The Manichean Paranoia Patch

Does anyone else find it ironic that Alexander Siddig, a self-described Muslim, played the angel Gabriel in The Nativity Story? Although Gabriel (or rather Jibrail) is an important figure in Islam, responsible for revealing the Qur’an to Muhammad, it still seems a bit counter-intuitive that Siddig would have chosen that particular role. “Sid” is a favorite of mine and it was only very recently that I found out he is half Sudanese. For those of you who aren’t familiar with his work, Siddig played Saladin’s student and aid in Kingdom of Heaven and the intelligent Prince Nasir in Syriana. He recently appeared in Josh Rushing’s Hollywood: Casting the Enemy documentary that concerns the portrayal of Middle Easterners in American media.

Not surprisingly, Middle Easterners and particularly Arabs have been consistently cast in a negative light by Hollywood. With a few notable exceptions, such as Lawrence of Arabia, American films typecast Middle Easterners as villains. More consistently than any other group, be it Russians, “oriental” Asians, Jews, blacks, or women, people from the region between Egypt and Pakistan have been consistently portrayed as religious fanatics, violent killers, or ignorant savages. While other ethnicities, religions, nationalities have certainly had long periods during which they received a very negative depiction, no other group has had the same consistency in its labeling. Ironically, 9/11 may have actually improved the portrayal of Middle Easterners in American film by drawing attention to the longstanding issue.

Until I stumbled across this documentary it had never occurred to me that Middle Easterners were typecast in our media. Hollywood is infamous for its liberal leanings, but they are still a huge money-making industry and if that means that Arabs are villainous scoundrels, so be it. Now that I think about it, though, it’s difficult to come up with a Middle Eastern actor that wasn’t playing a role where his race was significant. Denzel Washington can play a role where his “blackness” is completely irrelevant to the story, but it’s much harder for an Arab to play a role where his or her ethnic heritage has no standing in the part he/she is playing. Tony Shalhoub, a Lebanese American who is known for his role as Adrian Monk in the popular television show by the same name, is a notable exception. In some ways this is even better than Siddig’s casting as a “good” Arab in the Kingdom of Heaven or Syriana because it takes out the aspect of race altogether. I suppose it depends on what aspect of the portrayal you are concerned about: the negative depiction of Arabs or just the significance of race in casting decisions.

Films play such a huge role in American socialization and culture. Personally, I think the most interesting aspect is the relationship between the political and social trends in popular opinion and the trends in film. Take, for example, Across the Universe, a movie that is coming out later this year. The story is set in the 1960s and contains an intense love story complicated by the Vietnam draft. Judging by the previews, I anticipate a romanticization of the anti-war movement, or at minimum an emphasis on individual empowerment. Don’t get me wrong, I have no inherent qualms with this type of portrayal, but there’s no way this film would have been made four or even three years ago. It’s no coincidence that now that the Iraqi War is unpopular, a film with anti-war themes is being released. Realistically, this probably has more to do with maximizing profit than the actual change in public opinion but the outcome is the same.

It makes me wonder what distant generations will say when analyzing popular movies of today. Will they look at the Rush Hour trilogy and say, “although considered harmless at the time, these movies perpetuated the cultural stereotypes of Asians and blacks in America and set back the move towards complete racial blindness another fifty years?” So much of what we do for pleasure turns out to be damaging, whether it’s the food we eat, the tobacco we smoke, or even the movies we watch. Often times we don’t even know it’s affecting us until long after-the-fact. A century from now historians may look back and realize that rap music was the most damaging thing to happen to the black community since Plessy vs. Ferguson. At this point, though, we can only speculate.