movies. It was decided not analyze movies that are based around the attacks on September 11th like United 93 and World Trade Center because they are depicting the events on that day and they also raise patriotism and naturally they would show the attackers in a bad light. Therefore, only movies including Islam and terrorism, and how they are depicted in film. It was interesting, watching the films and the progression of Islamic stereotypes in the movies through the years. The first movie looked at, Back to the Future, only had one scene that had to do with Islam and terrorism, then the last movie, American Sniper, which was made in 2014, had more stereotypes than one can count and was the inspiration for this paper because so many people had a reaction to it, good and bad, Why was there such a reaction? From a societal standpoint, what in our culture allowed so many people to praise it or be outraged by it. There is evidence to show that its roots go back some 30 years and has only grown to what could be argued full blown Islamophobia by large portion of the American population, and a lot of that comes from a lack of education and fear. The goal of this paper is to point out and disprove the stereotypes and show just how distorted they are. Also to show how misunderstood the Muslim people are and how a political agenda has effectively turned a religion into most hated group of people in the

Similar Documents

Premium Essay

Terrorist Attacks and Its Effect on the Muslim Population

...Terrorism attacks such as 9/11, the Paris attack, and the San Bernardino shooting have all caused panic and fear into poor, innocent people. In all three of these attacks the people responsible have been of the Muslim religion. Due to their religious beliefs many people have begun to stereotype everyone that is Muslim to be evil terrorist, when in reality not every Muslim person is bad. Many films, television shows, and documentaries have presented Muslims in this negative stereotypical manner such as: Iron Man 3, the television show 24, a documentary called Real Bad Arabs, and Rampage. The form in which they are presented is not fair to the rest of the Muslim population, but it is what many are led to believe due to their portrayal in films and television shows. On September 11th, 2001 the United States suffered the emotional terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, the Pentagon in Washington D.C., and a plane crash in a Pennsylvania field. This terrorist attack involved the hijacking of four airplanes by a total of nineteen men who were from nations in the Middle East. They belonged to a terrorist group called Al Qaeda which was led by Osama Bin Laden. The religion they practiced was Sunni Muslim. The first airplane was crashed by Mohammed Atta and other terrorist at 8:46am. This plane hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. All the passengers on board were killed along with hundreds of others in the building. The next airplane crashed at 9:03am, but this time...

Words: 1252 - Pages: 6

Free Essay

Muslim and Arab Stereotyping by Western Media

... Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements Of ENG216/246 Course By Ismail Yousry … 111645 Under Supervision of Dr. Ghada El Akhdar Muslim and Arab Stereotyping By Western Media Industrial Engineering MSA University Table Of Contents ABSTRACT………………………………………………………...……3 I. INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………3-4 II.LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………………….5-9 III.DISCUSSION………………………………………………………9-11 IV.CONCLSUION………………………………………………………11 REFRENCE………………………………………………………………12 ABSTRACT This research objectively is talking about the negative growing relationship between Arab Muslims and the western world particularly after the world trade Centre attack, Arab phobia have been a part of the western culture. For centuries the Arab has played the role of villain, seducer of our women, hustler and robber-the barbarian waiting at the gates of development. Currently in the 20th century, Arab as seen as terrorists, murderers and enemies due to how media presents them, new images has been emerged to the whole world thanks to Hollywood film makers, this study also aims to reveal the truth image of the Arab Muslim world and to prove the unfair attitude against Arab and Muslims made by the media that was not careful to appear neutral and unbiased. I.INTRODUCTION Who exactly are the Arabs and Muslims? When we use both of these terms, we Are talking about more than 1.3 billion people, and the many more millions around, the...

Words: 1807 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Stereotypes In The Movie Crash

...Crash is an American drama film based in the city of Los Angeles that takes the viewer through a series of smaller stories. However, Crash is much more than that. The movie was set as a national wake up call after 9/11 and while the movie is fictional it has a striking similarity to occurrences in everyday life. Furthermore, the movie shines a light on racism, gender discrimination, and police brutality within the everyday life of Americans. The movie was originally criticized for reinforcing stereotypes instead of smashing them. I personally believe that this initial assumption made by many viewers was unjust. The movie highlighted stereotypes that affect people of all backgrounds and showed up how we may contribute to them as well. While...

