By Reem al-Harmi/Washington
Sacha Baron Cohen, known for his sarcastic and crude movies, portrays Arabs negatively in his new production, The Dictator. Surprised? Not really. Expected? Pretty much. Every major ethnic group has had its share of negative portrayal in Hollywood. For example, African Americans, when they weren’t allowed to be in the movies, were portrayed by white actors who painted their faces black. The characters they portrayed were all negative stereotypes. Then it was the turn of the Native Americans. The Asian-Americans were the next target. Hollywood’s favourite stereotype, for some time now, has been Arabs. Arabs in Hollywood films are depicted under the three Bs category: bombers, billionaires and belly dancers. After 9/11 their portrayal has worsened, of course. I have seen The Dictator. It is racist, full of negative stereotypes. But is it funny? Not really. The symbols used in the movie to represent the fictitious republic of Wadiya are a sword and a crescent. The written language used in the movie sounds similar to Arabic. The main character speaks in Arabic-sounding tongue when he is on a jet with his assistant, in front of two American couples. And his loud conversation is peppered with words in English like Empire State, the Statue of Liberty and 9/11 and 2012.The conversation was about the tour he wants to make and the numbers are his car’s and the car model’s year. What does this all imply? These days Arabs even don’t have to talk to be suspicious, they just have to fit the category of certain skin colour and use a certain language. In fact, there have been several incidents of Arabs being removed from flights.I don’t understand what does the Arabs need to do, to prove that they are innocent and they are American-enough to be free of suspiciousness? Which reminds me of what Juan Williams has said once: “If I see people who are in Muslim garb and I think they are identifying themselves first and foremost as Muslims, I get worried. I get nervous.” I guess all Muslim men should start wearing shorts, toms and a polo shirt so that people like Williams can rest easy. As for Sacha Baron Cohen, I understand that his purpose not to enlighten people and clear misconceptions and negative stereotypes. However, many people just rely on movies like the ones he directs to inform themselves. With that comes the growing strength of Islamophobia that has seen a surge in recent years. The Dictator presents a negative image of the Arabs, conveniently forgetting that they are dying and risking their lives every day in the Middle East, to gain freedom, to get their rights. And I wonder: what if this movie has been made by the Arabs, aimed at mocking the Jews and their heritage. I think then some would start calling the Arabs anti-Semitic and Jewish-haters. But for the Arabs to be portrayed so, it’s just “humour”!! l Reem.alharmi@gmail.com
| Sacha Baron Cohen: his latest film presents a negative picture of the Arabs |
June 17, 2012 | 12:00 AM