Reel Bad Arabs

Arabs have long been portrayed in American media as villains and a jester that plays the role as part of a comedic relief and buffoons delivering cheap laughs. According to film Reel Bad Arabs, this “robs Arabs of their humanity,” and further develops negative stereotypes. The film explains that American media has inherited this unfortunate view of Arabs from our ancestors. More than 300 movies, equating to 25% of Hollywood’s films portray Arabs as the enemy or butt of a joke. The Arab population is vastly criticized for their beliefs, accents and clothing attire. This is a system of beliefs that every person and culture value within their own set of standards.
An unfortunate reality in American media is that we not only allow for negative stereotypes to exist but re-enforce it to raise viewership and in some instance stir emotions of patriotism. We position ourselves with a higher level of intelligence, power and respect, but in reality a group cannot be judged with such a narrow viewpoint. This does not properly reflect the reality of the Arab culture or group of people, but instead shows how American Media will use the negative stereotypes to their advantage. “Arab-land” described in the video as a mythical theme park that contains all the negative stereotypes to describe Arabs. The film includes the widely popular children’s movie
Aladdin as a flawless example of how media uses ethnocentrism as a base to develop their content.
Ethnocentrism does not just affect the Arab culture; it is also prevalent with the Hispanic and Black culture.
In history we have seen this with many groups of people who immigrate to the United States. The Irish for example were met with harsh treatment and severe judgment for their red hair and seen as lazy, stupid and were often referred to as Paddy. However, we can trace much of the rise in police force and development of public safety to the Irish. Unfair stereotypes are used to expose the vulnerabilities in other cultures but can be viewed instead as small mindedness and lacking an understanding of what the real world
is.
Ethnocentrism blocks out the desire to learn about other cultures because a person may feel they already understand it from their narrow perspective. Most people accept American media for what it is and do not bother to properly educate or explore past what is fed to them. As educated students it is our job to be the few who are able to see past ethnocentric views and create our own standards of how a person’s character can and cannot be judged. It is not easy to see past ethnocentric standards when many jokes, movies and news stories are centered on the views of ethnocentrism. In many ways American media has the power to change lives and create wars, they choose the stories and where the public’s attention is focused. We should care about ethnocentrism because it is important to be able to form your own opinions and be an educated, understanding part to society.