Islamophobia and Adult Animation: the Tyranny of the Visual* Narrativas Islamofóbicas Y Series De Animación Para Adultos: Una Tiranía De Lo Visual

Home , Back to the Pilot, Family Guy (season 2), Homerland, Midnight Rx, PTV (Family Guy), Turban Cowboy

° Comunicación y Medios N 37 (2018) www. comunicacionymedios.uchile.cl 119 Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual* Narrativas islamofóbicas y series de animación para adultos: una tiranía de lo visual

Natividad Garrido University of La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain [email protected]

Yasmina Romero Morales University of La Laguna, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Spain [email protected]

Abstract Resumen In the present work three series of animation En el presente trabajo se examinarán tres series for adults will be examined in emission still in de animación para adultos: Los Simpson, Ame- Spain: The Simpson, American dad! and Fa- rican dad! y Padre de Familia. Su gratuidad, len- mily Guy. Your gratuitousness, your accessible guaje accesible, cómico y atractivo formato han and “comical” language, and your attractive permitido a millones de televidentes acercarse format allowed to million television viewers to a realidades no cotidianas como es el caso de la approach not daily realities as can be the case representación de personas de otros contextos of the persons’ representation of other cultu- culturales. Desde los estudios culturales, que ral contexts. From of the Cultural Studies that privilegian una lectura ideológica de la cultura, privilege an ideological reading of the culture, se han seleccionado episodios de temática ára- have been selected episodes of Arabic-Islamic be-islámica con el propósito de examinar algu- subject, with the intention of examining some of nas de las narraciones islamofóbicas más gene- the narratives islamophobics more generalized ralizadas sobre la cultura árabe-islámica. in the Arabic-Islamic culture. Palabras clave Keywords Los Simpson; American dad!; Padre de Familia; The Simpson, American dad!, Family Guy, Isla- Islamofobia; Estudios Culturales. mophobia, Cultural Studies.

Received: 12-02-2018 / Accepted: 16-04-2018 / Published: 30-06-2018 DOI: 10.5354/0719-1529.2018.48467