Words: 672 - Pages: 3

Free Essay

Crash - Character Analysis

...CRASHING IN OUR OWN ZONE The film Crash (2005) directed by Paul Haggis takes place in the city of Los Angeles’ and focuses on the ethnically diverse population of the city. It puts a spotlight on the high degree of alienation amongst the groups where meaningful human contact only occurs if individuals literally ‘crash’ into one another. The Los Angeles metropolitan area has a population of 3.8 million (Census, 2005); it is home to more poor people than any other urban area in the US. Approximately 20% of residents, including one of every three children, live in poverty (Census, 2005). The city is home as well to extravagant displays of wealth, mainly associated with the entertainment industry, making income inequality the most disheartening part of the Los Angeles region today. In addition to this vast social polarization there is a large immigrant population that struggles with integration, poverty and alienation. The movie is filmed as a series of vignettes focusing on the lives of several characters over a two-day period in post-9/11 America. Haggis’ characters exemplify various substantive birth cohorts and vast differences in gender, age, and class relations. These include characters of Caucasian, African American, Persian, Mexican, Korean, and Hispanic decent. He depicts these characters as forming harmful prejudices from a combination of impressions and individual beliefs toward each other as well as using stereotypes to define each other. The concepts and theoretical...

Words: 2953 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Model Minority

...pockets and nothing but hope, without a doubt they truly believe that the United States is the land of opportunity. Although many of them have successfully amalgamated into American culture through hard work and diehard persistence, the idea of this “model minority” trails behind them unceasingly. This stereotype of the model minority characterizes Asians as having everything “figured out”. They are willing and ready to assimilate completely into American culture; they stay of trouble and are submissive, and they dominate in both education and in the work place. Even though this stereotype seemingly praises Asians; in truth, it has a counteractive effect on both the Asian community and other ethnic groups as well. Despite the existence of this model minority stereotype, Asians are not followers of the myth and altogether demonstrate it counterfactual. In Asian American Dreams, Helen Zia introduces the model minority myth through an article titled “Success Story of One Minority Group in the United States” where it explains it as a reasonably form of praise claiming “at a time when Americans are awash in worry over the plight of racial minorities, one such minority, the nation’s 300,000 Chinese Americans, is winning wealth and respect by dint of its own hard work…” (Zia, 46). This quote claims that Asian Americans are achieving a high degree of success solely due to their perseverance and hard work. In addition, they are also receiving the respect of the other racial minorities....

Words: 1707 - Pages: 7

Free Essay

Orientalism

...segregation based off differences in both culture and appearance, flourishes amongst the ignorant and is prevalent throughout both America’s distant and recent history, as well as in the archives of world history. A parent to ignorance and the culprit to the divisive vices of racial prejudice of all creeds, a lack of sufficient education, along with blatant disregard for one’s global community, is the underlying reason why Orientalism is a recurring theme in history that has yet to be abolished entirely. However, there exist scholars and filmmakers, such as Le Espiritu, Sucheng Chan, Wakako Yamauchi, etcetera, who give hope to the fight against such ignorance by using their work to inform and educate the public in order to challenge such stereotypes and atrocious ways of thinking. In order to effectively and efficiently push against orientalism in today’s age of information, and secure a future for future generations in which no one racially profiles one another, discriminates against anyone else based on racial profiling, or constructs social barriers that belittle and...

Words: 3505 - Pages: 15

Premium Essay

Crash

...apart from each other. Crash is a movie that showcases prejudice and racial stereotypes. The movie is set in Los Angeles which is a city with the cultural mix of almost every ethnicity. Crash is a perfect analogy of how the different people intersect with others in society. The movie crash shows differences between the lives of different people. It displays the interactions of several multiethnic groups such as African American, Caucasians, Asians, Latinos, and Arabs. All of the groups are striving to overcome their fears as they weave in and out of each other’s lives. They are all tied by an invisible chain of events, so the movie shows how we all have an effect on one another whether we realize it or not. The basic premise is that we can not live our lives without crashing into others. Others may look different and come from all walks of life but ultimately we are all the same. We are ultimately connected and the sooner we realize this, the better society as a whole will be. The opening scene begins with a crash and the statement is made that we don’t touch each other enough, so we have to crash just to interact. We need each other to survive, so connections have to be made. The ultimate goal should be to touch each other’s lives in a positive and lovely way and not to violently “crash” into one another. This makes one question their own personal prejudices and each experience that have fueled stereotypes. It makes one think about the internal struggles within their own ethnic...

