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Jack G. Shaheen

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Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Villifies a People Paperback – January 1, 2001

by Jack G. Shaheen (Author)

4.1 46 ratings

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Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People is a groundbreaking book that dissects a slanderous history dating from cinema's earliest days to contemporary Hollywood blockbusters that feature machine-gun wielding and bomb-blowing "evil" Arabs.

Award-winning film authority Jack G. Shaheen, noting that only Native Americans have been more relentlessly smeared on the silver screen, painstakingly makes his case that "Arab" has remained Hollywood's shameless shorthand for "bad guy," long after the movie industry has shifted its portrayal of other minority groups. In this comprehensive study of nearly one thousand films, arranged alphabetically in such chapters as "Villains," "Sheikhs," "Cameos," and "Cliffhangers," Shaheen documents the tendency to portray Muslim Arabs as Public Enemy #1-brutal, heartless, uncivilized Others bent on terrorizing civilized Westerners.

Shaheen examines how and why such a stereotype has grown and spread in the film industry and what may be done to change Hollywood's defamation of Arabs.

Print length

574 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Olive Branch Pr
Publication date

January 1, 2001
Dimensions

6 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches
ISBN-10

1566563887
ISBN-13

978-1566563888
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Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Shaheen (mass communication, Southern Illinois Univ.; Arab and Muslim Stereotypes in American Popular Culture) has written a meticulous, passionate, and very articulate description of the persistent and prolonged vilification of Arab peoples in mainstream Western movies. Offering primarily reviews of the 900 films he has seen or researched over 20 years, he documents a century of offensive stereotypes and shows how the image of the "dirty Arab" has reemerged over the last 30 years, even as other groups have more or less successfully fought to eliminate the use of racist stereotypes. The appendixes include lists of the best and worst depictions of Arabs in popular films, alternate titles, a list of epithets thrown at Arabs in films, and a list of the fictional locations used in films. Although the work is aimed at a college-level audience, the clear writing and lack of jargon make it accessible to a much wider readership. Highly recommended for academic and large public libraries, as well as for other libraries with collections dealing with racism or Arab culture. [For more on Islamic culture, see "A Misundersood Faith," p. 82-83. Ed.] Andrea Slonosky, Long Island Univ., Brooklyn, N.
- Andrea Slonosky, Long Island Univ., Brooklyn, NY
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Jack G. Shaheen, a former CBS News consultant on Middle East affairs, is the world's foremost authority on media images of Arabs and Muslims. He is the author of Arab and Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture, Nuclear War Films, and the award-winning The TV Arab.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Olive Branch Pr; First Edition (January 1, 2001)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 574 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1566563887
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1566563888
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1.7 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.75 x 9.25 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #1,565,171 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #3,335 in Movie History & Criticism
- #5,444 in Popular Culture in Social Sciences
- #15,590 in Performing Arts (Books)

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4.1 46 ratings

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Michael Klossner

a century of bigotry

Reviewed in the United States on August 5, 2012

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Some Amazon users reviewing Jack Shaheen's Reel Bad Arabs have written that many
ethnic groups have been villains in Hollywood films. But it is clear from
Shaheen's book that vilification of Arabs in U.S. films has been going on for
a century. In early silents, almost every ethnic group, other than Northern
Europeans and Americans descended from them, was disparaged in many films,
including Jews. Anti-Semitism in films abruptly vanished in the 1920s when
film production was consolidated under the major studios, most of which were
run by Jews. Gradually bigotry against other groups, such as Italians,
became non-respectable and disappeared from films. During World War II
the Germans and Japanese were of course vilifed, but prejudice against Chinese
vanished from films for the first time. And after the war, the Germans and
Japanese were quickly rehabilitated as their countries became U.S. allies.
Bigotry against blacks became non-respectable and mostly disappeared from
films in the 1950s, during the Civil Rights movement. Hispanics were treated
with respect a while later, I would say beginning in the 1960s, although there
had always been Zorro and the Cisco Kid. Only Arabs have been targeted
consistently for generations.

A user's review says that 71% of American films have American villains. But these
films also probably all have American heroes. Even films with bad Americans and
good foreigners wouldn't cause Americans to dislike themselves, but decades of
Arab-baiting in Hollywood have helped make Arabs and Muslims in general so
disliked that politicians have concluded that attacking them is a good way to
get elected. Documenting this makes Shaheen's book one of the most important
books to appear in the past several years.

9 people found this helpful

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Houdini

Eye-opening book

Reviewed in the United States on July 19, 2007

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Dr. Shaheen's book in an eye-opener when it comes to exploration of the vilification of Arabs in Hollywood films, however it is a must read for all Americans. What's shocking is the consistency by which Hollywood has depicted Arabs as evil or backwards since the inception of film, and all of this prior to the events of 9/11. In example after example, Dr. Shaheen shows how Arabs are constantly depicted as terrorists, stupid, greedy, megalomaniacs, misogynists, backwards or just plain evil. Equally disturbing is the dearth of any positive Arab characters in films such as fathers, mothers, doctors or heros.

Dr. Shaheen doesn't make the argument that all portrayals of Arabs should be positive, just that there need be a balance. Like it or not, Hollywood's films contribute to perceptions throughout the world. Aside from the barrage on the self-esteem of young Arab-Americans, stereotypical portrayals such as this are dangerous as they justify violence and civil rights violations that will eventually affect all Americans.

To think this book only affects Arabs and Arab-Americans would be a mistake. Once civil liberties are violated for one group, others will follow. I highly recommend it.

4 people found this helpful

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Gen Res

Great intent, more action needed

Reviewed in the United States on December 17, 2004

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I myself am not Muslim or Arab but I understand, feel and hear the daily horrid stuff said about Muslims and Arabs. Reel Bad Arabs is a thick book with a good introduction into what land Arabs are from, their religion (being Arab and Muslim are two different and distinct things - Arabs can be Christian, Jewish, Muslim, etc.), and movies from the early 1900s to the present that show Arabs in an awful way. My only critique for this book and in general is that more needs to be done to promote tolerance towards Arabs, Muslims and Palestinians. Usually people who have stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims are not intelligent enough to read a book, something more needs to be done. Not only are Arabs shown in a bad way in movies, it is the same thing on TV, newspapers, magazines, etc. Mr. Shaheen should also detail how Muslim people are always dehumanized in the media - we literally can't hear Islam without terrorist, fundamentalist or something along with it. Covering all of that stuff from 1900s to present would have taken forever though.

9 people found this helpful

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Selina

Interessant

Reviewed in Germany on June 18, 2019

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Sehr gut recherchiert, sehr informativ

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Jesus

Insightful

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 14, 2013

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Lovely book that tells reveals a lot of what the people seem to ignore. Reality as Arabian people are dehumanized for entertainment and support for wars. No one cares.

One person found this helpful

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