* Work carried out within the framework of the R&D project “Justice, citizenship and vulnerability. Precarious narratives and intersectional approaches” (FF12015-63895-C2-1-R). ° Comunicación y Medios N 37 /2018 e-ISSN 0719-1529 N. Garrido / Y. Romero 1201. Introduction many negative effects conditioned by cultural prejudice of any nature. Alexandre Astruc, in his article Birth of a new avant-garde: The Camera-stylo (1948) gave Cinema, television, radio, web pages, news- warning of the innovative new character of ci- papers, magazines and publicity have become nema emerging in the early nineteen fifties, the medium through which tyrannical icono- stating that it would become “a medium for graphy is produced and perpetuated, images expression” of thought on society, “a langua- shown through empty entertainment, a reality ge” in and of itself (1980: 208). He predicted governed by prejudice. They are part of the the arrival of a new era of cinema, the “Ca- ideological apparatus of the State (Althusser, mera-pen”, and with it, he believed the ci- 2005). Although they currently revolve around nematic industry would move away from the the State or a productive empire – albeit not so-called “tyranny of what is visual” (1980: in every case – it is still true that they pos- 208), the anecdote, the immediate, the image sess an unmatchable representational and in- for its own sake. Astruc concerned about the terpretive reach coinciding with the essential terrifying and deformative power of cinematic aspects of our argument. narrative, thought that, at least until that moment, cinema had been nothing more than an What is frequently manifest today is how cinema art form of great possibility “but imprisoned and television continue to, through action and by its own prejudices” (1980: 208). He could discourse, impose a determined rule of law so not ignore how cinema and television, from its to speak. Indeed, not only have they sabotaged origins, had influenced generations of people the deformative discourse that actively coope- through narrative and content, images and rated in the way the viewer saw the world, but, opinions. This was the manner in which – as in conjunction with all other communication me- part of the French movement Nouvelle Vague dia, they are now likely the protagonists of their and of which he was one of the theoretical world view. Given all the previous, as Walter precursors – he campaigned for cinema and Lippmann warned, to sit in front of a screen is television to move away from the tyranny of easy, everything is done by and for us “without what is visual. more trouble than is needed to stay awake” (2003: 89). Toward the late fifties Horton and Wohl intro- duced the notion of a para-social relationship It is clear that the majority of non-western ima- to analyze the illusion of intimate interaction, gery of places such as Japan or Australia, or of or face to face relationship between the viewer other religions such as Judaism, Buddhism or Is- and television personalities – be it real or fic- lam, is the product of hours of exposure to the titious –. In this regard they indicated: “They television set. This is how an approach plagued ‘know’ such a persona in somewhat the same with stereotypes, poorly interpreted topics and way they know their chosen friends: through cultural symbols can break even the most basic direct observation and interpretation of his norms of coexistence between distant peoples, appearance, his gestures and voice, his conver- cultures and religions. Cinema and television are sation and conduct in a variety of situations”1 todays most essential means of communication, (1956: 216). They warned therefore that in this people use both formats out of interest for the role of the spectator people, whether cons- human drama they display, their conflicts, likes ciously or not, passed all sorts of judgment and dislikes, fears and desires, and as a con- and appraisals on television celebrities, they sequence viewers becomes immersed and im- know who they like and identify with, or, on pregnated by the perspectives offered to them, the contrary, those they don’t appreciate and in other words, the point of view said media de- disregard. Without doubt there are undenia- cide to represent, and the situation from which bly positive effects to this illusion of intimacy they decide to tell the story. of the para-social relationship2 but, there are Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual As it is today we are currently in a context of 2. Animated series for adults: sati- 121 uncertainty where our access to information is restricted, this is when “we notice a trait that re or Islamophobia? marks a well known type, and fill in the rest of These animated series have made the obvious the picture by means of the stereotypes we ca- bid to be as bold as possible in their handling rry about in our heads” (Lippmann, 2003: 87). of any topic, no matter how sensitive or contro- versial. However, this unfettered approach has The following pages analyze the televised na- not always been a welcome method. In 2006 rratives in adult animated series such as The The Parents Television Council accused the Fox Simpsons, American Dad! and Family Guy. group – all three series belong to the network Choosing these products was not a casual – of being one of the biggest contributors to choice as some other researchers have voiced the distribution of negative depictions of reli- in concern, the durability of the message they gion on television3. Understanding “Religions” spread is particularly long-lived in comparison as creeds of “otherness”, given that in 2010, at to other cultural discourses in cinema or lite- least in so far as The Simpsons are concerned, rature (Gandio, 2008: 12). In addition to the the Vatican assured the public they were “good previous, free access, accessible language, catholics”4. This is far from the only controversy comedy and attractive format have drawn in caused by their depiction of other cultures and/ millions of people and exposed them to un- or minorities and their multiple reruns of the se- common realities such as the representation of ries5. In January of 2009 the following headline people from other cultural backgrounds. Here, was published: “’The Simpsons’ accused of Isla- and supported by other cultural studies that fo- mophobia in the UK”6. There was