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15 comments:
What is that bizarre piece of crap?
VS
The teaser for a documentary "Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Villifies a People"
From YouTube:
This groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged form the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists"--along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today. Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and internationl policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.
OK fine... but the trailer contains every one of the violent anti-arab scenes to help out the Bushie case?
ugh...
VS
Well we do have movies about how stupid our politicians are, how corrupt our churches are, and it's ok to do so.
Almost all these hilarious movie extracts do have real life precedents.
hilarious? that is an adjective that would never have come to my mind.
disgusting perhaps...
real life? certainly not mine, nor anyone I know.
VS
Well...anytime an ethnic and/or religious group gets villified repeatedly, I do think there's something wrong w/ it. The bad guy in so many films of my youth were always arabs. Remember Back to the Future's crazed Libyans? Used to be the Russians, but then the new enemy of the American people became one defined as religious, as well as ethnic.
Hey - I liked the Libyans - They drove a VW Bus! I thought some of this was humorous - some scenes campy.
Ah...the VW-of course, Vagabond!
You know, I didn't really think the teaser was funny and I also thought that it was pretty clear what the creator was trying to convey, but that might have just been my take.
Haha not a real life? Switch on the telly... if it's not a suicide bomb, it's a kidnapping. If it's not a kidnapping, it's decapitation. If it is not either of the two - it's a hijacked plane or a car bomb. Or veiled women parading in London chanting "Europe get ready for a REAL Holocaust". Or imams saying it's ok to rape those women who are uncovered. Or Osama videos. Yes how could I even imagine it being real?
The cinema merely responds to the current events. When there was a Russian threat - it was evident from the movies. The bad guys were Russians. Now who do you think poses the greatest threat to the USA and other Western countries?
IMHO... crap like this just feeds and empowers the mouth-breathing knuckle dragging 20% who still support Bush.
VS
It's interesting, because the first time i saw this was a couple months ago in the context of a show talking about the making of this documentary. Because i had that background, I wasn't thinking this 'refenforces' anyone's perceptions. But that's it, isn't it? Perceptions. I still don't know that if i watched this out of context I would think it was propoganda for bushies.
QC:It's true about cinema reflecting what our nation perceives to be threats. I guess my beef w/ this is that it's done on an ethnic/religious level, not boung by passport. It means that Libyans are lumped in with Egyptians who are lumped in with Saudis, who are lumped in with Jordanians, and so on.
I think it reinforces the stereotypes for the Bush 20% core...
Remember these are the same people who think that Stephen Colbert show is conservative... that the Earth is flat... and that dinosaurs and men lived together. (quite boggles the mind...)
They are not capable of serious thought or analysis.
VS
I guess in IMO that if one knows the context of this clip, they would not think it reinforces that belief, no matter how ignorant they are.
Yes, but it's on youtube... those who click don't have a context... they just view... and accept what they see... bloodthirsty Arab killers... one sick clip after another...
see... we need to kill them there just like George says...
VS
I do find this type of documentary as long overdue. I firmly believe that whenever one society vilifies another one it is the breeding ground for subsequent terrorism and war. Americans believe too much of what they are told by the government and popular media. I am not sure if it is our arrogance or our geographical distance from our 'enemy'. Blacks, women, homosexuals all were perceived as inferior based on the white male perspective. This perception has been challenged and changed to a large degree, however we know it has a long way to go. I guess human nature is to find a group to put down. I find the video unsettleing and frightening, but unfortunately reflecting the ignorant viewpoints of many Americans.
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