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Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs After 9/11

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THE INFLUENCE and power of movies in American society, as well as the rest of the world, cannot easily be avoided. One aspect of our lives that films affect more than most is how we perceive and interact with the world outside of the U.S. and those who inhabit it. According to Los Angeles Times film critic Kenneth Turan, "Movies are really hard-wired into our psyches, shaping how we view the world. It's when politics infiltrate entertainment that it is most subversive--and most effective...Artful entertainment easily beats full-on propaganda."

With this in mind, Professor Jack G. Shaheen--described by veteran journalist Helen Thomas as "a one-man anti-defamation league" because he's devoted much of his adult life to persuading Hollywood to be fair in its portrayal of Arabs and Muslims--has penned his latest book, Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs After 9/11.

According to Shaheen, author of the bestseller Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, "Arabs remain the most maligned group in the history of Hollywood. Malevolent stereotypes equating Islam and Arabs with violence have endured for more than a century...Arab=Muslim=Godless Enemy." In fact, Shaheen argues, the entertainment industry's vilifying of Arabs and Muslims helped prepare the American public, as well as our fighting men and women, to go to war in the Middle East.

Shaheen makes it clear that the U.S. government has had a hand in ensuring that Hollywood sends the public a negative image of this part of the world and the majority of the people who live there. "Filmmaking is political," he explains. "Dehumanizing stereotypes emerging from the cinema, TV, and other media help support government policies, enabling producers to more easily advance and solidify stereotypes."

In Guilty, Shaheen covers a new aspect of Hollywood's misrepresentation of Arab and Muslim Americans living among us. Before 9/11--as far as Hollywood was concerned, at any rate--they were invisible. Now, however, they are portrayed in movies and television programs as members of sleeper cells, waiting to receive the call to become active terrorists and do harm to their neighbors. Since 9/11, Shaheen has found, more and more prime time TV dramas include the theme of out-of-control Arab and Muslim terrorists.

Shaheen's book is a valuable resource on a subject he knows better than anyone. Quoting well-known sources to reinforce his already strong argument, he then attempts to suggest tangible solutions to this pressing problem--leaving this Arab-American reader with a sense of hope. Finally, as he did in Reel Bad Arabs, he has compiled a list of the films that have been produced since 9/11 for the reader to use as a guide. The list--which now exceeds 1,150 films--includes not only offensive movies, but also those in which their makers attempted to present a more balanced representation.

This reader made good use of this section of the book. I was thinking of renting the film "Young Black Stallion" for my 7-year-old son after noticing that the back cover of the DVD box had pictures of Arabs with their horses. After reading Shaheen's assessment of how negative the film is toward Arabs, however, I know not to go anywhere near the movie. On the other hand, Shaheen's review led me to rent Roberto Benigni's "The Tiger and the Snow," which is set in Italy and Iraq during the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Besides being a warm, moving and funny movie, it presents the Iraqi people as just that--people.

This, after all, is what Professor Shaheen and the majority of the world's Arabs and Muslims desire: simply to be seen in an objective light, no better, no worse than anyone else. It really isn't that much to ask--is it?

The aptly named `Guilty' updates Professor Shaheen's acclaimed book `Reel Bad Arabs' which was written just before Sept. 11, 2001. In each book he underscores, and documents the close connection between the political world and the entertainment one (yet, rather amazingly, he never uses the world "propaganda."). He quotes Jack Valenti in the prologue: "Washington and Hollywood spring from the same DNA." Few anecdotes better underscore this nexus than the one told in the same section about a special screening of the movie `Black Hawk Down' , before its general release, for 800 top Washington officials and military brass, including Donald Rumsfeld and Oliver North, in which they were permitted to suggest changes.

Shaheen places his subject, Hollywood, and its movies, within the greater context of the post 9/11 world in the first chapter, quoting the anti-Islamic and anti-Arab bigotry and prejudice of such public figures as Ann Coulter, Donald Rumsfeld and Tom Tancredo. The inflammatory remarks clearly led to an increase in hate-crimes, which frequently spill over against other darker skinned, and "different-looking" people like the Sikhs. Shaheen also reminds us of similar negative depictions of other ethnic groups: American Indians, Blacks, Orientals, Latinos and Jews. For the Arabs, the four negative stereotypes that are constantly promoted, as Shaheen says, are that they are all fabulously wealth; barbaric and uncultured; sex maniacs; and revel in acts of terrorism.

