Arabs in Hollywood

This is a clip from youtube.com, the link is http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-Bbz_TBMc. I choose this clip after viewing the portrayal of Arabs in the exam video about Aladin.

The clip begins by showing some clips from Hollywood and then examines clips from the beginning of the movie industry, to present films. The narrator explains how Arabs are always projected as the villain over and over again. Palaces, sandy deserts, and oasis are always portrayed along with stereotypical music, belly dancing, and snake charming.

This video clip explains how the movie industry has this stereotype about Arabs so engrained. It is amazing how all of the clips portraying Arabs do so in the same way. In almost all of the films these people are portrayed with an accent, wearing turbans or having some other stereotypical appearance, being villains and evil, and usually being incompetent.

This film relates to the course material as it is very similar to the Aladdin clip in the exam. If any other minority were to be depicted in this way there would be an outcry. If race is to lose its place in cyberspace, then it must first find its way out of the mass media. Every movie about Arabs consists of the same images and behaviors. The clip can be found at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1-Bbz_TBMc.

Hip Hop: Beyond the Beats and Rhymes

I choose this media because it was a presentation I attended in the past and I was reminded of it during this week’s class. http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/02/heres_a_pbs_doc.html is a website describing the movie along with the host Terrance Howard and narrated and presented by Bryon Hurt.

This film clip explores ideas of violence, sexual abuse towards women, verbal abuse towards women, attitudes of homophobia, women perspective on rap/hip hop, and other subjects. Bryon Hurt interviews fans of rap along with well known and amateur rappers to get their perspective.

I found that a majority of the fans and artists believed that they would not succeed unless they used lyrics that are popular today, as no one would want to hear anything else. They also said that if they strayed from the usual lyrics (about violence, drugs, and so on) then they would not make money or get contracts. The film explains that white executives are usually the ones who decide who is getting a contract, which seems strange.

I felt that this is a connection the class material as it examines how race is portrayed in the music industry. We have discussed how race is involved with cyberspace, and this topic is closely related. Only one type of hip hop/rap is the primary player, and since most artists are black, this is forming a connection with race.

The article about the video can be found at http://popwatch.ew.com/popwatch/2007/02/heres_a_pbs_doc.html. From the article, “But Hurt thinks there’s hope. “I think a lot more young people are questioning and challenging what they’re receiving than most people think,” he says. “I’ve been going around the country showing this film, and I think you would be surprised by how many young people are tired of what they’re seeing.””