Friday, January 26, 2007

Whiny Muslim Babies Seethe Over Movies

If these people weren't such a menace and threat to the civilized world, this would almost be amusing.
There was a time, after the Nazis, when every Hollywood bad guy seemed to be German.

With the onset of the Cold War, they became Russian.

Now the blockbuster bogeyman is Muslim, according to a study published today.

Popular films, from action movies to cartoons, are portraying “crude or exaggerated stereotypes” of Muslims who are shown as the “enemy within” bent on “attacking” the western way of life, the report claims.

The Islamic Human Rights Commission said films as diverse as The Siege, a portrayal of a terrorist attack on New York starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, the British comedy East is East and Disney’s Aladdin are reinforcing impressions that Muslims are violent and dangerous.

Hmm. A terrorist attack on New York. Ring any bells? The laughable part here is the ridiculously few movies they claim represents some mythic Islamophobia:

Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)

Indiana Jones must find the ark of the covenant before the Nazis. The report says: “The cultural stereotypes and scenarios are patently obvious,” pointing to a street scene featuring bazaars, veiled women and bearded men in traditional dress, all set to snake-charming music.

Aladdin (1992)

The report queries why a children’s cartoon describes Aladdin’s homeland as “barbaric”, and notes that “good Arabs” including Aladdin are given American accents while the rest of the cast have “exaggerated and ridiculous Arab accents”.

The Siege (1998)

Palestinian terrorists attack New York city in response to the US military abduction of an Islamic religious leader. The report says that the film depicts Muslims as the “enemy within” and that the characters display the “monolithic stereotype of the Arab/Palestinian Muslim being violent and ready to be martyred for their cause”.

East Is East (1999)

A mixed-race Anglo-Pakistani family in 1970s Salford struggle against the traditional background enforced upon them by their father. The report says the representation of the Muslim husband as a polygamous wife-beating tyrant “fits into many of the negative perceptions people have of Muslims”.

Executive Decision (1996)

Palestinians hijack a Boeing 747 to launch a nerve gas attack on Washington DC. Report says the film “plays on the worst fears ... about a potential terrorist lurking in every Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim-looking person, and the incompatibility of Islamic and western values”.

House of Sand and Fog (2003)

An abandoned wife is evicted from her home, which is taken over by an Iranian family forced to flee their country following the 1979 revolution. The report says the film constructs a “negative description of the revolution, without enabling any detailed or balanced analysis of the event”.

Frankly, outside of Raiders of the Lost Ark, I haven't seen any of these movies. A rather paltry selection of films in this absurdly flimsy study. How did they miss United 93?

Here's an assignment for these pitiful souls. How about stop denying that many Muslims are terrorists, stop being so paranoid about every little perceived slight you suffer (hey, those things happen to everybody), denounce Islamist violence, and stop being such babies.

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