Asking all them questions making statements, ASSUMING!

Society has stereotyped every group of people on planet earth. It is sad because those assumptions are wrong most of the time. Every person is not the same just because they have the same color as the person next to them. In movies however, these stereotypes are portrayed and made to seem so true. The American film industry doesn’t do it on purpose, but that’s all they know. Some directors and movie writers are ignorant to the world around them.  The Arabs in our society are known as terrorist or money hungry idiots because of the film industry.

In Real Bad Arabs there were some very memorable moments. Most of which were disturbing. One that bothered me was the way Arabs are treated in movies. They are always being violent but always get defeated. The Americans are always seen as the heroes in the situation. Even when they are shooting at children, it is a good thing. It bothered me because it was too much for me to look at and then because I felt in my heart that it was wrong for them to do that.  I found it interesting that the stereotypes for Arabs were so broad. We saw the killers, lovers, money makers, and idiots. None were positive however.  I liked how the presenter had his own opinion about the situation and he wasn’t just presenting information to the audience. It made a difference on how I perceived the information as well. He took a stance on the situation which made it easier for me to agree with him. The facts and examples presented made me think about the things I watch in television. One more thing that puzzled me was the fact that the actors were portraying the image. They played the negative roles. I just wonder if those are real Arabs or just look-alikes. It would be a horrible thing if they are making their people look bad like that. But then again black people play black roles in movies about ignorance.

When the industry continues to put the Arab community in a negative light then there are negative consequences. People across America will now try to put two and two together and make the assumption that an Arab is a terrorist. After 9/11 Americans took it upon themselves to assume that every Middle Easterner was a terrorist. In the movies they wear the head dress with the long robes. A lot of times things took place in the desert with camels and wars. Women are sex icon in every culture. The Arabian women were shown as belly dancers. That could offend a real Arabian woman who covers her body, because that is not how all women in their culture are. These assumptions will make people feel justified in treating these people wrong. Before 9/11 America had no beef with Arabs, so these assumptions were made based off ignorance. There wasn’t much research done in the movies with the bad portrayals of Arabs. Not many movies show the truth of how Arabs live their lives and what’s really going on. They are presented without any humanity. Without humanity they are animals and not fit for society.

Out of all the movies mentioned I recognized three of them. The first was Aladdin of course. I never thought about this movie as an Arabian movie. When I first saw this movie I was excited about it. I watched too many times to count because it was fun to watch as a child. I also recognized The Father of the Bride 2. I didn’t expect this one at all. I never realized that the businessman was Arabian. This movie I haven’t seen much of however seeing this movie was enjoyable. I loved the plot of the movie. I did see the Arabian man as a greedy businessman. The last movie I recognized was True Lies. This was a hard one because I’ve only seen it a good two times. I just happened to recognize the Arabian actor of the movie. This movie was an action movie. I’m not a big action fan; however, I thought this was a good movie because Arnold Swartzinager was in this movie. I didn’t like the shooting and guts of the movie. My reaction to the movies hasn’t really changed. I just feel more informed about the background of the movies. Aladdin was meant to be the dream of every young girl. However it ended up being the negative portrayal of Arabians in cartoon form. True Lies was never meant to show a good side at all. The Arabians in this movie were terrorist trying to bomb America.

We can learn that assuming the negative can cause for a negative reaction. It may not always come from the victims. At times it could come from the people around them; the people that judge them. Movies can cause us to see the world through a fantasy.  Instead of paying attention to reality we divert our attention the fantasy. These things are unrealistic and cause problems in society. Assumptions can be wrong are exaggerated from the truth. All Arabs are not plotting to take over the world. In the video I saw that there were a lot of people were hurting and in poverty. Those people were not represented in the movies.

In conclusion, assumptions are wrong. They are hurtful to the victims and society as a whole. It isn’t always minorities that are stereotyped. Many girls that have blonde are deemed as the ditz of the group. That assumption can be proven wrong. There are plenty of smart blondes and plenty of ditzy brunettes. However society has set a standard for certain type of people because they have seen it once in a movie, so once they see it in real life they believe it. It is sad that the Arabs had to be portrayed as a violent people. The 9/11 incident didn’t make anything any better for society’s vision of Arabs. It just isn’t right to judge someone based off of a movie.