Words: 1809 - Pages: 8

Premium Essay

Stereotypes

...two distinguishing traits that separate us. I think it's what keeps us apart. That leaves several abstract questions that the film Crash illustrates. What are the origins of personal prejudice? Do individual experiences fuel standing stereotypes? Is it easier to perpetuate existing stereotypes because "things will never change?" Can people battle internal struggles within their own ethnic group? What prohibits us from overcoming these prejudices? The writers of the Crash managed to extend my viewing experience beyond the 90 minute film, thus forcing me to analyze my own prejudices and racial stereotypes towards others. I always thought that racism occurred as a result of a person's upbringing. If your parents were racist, there is a good chance that you will be a racist too. At first glance, Matt Dillon's character exhibits characteristics typical of this theory. Dillon exhibited a close bond with his father and later, we discover the roots of his racism. I naively assumed that Dillon was absorbing external cues from his father regarding his attitudes towards black people. It turns out that his father was not racist towards black people. It was Dillon who, in combination with his father's negative experiences and his own as a member of the LAPD, formed his own perceptions towards blacks. Another example of this occurred at the beginning of the film when the Persian family was attempting to purchase a gun. The clerk at the gun shop made a few blatantly racist comments about...

Words: 1124 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Television Influence On Latino Culture

...Introduction The average American household has about three television sets per household and the average American watches about five hours of television each day. Television has a very powerful influence in developing our value systems and shaping the behavior of both children and adults. The University of Twente states: “Cultivation theory in its most basic form, suggests that television is responsible for shaping, or ‘cultivating’ viewers’ conceptions of social reality. The combined effect of massive television exposure by viewers over time subtly shapes the perception of social reality for individuals and, ultimately, for our culture as a whole.” It would be safe to assume, that to some degree, television shapes concepts about the way we...

Words: 1163 - Pages: 5

Premium Essay

Discrim

...AMERICAN WORKFORCE DISCRIMINATION 1 Owen Green Jacksonville University April 11th , 2012 AMERICAN WORKFORCE DISCRIMINATION 2 Over the past couple years there has been an increasing concern that the efforts of minorities along with the federal government have not eliminated the threat of possible discrimination in the workforce of America. This essay reveals the difference in categories such as gender, age and race that are responsible for the stereotypes and various work envorinments. These actions that continue today in modern America need to be taken care of and even further action needs to take place in order to eliminate any relevance of such differences. AMERICAN WORKFORCE DISCRIMINATION 3 Table of Contents Introduction………………………………………………………………………………………4 Racial Discrimination……………………………………………………………………………4 Sex Discrimination……………………………………………………………………………….5 Age Discrimination………………………………………………………………………………6 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………. 7 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………. 8 AMERICAN WORKFORCE DISCRIMINATION 4 Minority groups and women, in particular, in the United States have gone through drastic changes in regarding employment over the past five decades. Mainly due to the Civil Rights Movement and its results difference in others skin color, family background and other stereotypes have become less relevant and more important in the American workforce today. Also, Constitutional ratifications have actually been...

Words: 1607 - Pages: 7

Premium Essay

English

...Ro e ll Intercultural Training with Films ilms are a great medium to use not only to practice English, but also to facilitate intercultural learning. Today English is a global language spoken by people from many countries and cultural backgrounds. Since culture greatly impacts communication, it is helpful for teachers to introduce lessons and activities that reveal how different dialects, forms of address, customs, taboos, and other cultural elements influence interaction among different groups. Numerous films contain excellent examples of intercultural communication and are highly useful resources for teachers. Additional reasons for teachers to incorporate films in class and encourage their students to watch movies in English include: • Films combine pleasure and learning by telling a story in a way that captures and holds the viewer’s interest. • Films simultaneously address different senses and cognitive channels. For example, spoken language is supported by visual elements that make it easier for students to understand the dialogues and the plot. • Students are exposed to the way people actually speak. 2 2010 N u m b e r F • Films involve the viewers, appeal to their feelings, and help them empathize with the protagonists. • DVDs usually come with subtitles in English, which facilitates understanding and improves reading skills. After discussing the importance of teaching intercultural communication and suggesting films that match specific cultural categories...