In his chapter on the negative movies about Arabs since 9-11, he identifies a separate category, which he calls "cameos." These are gratuitous slurs against Arabs and Islam in movies that have nothing to do with this subject, or even "terrorism." I was first struck by this concept when I read Theodore H. White's "In Search of History - A Personal Adventure" in which he made the passing remark about the "so-called" government of Kuwait. Nothing before, or after, on that subject, and certainly no comparisons with the deficiencies of other governments. All is not negative however, and Shaheen devotes an entire chapter to improved Hollywood coverage of the Arabs - certainly one of the best movies, in my opinion, as well as Shaheen's is `Rendition', released in 2007, which shows an Egyptian-born American engineer kidnapped and tortured, and one of the lessons his CIA capturers learn is that torture does not work.

Shaheen devotes a major chapter to "solutions", that is, how change may be affected. Some of his ideas seem wildly impractical in the current political climate, but he reminds us how the same could have been said about the other ethnic groups, and how they eventually were able to change their portrayal in Hollywood, and on TV. Unfortunately he does not address what the economists call "the sunk costs", that is, the tremendous economic interests in maintaining the status quo, the need to have enemies and promote conflict, all of which President Eisenhower famously warned us about in his farewell address. Nonetheless, Shaheen lists several positive steps, from new films, re-makes, to an Arab American Entertainment summit that individuals of good-will can take to change the current situation.

The second half of the book is a detailed analysis of specific movies in the post 9-11 period. Encouragingly, as he says, one-third of the movies fall into the "recommended" or "even-handed" category. He identifies the 2007 release, "The Kingdom" as the most anti-Arab movie in the post 9-11 period, and he devotes almost five pages to his analysis. What he did not discuss however was that the movie received a positive review in Saudi Arabia's `Arab News.' I too thought the movie terrible, and so was even more stunned by the positive review. Living in New Mexico now, I have seen video narratives from American Indians, who tell of their own childhood, and how they would actually root for the cowboys, when they were attacked by the "savages." Ah, the awesome power of propaganda. Clearly a bit of "consciousness raising" is still needed in the Arab world.

Shahaan's meticulous documentation of the movies and TV shows that shape our view of reality is an essential read for those who desire a better understanding of the workings of "The Masters of War."

Hollywood has always used the public's fear and loathing to create interest in its film projects. In the 1980s, the communists were the most common villain in big budget Hollywood action movies. In the 2000s...Middle Eastern Terrorists have taken over that role - "Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs after 9/11" is a scholarly look at this most common trend and how it both impacts and represents society. It also gives an optimistic look as the generic terrorist isn't the only Arabic representative in American film, but characters with real human motivations seem to be making an effort at becoming the norm. "Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs after 9/11" is highly recommended to both social issues and film collections for community libraries.

Dr. Jack Shaheen has done it again. This book is excellent. GUILTY reminds us of the deep rooted connections between Washington DC and Hollywood...and the unfortunate bigotry that exists in movie making.

There is storytelling in painting the bad guy or bad race image. I guess it's Arabs and Muslims turn. Others have come before them - Women, African Americans, Hispanics, etc...let's stop generalizing across religion, race, gender and ethnicity. There is good and bad in all types of people. GUILTY gets you thinking about all of this.

Bravo Dr. Shaheen.

Professor Jack Shaheen's starts where he left off in his previous book Reel Bad Arabs. Like in his earlier works, this book covers the range of films that have come out after 9/11 and analyzes them in light of whether or not they pepetuate the stereotypical Arab or Muslim.

To much of the surprise of moviegoers like myself, many of the box office hits and critically acclaimed films of the post 9/11 era contain negative and often stereotypical images of Arabs and Muslims. Despite the dissmal track record of hollywood on portraying Arabs, we do have balanced and or postive images of Muslims and or Arabs like Syriana and Kingdom of Heaven.

For those who wish to explore the stereotypical images of Arabs and Muslims in hollywood post 9/11, this is an excellent resource.

Once again Professor Jack Shaheen provides an insightful analysis of the manner in which movie makers influence public opinion of a class of people. In his book, Reel Bad Arabs How Hollywood Vilifies a People Shaheen analyzed more than one thousand Hollywood movies which he studied and screened over a 20-year period.

