Not every Muslim is a terrorist, but just about all terrorism is Islamic.
However, in this age of political correctness, voluntary “restraint” on free speech (Muslims could be offended), muslicultural* befuddlement, litigation jihad, one-way “hate-speech” laws and constant fears of terrorist attacks or assassination, many of us, especially those in the media, have already caved in to Muselmanic terrorism, and that pleases Muslims like Souheila Al-Jadda, who writes in USA TODAY:
‘Sinister Muslim’ stereotype fades
In film and on TV, Hollywood eases away from its terrorist standard
By Souheila Al-Jadda
Muslim voices are finally being heard by and from Hollywood, and it’s in Tinseltown’s best interest to listen.
Negative stereotypes of Muslim characters date to at least the black-and-white era, but by the 1990s and the end of the Cold War, one-dimensional Muslim terrorist characters were the generic “bad guy” in countless movies and television shows, including True Lies (’94) andExecutive Decision (’96). Even the cartoon Aladdin (’92) portrayed villains with Middle Eastern accents while the hero and heroine had standard American voices.
Such repeated portrayals have colored public perceptions of Muslims and Middle Easterners. The events of 9/11 crystallized and, for some, affirmed the stereotype. But nearly a decade later, Hollywood seems to be changing its tune toward Muslims and Arabs.
It’s about time.
By googling Souheila al-Jadda, I came across this gem here, where Souheila praises the freedom sack:
A veil doesn’t mean ‘oppressed’
Don’t judge Muslim women by our clothing. Though slow by U.S. standards, we are breaking down barriers to gain greater freedoms. But don’t expect a feminist revolution. As it was with the U.S. women’s movement, reforms will come gradually. More>>
The above is, you guessed it-, standard Mohammedan agit prop. Souheila is one of many agents of Islam. It just shows how far USA Today is already derailed. Why offer such a shill a soapbox?
Related Link:
CBS Propaganda: The popular American TV show, NCIS, turns reality on its head – right on the heels of the Fort Hood massacre.
Recently, especially on television shows, Muslim characters are being treated differently. On 24, federal agent Jack Bauer protects the U.S. against terrorist attacks, but those attacks aren’t all coming from stereotypical Muslim characters anymore.
Howard Gordon, executive producer of 24, recently appeared on a Link TV show I co-produced,Who Speaks for Islam? Muslims on Screen. Asked why most terrorists on the show were Arab or Muslim he said, “When we tried to make … the terrorists Swedish terrorists, it was somewhat less convincing.”
That was in the beginning. As public perceptions began to change in the wake of the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal and other events, 24 had to evolve. Gordon said, “We began to realize that by portraying Muslims strictly as terrorists on the show, we were … unwittingly exploiting some of the fears of our audience members.”
Gordon acknowledged the responsibility he feels to represent America to the rest of the world. “I think that the impact of our content or creative content is one of our greatest exports,” he said. “It becomes a very powerful instrument for understanding each other in this terrible … divide we find ourselves in with the Muslim world.”
So 24 started creating more textured Muslim characters and showed its hero interacting with Muslims in new ways. A female Arab agent became the acting head of the counterterrorism unit. Agent Jack Bauer befriended an imam, whom he had originally accused of being a terrorist.
Other Hollywood shows and movies are making changes, too. Law & Order and CSI have begun including Muslim characters that don’t fit the terrorist stereotypes, and the CW’s Aliens in Americafollowed the story of a Muslim exchange student from Pakistan living with an American Christian host family in Wisconsin. Several recent movies have also offered deeper and more nuanced views of Muslims, even while exploring the complex subjects of war and terrorism.
Perhaps pressure from Muslim Americans and Muslims who work in the movie industry has helped encourage Hollywood to make changes.
Kamran Pasha wrote for the Showtime program Sleeper Cell, in which an African-American MuslimFBI agent infiltrates a cell of terrorists. On Who Speaks for Islam?, Pasha said he criticized the show during his job interview. He critiqued a scene in which two Muslim terrorists are talking to each other at a urinal.
“This is something that most people who are not Muslim don’t know,” Pasha said. “Most religious and conservative Muslim men don’t like to pee standing up. They consider it as unclean.” The creators of Sleeper Cell were apparently looking for this kind of advice. Pasha said of his critique, “I think that was the moment I got the job.”
Some Muslim and Arab actors are turning down roles that reinforce negative stereotypes. Ahmed Ahmed, an actor and comedian, began refusing terrorist roles after going on the Hajj pilgrimage. Instead, he looks for ways “to enlighten people through humor.”
The same is true for Maz Jobrani. He plays Dr. Bhamba on the ABC sitcom Better Off Ted. He also played Mohammed, a good-guy federal agent in the 2005 thriller The Interpreter. Jobrani said when it comes to “Middle Easterners and Muslims, you tend to see only the negative. And so that’s where I’ve made the stance and why I’ve said, ‘No more.’ I don’t audition anymore for terrorist roles.”
Muslim advocacy groups are also helping to transform Hollywood. Two such organizations — the Muslim Public Affairs Council and the Council on American-Islamic Relations — first approached Gordon about the portrayals of Muslims on 24 and persuaded him to make adjustments. Muslims On Screen and Television (MOST), a non-profit resource center, provides research and information about Muslims to Hollywood insiders.
But change in a huge, complex, multibillion dollar industry remains random and slow. Some Hollywood productions still rely on or even exploit stereotypes. In 2008, Witless Protection included a scene in which “Larry the Cable Guy” calls a Middle Eastern hotel clerk a “pamper head.” But this kind of slur seems to be less common today.
Maybe Hollywood is finally listening to Muslim voices because they have to. The Pew Research Center issued a recent report showing that Muslims now make up nearly a quarter of the world’s population.
And we buy movie tickets, too.
Souheila Al-Jadda is co-producer of the Who Speaks for Islam series on Link TV and a member of USA TODAY’s board of contributors.
(On the same side: Agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland) of 24 thanks Jibraan (Omid Abtahi), a Muslim character who helped the FBI agents locate a bomb on a Washington Metro train./Kelsey McNeal, FOX.)
Comment:
Yeah, it’s about time that Hollywood runs away from those awful ‘Islamic terrorist’ stereotypes and lets the country finally see what a ‘religion of peace’ really looks like!
The more the Islamic facists attack us, the faster we try and hide from reality… Hope’n change anybody?..
muslicultural*- my variation of multi cultural
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But don’t expect a feminist revolution. As it was with the U.S. women’s movement, reforms will come gradually.
Its the same argument used when Muslims are confronted by the bizarre Islamic law, that apostates of Islam must be killed. They weasel out by saying that reform takes a long time etc. The purpose is to stall for time till sharia is imposed.