Watch Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People For Free

just watch it!

Expected more

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.

This 50-minute documentary analyzes the way Arabs have been shown in Hollywod films, from the black-and-white classics to recent films like Syriana. The film, narrated by Jack Shaheen, consists of virtually non-stop clips from American films, organized by topic, including "Myths of Arabland," "the Arab Threat," "Terror, Inc.," "The Only Good Arab," "Islamophobia," and "Getting Real." The thesis of the film is that Hollywood has perpetuated stereotypes of Arabs as violent, greedy, and oversexed, stereotypes that would not be tolerated of other groups such as Blacks and Jews. Shaheen argues that the films are an aspect of an American view of Arabs that is broadly shared by common people and by the politically powerful, and he includes a number of films that have been made with the cooperation of the Department of Defense. The impact of his footage is quite powerful. In the last segment Shaheen talks about several recent films that begin to break down the stereotypes. He ends with an expression of hope in young, creative filmmakers who are moving beyond the ignorant and bigoted depictions from Hollywood's past.

Hollywood's treatment of Arabs on screen is actually often gentle and politically-correct, thanks to fear of protests like Mr. Shaheens.If the depiction of Arab terrorists seems over-the-top in a dumb action-adventure, try looking at pictures of Islamic men about to decapitate a hostage or the carnage after a suicide bombing. Or listen to a Bin Laden video urging Americans to join his efforts to establish a new caliphate. And does Shaheen really want Hollywood to show daily life in Iran, where women have to make sure they are not seen in public with nail polish on their fingers lest they be sent home or even beaten by religious enforcers who roam the streets and shopping centers? How about the stoning of adulterers, or punishment of rape victims, or limb-amputation of petty thieves? Until Islam itself confronts and truly tries to stop the use of random violence against civilians and the application of medieval laws to modern citizens, it's going to have a problem getting good press.

There is no doubt that Arabs, like almost any non-White group, have been stereotyped and demeaned in countless films. But Dr. Shaheen's argument - that any portrayal of Arabs as terrorists is inherently racist - is a flawed one. The fact is that there are Arab terrorists out there, just as there are Irish, Basque, Japanese, and home-grown White American terrorists in the world, and as long they continue to commit atrocities they are fair game to be movie villains. What is needed, however, is more "normal" roles for Arab actors (i.e. characters that White actors could play with no change to the script). When, in Sin City, Irish mercenaries planted explosives in an attempt to kill the protagonist there was no out-cry from public, no protestations that the movie attempted to stereotype all Irish Catholics as IRA members and terrorists. This is because everyday we see in television shows and movies perfectly normal Irish Catholic characters. Shaheen is right that ubiquitous images of Arab terrorists, especially since they already play into our existing stereotypes, do nothing for our national discourse nor our sense of tolerance. But I wish he had stayed away from proclaiming ALL such representations off-limits. It's hard enough to keep up with existing PC taboos...Note: While I have devoted this review to an evaluation of the documentary's argument, my score of 4/10 comes also from the poor technical aspects of the "film." It is really just an extended interview with a talking head. Expect to see it in college classrooms but rarely elsewhere.

Kudos to Dr. Jack Shaheen for his no nonsense and uncomforting look at how not only Hollywood movies but even children's cartoon shows have demonized, dehumanized and wrought havoc on the peoples of the Middle East, Islam, Iran and Palestinians. From the early pre-20th century colonial images of Arabs and Iranians as the aggressive, sub-human Other, Reel Bad Arabs dives into 100 plus years of movies that have stereotype Arabs as lecherous, dangerous and lesser from both children and adult movies. The saddening part of this demonization is that most of these stereotypes are practically unnoticeable to any movie goer or viewer. No matter how many time one watches movies where the Middle East is automatically associated with terror or oppression of women will one think of an alternative more positive or balanced view of the region or the peoples who live there. The negative stereotype of Arabs and Iranians have passed through so many generations continuously through frequent television stations such as FX, Spike TV, TNT, & even Cartoon Network (older repeating cartoon shows from the early 30's & 40's vilify and insult the culture and hertiage of the Middle East) it is little wonder the War on Terror wasn't criticized until four to five years after it started on September 11! As Shaheen argues we have been so ingrained, propagandized and filled with the negative images of Arabs and Iranians as people who are lesser or "The Other" that it is little wonder wars in Iraq, Palestine-Israel, Sudan continues and the deaths of Iraqis, Palestinians, Israelis and Darfuris do not matter or count as newsworthy to the general public. High recommendation for all students, parents and politicians who fail to see what generations of negative stereotyping can have on a society as a whole!