Week 9 & 10 - Religious Racism and The Media

Before the term religious racism can be talked about in depth, particularly with regards to the media, it needs to be made known that religious racism is all about ideology, a collection of thoughts and opinions that groups and/or individuals believe. Hall (2000) also describes that ideology is a practice; which through the media produce social meaning (Hall 2000, p.273). The media then distributes these ideologies throughout society in the form of "complex, often contradictory, social relations" resulting in a stance ill-reflective of the personal inclinations of individuals (Hall 2000, p.281).  

Religious racist ideologies are portrayed throughout the media so commonly that society does not question their place, for example in the recent movie, Iron Man 3. The antagonist of the movie, known as the "Mandarin" is portrayed as a 'typical' terrorist; seen as coming from an Arab country with long dark hair and beard and dressed ornately and implied as owning a multitude of expensive things. While the portrayal of this character is actually a cover up for the more cunning villain, Aldrich Killian, the stereotype does not go unnoticed, nor should it. The theme of terrorism is used throughout the movie through threats videos and killings. It touches on themes that America fear in a post 9/11 world, but relieves the tension felt about this sensitive topic through humour and the prevailing hero, Tony Stark (Iron Man). As said in a recent news article, "They (the media) want to tap into the powerful reactions those events induced, while dodging the complex issues and especially the political arguments that might turn off ticket buyers" (Dargis 2013). Much of popular opinion since 9/11 has begun to associate terrorism with Muslims and likewise that Muslims are terrorists, further reinforcing the the classification of the world in terms of race (Hall 2000, p.273; Isakhan 2009, p.4).

The "Mandarin" in Iron Man 3: http://www.hdwallpapers.in/view/the_mandarin_in_iron_man_3-1920x1080.html

The categorisation of races in the world can be coupled with Edward Said's theory of Orientalism (1979) in which the Western World makes false cultural assumptions about the Eastern World (Said 1979). Many scholars use his original theory to shape their own. Isakhan (2009) describes that, "This orientalist fantasy served to homogenise, deominse and stereotype the Middle East according to fairly reductive and negative terms, such that the oriental was (is) viewed as the 'other' " (Isakhan 2009, p.6). This view has not disappeared as we continue to overtly and inferentially stereotype and demean Arabs and Muslims in society. Cañas (2008) also discusses the idea of Orientalism in the Canadian television series The Little Mosque on The Prairie. Whilst being a light-hearted soap-style show, The Little Mosque on The Prairie engages with the Orientalist discourse through which Muslims are "inferior, premodern, and violent" in contrast to the West who are "superior, modern, and enlightened" (Cañas 2008, p.206). The reinforcement of the Muslim woman stereotype as submissive and extremely religious in the program further silences their real day to day struggles, of which stereotypes are the least on their worries (Cañas 2008, p.196).

Another example of the Orientalist perspective is brought to the forefront by Jack Shaheen in the documentary, Reel Bad Arabs (Jhally 2006). The documentary explores the vilification of Arabs and the Arab world. In particular this is shown through the stereotypical depictions of Arabs in movies and Hollywood. From the very beginnings of Hollywood from black and white movies to children's classics like Aladdin, Arabs have been shown as the violent antagonist buffoons with more money than sense (Shaheen 2006, 6'50''). Negative stereotypes have found themselves commonplace in television, movies and media alike to the point that "all aspects of our culture project the Arab as villain" (Shaheen 2006, 2'38'').

http://pecangroup.org/documentaries/reel-bad-arabs-how-hollywood-vilifies-a-people

Orientalism and stereotyping races have also flowed into Australia and its media. In fact, these negative representations have been present before and more so after Australia's colonisation. "Much of the early Australian press took for granted the long-held divide between Europe and its 'others' " (Isakhan 2009, p.12). This racism was shown not only towards the 'Orient' of Australia in the form of the "Asian Invasion" (Isakhan 2009) during the time of the gold rush, but more commonly seen towards the Indigenous peoples. This racism was and has been apparent since the White Australia Policy in 1901 to events like the 2005 Cronulla Riots in recent years. 

http://gabrieldunn.com/post/2936133403/jingoism-racism-fear-religious-fundamentalism

Even when we think we are being more accepting and breaking down barriers, we are inferentially still being racist. For example, Kevin Rudd's public Apology to the Stolen Generation of the Indigenous community of Australia in 2008. Breaking down the walls of racism is making everyone equal, but is this apology not just vilifying the 'white' people of Australia? Through this public apology everyone who was an anglo-saxon and/or non-Indigenous Australian felt guilty and morally obligated to affirm Rudd's speech, even though a number had little knowledge of the events or any involvement in them. In no way does this excuse the ill-treatment of the Indigenous of the Stolen Generation, but there needs to be some mediation between racism against other people and racism against oneself which can sometimes be more inferential. From all perspectives, the constant religious racism seen in the media is not going to change any time soon because of the ingrained ideologies of times past. 

References: 

Cañas S. 2008. The Little Mosque on the Prairie: Examining (Multi) Cultural Spaces of Nation and Religion. Cultural Dynamics, 20: 195-211. (RL).

Hall S. 2000. Racist Ideologies and the Media. In P Marris and S Thornham, Eds., Media Studies: A Reader. 2nd Edn., New York, New York University Press. Ch. 22, 271-282. (RL)

Isakhan B. 2009. Orientalism and the Australian News Media. Origins and Questions. In Rane H., J. Ewart and M. Abdalla, Eds., Islam and the Australian News Media. Carlton: Melbourne University Press. Ch. 1, 3-25. (RL)

Movies.nytimes.com (2013) Log In - The New York Times. [online] Available at: http://movies.nytimes.com/2013/05/03/movies/iron-man-3-with-robert-downey-jr.html?_r=1& [Accessed: 8 May 2013].

Said W. 1979. Orientalism. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group: New York City. 

YouTube (1972) Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People (part 1). [online] Available at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-Bbz_TBMc [Accessed: 8 May 2013].