"Real Bad Arabs..."

While watching the video "Real Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People" my mind was flooded with thoughts. It was not the stereotypes themselves that surprised me, it was how strong rooted they were. Every single one of us have our own stereotypes and prejudices towards each and every culture, race, and ethnicity that we encounter; whether we know it or not. Some of these stereotypes are brought on by our upbringing while others rise from what we see others doing. In this case, the media seems to have a powerful influence over what we think about the mid-east and its people.

I have been watching movies for year that depicted terrorists or rebel groups of Middle Eastern people. Until watching this video, the thought of racism or prejudice never crossed my mind. Looking at the video made me realize just how skewed the view of the Mid-East has become. I myself know a few people that crack jokes about or discuss how “those people just want to take over everything” or “why do they have to write in Arabic on their shops, how do we know it’s not a secret message”. This is something that often occurs, especially when people around me are discussing Dearborn and its large Mid-Eastern population. This video really shows just where some of these stereotypes must have been developed

Hollywood has a large impact on what American society does and how the people act and even dress. This is yet another reason I would not be surprised if the stereotypes presented in movies is the reason that many Americans have prejudices towards people from the Mid-East. The images from movies combined with other forms of media, in large part the news, will continue to reinforce stereotypes and I don't know if anything can really be done about it. The only thing that I can think of is better education about people from the Mid-East and positive views of them in the media.