Orientalism or Racism?

Orientalism is a hot topic lately. With the success of films like Hurt Locker, Zero Dark Thirty, Lone Survivor, and American Sniper, the Middle East is being portrayed in film more and more. The difficult thing about looking at Orientalism in these films is that many of the Middle Eastern actors are portraying terrorists. They are not meant to be shown in a positive light, which is a big issue in Orientalism. Some films have actually been criticized for being racist. For example, Lone Survivor had a lot of national outcry of racism, even though the people who saved Marcus Luttrell (the Lone Survivor) in real life, and in the film, were Afghan villagers. Personally, I don't think that film is racist. I don't think all people from Afghanistan are terrorists because I saw that film. 

One great example of Orientalism where people from the Middle East are stereotypically portrayed is the Disney movie Aladdin. Obviously cartoons like Aladdin are not fair portrayals of the Middle East, and this is what kids mainly have access to to learn about other cultures. As a kid I didn’t know any better. My mom never talked to me about Asian and Middle Eastern cultures, and the only time we did have a talk like that was after the 9/11 terrorist attacks.

Back to what kids are learning…Above is the opening of the film. From watching it as a kid I would know that the Middle East is barbaric, hot, dusty, and there are a lot of camels. When the narrator sang the word “Barbaric,” it really caught my attention. Just in the first 30 seconds of this movie, kids are already being taught to be afraid of people from countries considered to be in “Arabia,” which are many.