Words: 6086 - Pages: 25

Premium Essay

Sublimial Messages

...subliminal messages through radio, television, and advertisement. “A subliminal message is a signal in the form of a picture or sound that is designed to pass the normal limits of perception,” which means when people receive images or ideas consciously they also receive it subconsciously in their mind (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). There have been many controversial issues concerning the usage of this technique (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). There were rumors stating that Bush has used subliminal messages in some of his campaign speeches in order to deliver hidden messages to the world (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). One example of this would have been when; “A similar accusation was made against a promotional film of the Liberal party of Canada, where after dissecting their ad, one could clearly see a gun being fired at the viewer” (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). The Bush promo is rumored to be filled to the brim with subliminal images of a disturbing nature: fire, explosions, terrified children, mutilation, ghost-like figures and several acts of violence” (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). In the manipulation of many viewers, it was first to be just a tested experiment that could determine the facts of subliminal messages (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). A movie theatre in New Jersey did an experiment to see if they could increase the refreshment sales by displaying popcorn and Coke on the screen before the Franklin...

Words: 2948 - Pages: 12

Premium Essay

Arab Immigrants

...century, struggle to establish their own racial identity in America. It was not until after WWII that a large amount of Arab civil rights organizations began to form. Throughout the 20th century Arab stereotypes began to spread. Negative images of Arabs were being promoted through pop culture outlets such as film, T.V., and newspapers. The portrayal of successful and highly educated Arabs was nonexistent. Also with tensions in Israel-Palestine rising in the 1960s, The United States pro-Israel propaganda was based completely on an anti-Arab ideology. New Arab immigrants, who arrived with the abolishment of the national-origins act, found themselves being outcasts of society. How Americans felt about an event that occurred in the middle usually represented how they treated Arabs. After the Twin Towers were attacked on 9/11, the mistreatment of Arabs peaked. Anti-Arab sentiment became prevalent within media outlets, who began to racially target Arab culture and beliefs. Shortly after, a new wave of stereotypes emerged that labeled Muslims and Arabs as terrorists, which not only tainted the religion of Islam, but also the history of the Arabic people. This also led to growing hatred from the public, . Anti-Arab Political groups were formed out of fear of Arab assimilation into American culture. These groups felt that Arabs wished to taint the “America Lifestyle” and instill Sharia Law in America. Arab and Muslims...

Words: 317 - Pages: 2

Premium Essay

Case Study- How Hollywood Portrays Arabs

...revolution of the Islamic State of Iran, and the tragic events of September 11, 2001 in the United States have gone a long way to influence Hollywood’s portrayal of Arabs, very often in stereotypical and negative facets. Issues concerning the Middle East have been omnipresent in American society for several decades. There is daily news coverage of Arabs and the Middle East in all forms of media in the United States, including on television and in movies. Hollywood, for many years has depicted Arabs in stereotypical images, villain roles opposite American heroes who tend to save the day. Since the early days of Hollywood, Arabs and Muslims have been depicted overwhelmingly as villains, barbaric, inept, sinister, and incompetent and cowards. How and Why have Arabs been vilified in Hollywood? Ronald Adler and Russell Proctor II, assert that stereotyping can have a harmful effect on interracial communication, hindering professional and personal relationships (86). They also explain that “stereotyping does not always arise from bad intentions…in some cases, careless generalizations can grow from good intentions…” (87). However, Dr. Jack Shaheen, a world renowned author, media critic and university professor, describes Arabs, as “the most maligned group in the history of Hollywood, they are portrayed as sub human…” (21). In his much acclaimed book, Reel Bad Arabs (2001), and film by the same name, Shaheen breaks down the...

Words: 1271 - Pages: 6

Premium Essay

Examples Of Stereotypes In The Movie Crash

...The movie, Crash took place in Los Angeles, shortly after 9/11 occurred. It contained stories about race, class, family, and gender during this time period. Each of the characters were racist and discriminated others to some extent, but there were two that stuck out the most. One was named Officer John Ryan and the other was Officer Tom Hanson. Officer John Ryan seemed to have a stereotype towards a certain race that being African Americans. A stereotype is defined as “a generalized (sometimes accurate but often overgeneralized) belief about a group of people,”(pg. 780). Officer John Ryan often felt that if African American people were out at night they were causing a problem. For example, when he pulled over the couple that night for no reason, even though they were following the law. He made them both step out of the car. Officer Tom Hanson acted upon an African American male in his car due to what seemed to be stereotypes. For example, when Officer Tom Hanson picked up a hitchhiker, who was named Peter, they had a conversation involving racial talk. When Peter begins to reach in his pocket,...

Words: 888 - Pages: 4