Communications and Media

Stereotyping pertains to the commonly held public view or belief regarding a certain group or type of people. The concept of stereotyping represents the main message that is given by the video the Reel Bad Arabs, which points out the prejudices of most people in Hollywood when it comes to showing the roles of Arabs. Dr. Jack Shaheen is the author of the book the Reel Bad Arabs How Hollywood Vilifies a People, which later on made into a video that discusses the way by which Hollywood represents Arabs as villains in most of their films. According to Shaheen the movies that have the most anti-Arab content are Rules of Engagement, The Delta Force, Death Before Dishonor, and True Lies.  The stereotyping among Arabs, especially during the present time wherein most people often associate Arabs with terrorists, should be immediately resolved. In doing so, the people working in Hollywood and concern citizens should give due attention in carefully showing Arab roles in films, especially since the media has an essential part in influencing the mentality of people.

Based on the video, Arabs are the most disapproved group in the history of Hollywood because they are shown as sub-humans that are similar to the thinking of Germans during the time of Hitler to gypsies and Jews. Dr. Shaheen has studied more than 1000 films that dated way back from the history of Hollywood up to the present time. The American culture usually have stereotype against Arabs that degrade their very humanity as human beings. The images of Arabs in Hollywood are comes from the European thinking that Arabs come from the dessert, which is regarded as a very dangerous place. In addition, the Arab land is usually seen as a violent place wherein people are punished by very harsh means like cutting their ears and other similar practices. Arabs are also shown in films, as people who do not have a very good lifestyle that is seen by lack of knowledge and skills, bad activities, and others. Moreover, Arab women are also ruined in terms of the way they are treated as mere slaves or objects of men that also caused people from other countries to see them as second class citizens (Shaheen). 

Dr. Sheen was able to point out a very important observation on the wrong way by which Arab people are shown in Hollywood films. The people who often watch Hollywood movies are consciously or unconsciously aware of the portrayal of Arabs in most films. However, since the media has a huge influence in the attitude of people it is important that Hollywood should give due consideration in properly showing the Arab people. Most of the feeling of hatred and acts of inequality that people from other nations give toward Arabs are caused by the stereotypes that they watch in movies, televisions shows and others. Hollywood is able to show their movies in many countries, which also caused many people to have stereotypes against Arabs, especially during this time that terrorism is one of the most serious security issues. Hollywood can have an important part in correcting the thinking and attitude of people about Arabs. In the case of European countries, they are cooperating more because they were able to understand and accept the difference of each other, which Hollywood should learn from by helping other nations to properly understand the Arab culture. In order to properly solve the problem of stereotyping against Arabs, Hollywood should start to change the way they represent this group of people wherein they will give due importance to the actual beliefs, values, and norms of Arabs. Hatred against Arabs or other group of people starts with misunderstanding and the lack of proper knowledge, which can be resolved by means of properly educating people through important means such as mass media, and in this case Hollywood.