Islamophobia/xenophobia and
the media
Introduction:
Will
discuss the impact on the Muslim community and the result of their retaliation
due to it, such as even more cases of terrorism.
Will
introduce media texts such as films like mainly American Sniper and how a
soldier is seen as a hero, but may be seen as a terrorist to Islam and vice
versa. Will introduce United 93 as a sub text and Historical text to reinforce
and support my ideas on the stereotypes and prejudice/discrimination which
Islam is victim to.
Main
text:
American
Sniper, a film based off a real occurrence, is about a top sniper sent to
protect his comrades in the battlefield, and is seen to be a hero at least from
the eyes of an American. In the film the typical representations of
Islamists/Militants/Radicals/Extremists are presented as the bad guys, often
always seem to be holding some kind of weapon in the film, even though from a
neutral standpoint, they're just retaliating to the attack, just like Americans
are terrorists to Islam, and Islam are stereotypically terrorists to the common
American. Main point to discuss is the “one sided” and “black and white” binary
representations between good and bad, even though they might not have been
necessarily true.
Also
as the title suggests, "American" Sniper, we see the picture through
American lenses, supported by their cultural style and political language.
Where the strongly Native American believes all Muslims are a threat and are
mostly portrayed as the bad guys. Even in reviews by respected institutions, it
is said I’m not going to fault Kyle’s view of his enemies as representing a
“savage, despicable evil,” but I do fault Eastwood for making what is,
essentially, a propaganda film. Clint Eastwood cleverly tries to attract a
mainstream cinema audience and get them to engage with the politics behind it,
and as a result catalyses the topic of Islamophobia. I will discuss perhaps
there are some influences to this such as a business decision.
Theories:
·
Binary opposition between good (America)
and bad (Islam)
·
Hypodermic needle model of marginalizing
the whole of Islam
·
Tessa Perkin’s theory of stereotypes
·
Hegemonic views
Key
scenes and textual analysis of American Sniper:
RPG
Kid scene –
The
scene demonstrates a quite controversial and propaganda sparking idea by Clint
Eastwood, as several other film reviews have said, where a kid is almost predisposed
to pick up the nearest weapon and fire anything on site - they are that
brainwashed, and I will discuss this in further detail with theories and
analysis.
RKG
Grenade scene –
A
Muslim mother sends her martyr child to bomb American soldiers, but the child
is sniped by Chris Kyle, and as a result the mother risks her own life to
fulfil the deed. I will discuss the implications and controversy that surrounds
this scene like similarly like the one before, and will use film reviews from institutions
to back up my subjective ideas about this.
Quotes:
“Words
such as ‘fundamentalist’, ‘extremist’ and ‘radical’ are regularly used in
Apocalyptic
headlines across all sectors of the British press. They create the impression
of a
mounting universal conspiracy directed against British society by an organised
and
coherent army of bloodthirsty agents. It is evidence of a tendency to view all
Islamic
movements as originating from the same root and as being equally hostile to
Britain.”
With this quote I will discuss the definitions and their associations with the
media, such as purposely using these words that speak controversy to simply
make headline views, etc, and how this has a negative impact from something
cynical.
“There
are 175 mosques in NYC. There are 6000 churches in NYC. And there are about
1000 synagogues in NYC.” I will discuss the impact derogatory stereotypes have
had on American citizens who follow Islam and how they’re almost feeling “unwelcomed”.
“The
leading cause for Islamophobia is usually misinformation or total lack of information
based on the religion. Islamophobic people are not likely to be willing to
educate themselves about their fears or spend time around any Islamic people.”
I will be discussing the demonstration of some media theories such as
stereotypes and the hypodermic needle model where the media is responsible for
this, “feeding” viewers a bad image.
Issues
and debates:
Sam
Harris on a podcast, expressing objective statements on Islam and Political
Correctness
Christopher
Hitchens’ talks about Islamphobia – “Is fear of Islam racist?”
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