His new book, Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs After 9/11, not only describes the prejudicial depiction of Arabs in movies, but is also filled with factual information which will enlighten readers, especially those interested in stereotypes and in the Middle East.. For example, Shaheen points out how the terms Arabs and Muslims are used interchangeably even though "only one-fifth of the world's 1.3 million Muslims are Arabs."

This book goes a long way to counter the spreading of Islamophobia in the U.S. as well as other parts of the world. At the far extreme we have the Gainesville, Florida pastor, Terry Jones, whose recent burning of the Koran resulted in violence in Afghanistan thus further endangering our troops.

The prejudicial portrayal of Arabs in Hollywood has been and continues to be a major contributor to the wide-spread ignorance in this country regarding Arabs and Muslims.

Shaheen has presented us with an even-handed, thoughtful and passionate analysis of this timely subject. His book is must-reading for every individual who is willing to be better educated on a vital culture in our society.

We really need more scholars to address this topic with Hollywood. It was beautifully written and enjoyed every minute!

"More than a century of reel injurious Arab stereotypes, including the majority of post-9/11 movies, have helped us 'kill people with our minds.'"

From major box-office hit Hollywood films to popular primetime TV shows to children's Saturday morning cartoons, GUILTY covers the entire spectrum of where harmful Arab and Muslim images come from, their disastrous effect and how we can dismantle them.

In his most recent book, Dr. Jack Shaheen offers a fresh outlook and an alternative perspective of post-9/11 cinema. The one-dimensional wealthy, barbaric, sex maniac terrorist has long been the staple Arab reel stereotype. Post-9/11 myths include a new villain, the "Arab American Neighbor as Terrorist", plotting to blow up shopping malls and kidnap and terrorize fellow Americans. Such images - old, recycled and new - fuel hate, ignorance, intolerance and fear. Reel distortions influence real actions, from the 3,000 plus hate crimes against Arab and Muslim Americans to the atrocities at Abu Ghraib and even the killing of innocent Indian Sikhs.

"Given the conflict in Iraq and Afghanistan, the al-Qaeda threat, and the repercussions of 9/11, it seems more important than ever to remain alert to prejudicial portraits, to test our own stereotypes, and our own sense of fairness."

As a seasoned media critic and scholar, and an American of Arab origin, Shaheen offers a comprehensive and balanced account of media's role in the ever-widening and dangerous divide between Arabs and Americans and argues that media can alternatively promote effective change and unity.

"Imagemakers should keep in mind that their motion pictures continue playing an important role in world politics; constantly repeated, reel evenhanded images may help advance peace."

Shaheen notes and praises progress and continues to encourage Hollywood in making positive strides toward multicultural awareness and understanding. Included with an encyclopedia of carefully analyzed post-9/11 positive and negative films, and viable alternatives to cinema's threatening cycle of demonization, GUILTY serves as a one-stop complete reference guide for both the viewer and imagemaker.

GUILTY is not only enlightening, but inspiring and highly recommended for movie-makers, movie-goers and anyone interested in actively improving the lens through which our world is viewed.

Prof. Jack Shaheen does it again. He follows up on "Reel Bad Arabs" with another amazingly written book with solid examples of the mostly negative portrayal of Arabs in films -- especially after 9/11. Shaheen has a way of writing that is easy to understand and immensely readable. Unfortunately, the people who most NEED to read such a book to open their minds likely never will. For those who care about educating themselves and not being taken in by the glitz of Hollywood, I highly recommend this book!

GUILTY is yet another incredible and important literary work by Dr. Jack Shaheen. In a time of fragile politics, Hollywood has failed in its responsibility to represent Arabs and Arab-Americans in a fair and balanced manner. In GUILTY, Dr. Jack Shaheen leaves no stone unturned as he explores every Arab reference that Hollywood has projected, post 9/11.

Yet as much as Dr. Shaheen waves his finger at the bad, he does indeed praise a few projects that Hollywood got right. His breakdowns for films like KINGDOM OF HEAVEN and THE SYRIAN BRIDE are excellent examples of this. They show that when filmmakers actually care, they can make a positive impact on society, rather then a negative one.