CHAPTER 4

POPULAR CULTURAL ISLAMOPHOBIA

Muslim representations in Films, News Media, and Television Programs

INTRODUCTION

Thus far in the book, we have examined Islamophobia from a theoretical perspective, as well as how it manifests in political discourse, and policies and legislation in the context of the War on Terror. Negatively evaluated beliefs and perceptions of Muslims in the post-9/11 context have also been strongly influenced and informed by representations in popular cultural mediums such as film, news media, and television programs. The impact of media in the construction of race has been discussed in great detail by Stuart Hall (1996), as he states, “the media construct for us a definition of what race is, what meaning the imagery of race carries, and what the ‘problem of race’ is understood to be” (p. 161). Indeed, after 9/11 depictions of Muslim terrorists flooded TV and cinema screens reinforcing narratives in the news media about ‘dangerous Muslim men’ and ‘imperilled Muslim women’. This chapter examines Muslim representations in popular cultural mediums after 9/11. The reason I have devoted an entire chapter on analyzing Muslim representations in popular cultural mediums is because a number of people I interviewed for this book directly and unambiguously discussed how they felt the ‘media’ negatively portrayed Muslims and that these depictions have facilitated the growth of stereotypes of Muslims in Canadian society and secondary schools. This chapter examines the types of media that participants discussed in the interview process to demonstrate how these media have circulated the tropes of ‘dangerous Muslim men’, ‘imperilled Muslim women’, and Muslim cultures as being monolithic. All the media that was examined in this chapter was from the post-9/11 context as all the participants in this study attended secondary school during this time frame. The films examined in this chapter are: The Kingdom (2007), Iron Man (2008), and Body of Lies (2008). There have been a number of more contemporary films that have disseminated anti-Muslim racism such as The Dictator (2012), Argo (2012), and Zero Dark Thirty (2012), that also resonated with participants’ comments. However, the reason for analyzing these older films was because participants that mentioned how there were media biases against Muslims in Hollywood films were primarily the Muslim male particpants, who all attended secondary school the years that these films were produced and in theatres. Some of these films, like Iron Man and The Kingdom were specifically mentioned or commented on by participants.

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I have included the film Body of Lies in this analysis because it was a fairly popular film during the same time frame of the aforementioned films and included a number of messages similar to those discussed by participants. These films often portrayed Muslim men as dangerous and threatening characters whose story lines revolved around terrorism. The news media that was analyzed in this chapter similarly included stories relating to ‘dangerous Muslim men’ but also examined stories that employed the ‘imperilled Muslim woman’ archetype. In analyzing news media, this chapter examined events involving Muslims from the post-9/11 context that received major news coverage from Canadian and American news outlets. The events that were examined in this chapter included news coverage of the 9/11 terror attacks and the ensuing War on Terror, as well as North American terror plots. The reason for examining the news coverage of 9/11 and the War on Terror was because three of the five Muslim women participants were attending secondary school during the time of this event, which had a major impact on their secondary school experiences. Additionally, other participants alluded to how the invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq impacted their experiences in secondary schools. I have also included an analysis of news coverage relating North American terror plots because these stories directly related to participants’ comments relating to how Muslims were automatically labeled as terrorists in news media, whereas the same designation was not given to non-Muslims who commit similar acts. The analysis of television shows in this chapter consisted of examining FOX Television’s drama 24 (2001–2010, & 2014). I decided to analyze the show 24 as opposed to a more contemporary program such as Homeland (2011–) because 24 was mentioned specifically by multiple participants as being a popular television drama which disseminated anti-Muslim stereotypes and racism. Of all television shows from the post-9/11 context that had Muslim characters, 24 has been the longest running and most successful to date. Additionally, this television program aired during a time frame that most of the student participants attended secondary school and is therefore a logical choice to include in my analysis of television programs for this study.

ANALYSIS OF HOLLYWOOD FILMS

The Kingdom. The Kingdom, directed by Peter Berg and starring Jamie Foxx, takes place in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where an American oil company’s housing compound is brutally attacked by a terrorist group. The terrorist attacks were devastating, causing the death and injury of hundreds of Westerners, including FBI agents who arrived at the scene of the attacks when secondary explosives were detonated. A team of elite FBI agents manages to get special access into Saudi Arabia to investigate the incident with the intent of bringing the terrorists to justice. This film frequently employs the trope of ‘dangerous Muslim men’ from beginning to end. The attacks described in this film were loosely based on terrorist attacks on a Western compound in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia in 2003, where 30 people were

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