Shanazel

Nope, two wrongs are two wrongs, equally wrong, one no wronger than the other, which I think was da Sage's point.

I doubt I'm any happier about the movie portrayal of backwoods southerners than someone from Tehran is about the portrayal of the Persian army, but I am not going to come unglued because Hollywood produced that movie that started with a D (Desolation? Desparation? Degradation? Can't remember) that made southerners look like a bunch of half-witted inbred idiots. It's a movie. Avoid it if you don't like it, write letters of protest, whatever you think will help. I cheer you on, but I doubt it will make a cent of difference to the moneymakers- er, movie makers. As for influencing wesrtern opinion about Iran: intelligent people do not learn their history or form their prejudices from watching animated movies featuring men with swords for arms who in real life would not even be able to wipe milk off their chins.

KuteNurse

I saw the movie this afternoon. I limped through the soaking rain and blowing winds with an ankle twice its normal size. (Fall down steps due to icestorm day before.) The movie was alright...I like history movies. We should all learn from the strength of the Spartans. The Greek are tough. I wonder if the King of Persia was really that big. lol

Aisha Azar

You know, all I did was mention a book....

Shanazel

This was the part of the post that da Sage and I in turn responded to, followed by the two wrongs making a right comment. It's a logical progression of thought from mentioning negative imaging of one group to mentioning the negative imaging of others, and the conclusion that there is nothing unique- or right- about being targeted.

And the beat goes on...

Aisha Azar

Dear Shanazel,
While there are indeed other negative stereotypes in Hollywood, etc. I thought that the stereotype mentioned to be present in the movie was Middle Eastern. This does not negate or in any way deny that other stereotypes exist nor deny their importance. Again, two wrongs do not make a right. It was just pretty clear from the posts here that the "bad guys" in this film were Middle Eastern. How does this take anything away from any other negative imaging? I do not recall saying this was a worse probolem than any other negative stereotyping....????
Regards,
A'isha

charity

well a'isha this is a hard subject. in mostly every plot with a conflict there is an antagonist and protagonist role. for all purposes, yes the roles could have been swapped and the same issue would exist, bad representation for someone.

i believe most movie goers are simply seeing the movie for entertainment and not seeking confirmation for any personal prejudices that may exist in them.

Aisha Azar

Dear Charity,
I also believe that we go to the movies for entertainment's sake, but that we should be aware of the messages present. Someone else earlier mentioned the connection to Middle Eastern negative propaganda. I merely pointed out that, yeah, there is a book about that and that one of my Arab freinds has noticed an upswing in it on television as well. Not sure why this so offended people that they felt the need to say that there were other forms of prejudice in the media also. I am aware of that, but I still do not see how it applies here.
I may or may not see the movie. I saw "The Lookout" this week-end. It is much more to my taste...(as is Joseph Gordon-Levitt).
Regards,
A'isha

charity

a'isha
i dont know. i have not been offended by this converation- yet .

what book is that? it sounds like something i would be interested in reading.

when i go to college i was going to take some classes in world history, geography, world religions and comparative politics. in addition to some classes in environment studies.

i do also believe its important to know the facts while being aware of prejudices because sometimes even facts are tainted with bias or prejudice that has been part of a society for generations.

i think it is easy to misunderstand cultures and people that we have never met. is that a result of prejudice, no i dont believe so, i think its all a misunderstanding that results from introduction to something unknown and new. though at the same time because of the lack of direct experience the stereotypes continue on, usually in the media.

perhaps i went off subject.

Shanazel

Oh, my goodness, A'isha, how does observing that bias affects a lot of different people indicate that anyone is offended in any size, form, or description just because the group originally mentioned is composed of middle easterners?

I give up. You are obviously in a mood to quibble and whatever I say is bound to provide you with more reason to do so. Have a good evening and I'll see you on another thread.

Aisha Azar

Dear Charity,
The book is called "Reel Bad Arabs". I got an advertisement for it in the mail since I subscribe to a Middle Eastern book list. I can not remember where I put the ad, so I can not currently give you more info, but you can probably Google it. I plan to buy it eventually, but I have a lot of reading to catch up on first. For a very long time in western media there has been a strange bias toward Arabs. Another book that you might find interesting is:
Veils and Daggers: a century of National Geographic's representations of the Arab World", by L. Steet, ISBN 1-56639-752-9. Ms. Steet discusses Orientalism in the magazine, through both visual and written depiction of a people. While she could have said the same things about any other Third World or colonialist situation, she chose to narrow her subject to Middle Eastern depticions.
Regards,
A'isha