ARAB REPRESENTATION ESSAY

Arabs have usually been represented very negatively within the media, and as a result the society chooses to believe whatever the media tells them to. The negative representation of Arabs started after the 9/11 attacks portraying them as violent terrorists. But there are examples of negative representations of Arabs even BEFORE the tragic events of 9/11. These include in films such as Iron Eagle (1986) and Death before Dinosaur (1987). Western people typically think that Arabs are a threat to the world and they should be feared. Before the incident of 9/11 Arabs have had 3 labels also known as the 3B s. These are Billionaires Bombers and Belly dance rs . This seems to be true as the movie mentioned earlier (Iron Eagle) is about a guy who is the son of a veteran U.S. Air Force pilot. And his father gets shot down and captured by an unnamed Arab nation . Not to forget the other movie mentioned Death before Dinosaur , which is about a sergeant who guards the USA embassy in the Middle East and there is a terrorist attack. Due to the September attacks, it seems when the word terrorist is said, people tend to visualize and Arab man, and what has the media done for all this , well they have just joined in and just represent them negatively, in any way they can find. And to make matters worse, Arabs and Muslims are racially profiled at the airports, this is done in almost every western country. (UK, USA and Canada) The Bones episode which I watched The Man in the SUV is a good example to prove my point. Right in the beginning viewers are shown an Arab man in a car with scars driving at a high speed and talking loudly. Then the car explodes, and that is right in the first scene so immediately viewers are meant to believe that Arabs are terrorists. Mostly throughout the episode the attitude of non-Arabs towards Arabs are negative. When the victims relatives are questioned by the authorities, they are rude towards them, hoping they would just come out with the

answer they wanted. After much denial the brother of the victim said something, which frankly in my opinion should be asked to the whole western world. You could never imagine a peace loving Arab? . As it turns out the brother is the terrorist. So this show is no different from any type of media as they represent Arabs negatively, right from the first scene till the end. In my opinion, the media is definitely is unfair and cruel towards the Arab Muslims. Not all of them are terrorists. The fact that an entire society of people is judged solely upon the acts of a minority is just discriminating. Even Arab women have been represented negatively due to the fact they cover, and because of that the media believes the women don t have equal rights as men in the Middle East. That statement is completely incorrect as the women have fought for their rights and are now in identical status as the men. The western media has failed to acknowledge the fact that the Arab countries have come out of hiding and are starting to fight for their rights; they have just portrayed that as protesting and bringing war on this world. To conclude, I have rarely seen Arabs being represented POSITIVELY, but hopefully this wil l all come to an end.