an echo of the cus on an ideological interpretation of culture, same in another publication El Mundo: Homer and the discourse analysis offered by Edward Matamoro Simpson7. It even made its way onto W. Said in his work Orientalism (1978), a series web pages and blogs, dedicated watchdogs of visual examples have been chosen for the looking out for Islamophobia in animated series. purposes of this study, specifically 15 episodes The three series in question have earned them- on Arab-Islamic culture, for the purpose of exa- selves the ignominious top positions, where the mining some of the representational discourse opinion the caricatures of their Arab-Islamic that generalizes opinion of the aforementioned characters are simple, inoffensive parody is not culture. The criteria behind the choice of these taken into consideration8. episodes is based on the increased presence of the topic over the collective 47 seasons of the On all digital platforms what is evident is the lack series since their beginnings up until Decem- of information of the “other” culture; as oppo- ber of 2014; a sample of 15 episodes chosen sed to information the series use offensive scripts out of a total of 1,125 episodes. where the otherness of Arab or Islamic characters is associated with terrorism and violence. Our hypothesis is to corroborate with concre- For some like Martin Correa this is only satire ex- te examples the criticism and accusations of pressed through the use of stereotypes, a form Islamophobia made against these cultural pro- of social parody that has “over time evolved to ducts which is understood as; promoting in ai- become, apart from entertaining, an smart ironic red discourse “prejudice, offense, messages of reflection of the society it is directed at” (2006: aversion and also fanatics that build scenarios 188), it is a spectacularity and critique of Ameri- in which they can commit hate crimes” (San- can culture. For others the clearly depicted ideas chez 2015: 5). The study questions whether and concepts “supported by the success and cre- satire and caricature on the Arab-Islamic world dibility of the series, become legitimate referen- manages to subvert current stereotypes, or, on ces, to the extent of becoming opinion makers” the contrary, reinforce prejudice and old eas- (Rodriguez, 2015: 110). The underlying reason tern clichés. for their opinion is that, if the viewers are unfami- liar with the culture, an abundance of ethno-racial ° Comunicación y Medios N 37 /2018 e-ISSN 0719-1529 N. Garrido / Y. Romero 122stereotypes in a bid for comedy will not always be levision productions has contributed to stren- decoded or adequately understood. In a manner gthening Islamophobic trends toward people of speaking they function the same way as the from Arab-Islamic contexts through their use of multiple allusions and cultural references found certain topics and prejudice. The present study in all three series, when the spectator recognizes will focus on precisely these offensive narratives, these references, they become fully participant, addressing three main aspects: scenario, cha- they feel satisfied they are witnessing a mockery racters and Arabic. of, a parody or an homage. However if they are not capable of recognizing them for what they are, they will not even realize that something has been lost in translation. It is in this fashion that the seed of Islamophobia finds fertile ground in 3. The scenario: a journey through the face of an audience unaware of the reality of the Arab-Islamic world. This means that any One Thousand and One Nights allusion to Islam goes largely unnoticed; not only Of the fifteen episodes analyzed in this study, do they become disjointed in and of themselves, only four of them move the story to an Arab they also reinforce the viewers internal prejudice. and/or Islamic country. Specifically Afghanistan in “PVT”, Iraq in “Saving Private Brian”, and Whatever the case may be, involving these ani- Saudi Arabia in “Stan of Arabia I and II”. These mated series with terrorism or the war against scenic changes are not positive events, rather terrorism is a common practice. In 2013 a video a step backwards in terms of civilization. In the was posted on YouTube: “Abhorrent montage case of Afghanistan, it is singled out as the place of Family Guy depicting the Boston attacks”9 to find Bin Laden, Iraq is a battle field, and Saudi which caused an uproar. A viewer had edited Arabia, where the cast of American Dad! moves several episodes from the series linking Pe- for work purposes, is depicted as a desert, un- ter, the protagonist, with the Boston tragedy. der a burning sun, and the cast surrounded by However, in the first viewings of the montage people in integral one-piece attire upon which most of the internauts and users that saw the they state: “Wait a minute! This isn’t a promo- video did not suspect it was not a real episo- tion”11. The barbarity of the scene is intensified de, they were utterly accustomed to the usual even more at the end of the 13th episode of irreverent humor of the genre. The video was American Dad! set in Saudi Arabia, where the evidence of two main phenomena: first what we protagonists are about to be stoned to death12. have already mentioned, the audience’s inabili- ty to distinguish satire from truth and see their As a matter of fact, both the exterior and inte- fears confirmed on screen, and, what ultimate- rior scenarios are based on preconceived ima- ly concerns the present study most, their fear ges and topics. They are presented as very hot of Islam; and second, in line with what we have locations, insisting on resplendent sunshine in presented so far, the decision in the Middle East a cloudless sky, where camels abound and buil- to adapt The Simpsons to an Arab audience. It dings are constructions out of plays such as One had been adopted in 2005, with Egyptian voice Thousand and One Nights. The imaginings of actors. Homer was an avid soda drinker instead the series couldn’t be further from the reality of of beer, donuts were switched out for Arab coo- the cities they supposedly depict. This is appa- kies, and the name of the program was changed rent when comparing the image taken from the to Al-Shamshoon. They wanted a series that episode “Saving Private Brian” (Family Guy) in didn’t make a mockery of their religion or way Bagdad: a city with highways made of sand, su- of life, and make it more acceptable to their au- rrounded by domes, minarets and passers by diences10. who are in their majority male, compared to a real image of the city13. The same is observed in Definitively, and concluding some arguments the image of Riyadh taken from American Dad! early on in this paper, this particular triad of te- compared to a real photo of the Saudi capital. Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual All this fictitious iconography puts the viewer In regards to their physical appearance, both123 in the midst of a discourse of the fantastical the feminine as well as masculine characters, when compared to real photographs of modern due to the fact they are supposedly originally 21st century cities. It doesn’t seem like it could from an Arab-Islamic nation, have darker skin; be such a common confusion, but the truth is this at times is either a lighter color or espe- that every so often stories like the following do cially accentuated and darker. Skin color takes appear: “Danish news channel uses image from on special importance in a scene from Family the video game Assassin’s Creed for a report on Guy. In the episode “Turban Cowboy” from Syria”14. It would seem that whomsoever do- the fifth season. Peter Griffin goes through a cumented the image simply googled Syria and tollgate and is subjected to a skin tone compa- upon seeing the image of domes and minarets rison by the police. Those with darker skin are assumed it was Syria, given it matched the men- given a “Not okay”, and the lighter skin tones tal image the country often has in the imagining an “Okay”19. of any Arab city in western culture15. Furthermo- re, in American Dad! it borders on the absurd Regarding the clothing of the male charac- with camels riding the baggage claim belt at the ters, in every episode analyzed in this study Riyadh airport together with normal baggage, the male characters are wearing something on when in actual fact, the airport in question is one their heads – it may be a turban, a tarbush or of the biggest in the world16. similar – and of course a thick beard. These two elements, the headdress and beard in the case Regarding interior scenes these are also loaded of men, are enough to characterize and ste- with cliché objects such as carpets – some of reotype supposedly eastern characters in the them even flying – genie lamps, genies, shishas Modern Age and categorize them as the typi- and teapots17. In fact it is so much so that in the cal villain of that part of the world. Peter, the pilot episode of the first season of American protagonist in the series Family Guy, is dressed Dad! when Stan, the protagonist – and lets not in a thawb, tarbush, and “flesh colored sandals forget, a CIA agent – signs a contract with IKEA with very long toe-nails”20 and, in this manner to furnish Iraq, he orders “two million lamps and he officially becomes “very Muslim”21. In addi- five hundred thousand coffee tables”18. tion to the previous, his wife, Lois, asks why he is dressed that way and he explains: “look at 22 4. Characters: beards, terrorism, me now I’m a Muslim” . However, he does not seem to understand it all clearly, because just violence and burqas a few minutes later the viewer sees Peter finish his costume by adding a couple of castanets, The characters in the series have already been like those of Hare Krishna. studied in research on gender issues although, in practically no case have there been in- Relative to the personality of the male charac- tersectional approaches with other oppressive ters, rarely do they refer to positive aspects, variables such as race, ethnicity, religion, social rather they attribute negative elements, ele- class or sexual preference (Reig & Mancinas, ments such as violence, conflict and terrorism. 2010; Analuisa, 2015; Feltmate & Brackett, This of course does nothing toward teaching 2014; Chacon $ Sanchez-Ruiz, 2009). In this “otherness” to viewers; it in facto invigorates sense, and from the perspective of our study feelings of rejection and misunderstanding focus, Arab-Islamic characters, the first thing that lead to marginalization of the Muslim that stands out is a scarce female presence. population. If every time an Arab-Islamic cha- The total number of men depicted in Arab-Isla- racter comes on screen and is represented as mic contexts is 282 compared to 118 women. – and this is how it happens in almost every Among them there are twelve men with a full case – a terrorist, the viewers’ minds inevitably name, and among them, only one woman, the associate Islam with terrorism, a presumption Iranian Linda. of guilt that is also taken advantage of by as- ° Comunicación y Medios N 37 /2018 e-ISSN 0719-1529 N. Garrido / Y. Romero 124sociations that feed on hate crimes. Some of that it is weird he isn’t eating pork and has the representations of these fictitious charac- stopped drinking beer and is seen kneeling on ters really are terrorists, and the other wes- a prayer mat and mumbling a chant they assu- tern characters in the storyline also believe me is Arabic. To them it is clear he has been they are terrorists, blandishing discourse on converted to Islam and is thinking of blowing patriotism and national defense that are litt- up a nuclear plant27. The truth is he had only le more than camouflaged Islamophobia. In met a group of environmental activists that one way or another they are always linked to had forced him to change his lifestyle. terrorist acts, bombings and suicide attacks. These animated series make Muslims public In other cases there are representations of enemies of western democracy. The following self-proclaimed terrorists as is seen in the epi- are examples: Stan, from American Dad! episode “Back to the Pilot” in Family Guy. Stewie sode “Homeland Insecurity”, believes his nei- and his dog Brian travel back in time to stop ghbors, Bob and Linda Memari, for simply the events of 9-11. Brian, warned by his ‘futu- being Muslim – they aren’t even Arabs, they re self’ gets on the plane and stops the terro- are Iranians – are terrorists, literally “enemies rists28. In the same series, in the episode “PTV” of freedom”23. His paranoia goes to such an Bin Laden appears announcing a new terrorist extreme that he spies on them, stalks them threat, his impersonated gravity is interrupted and locks them in a garden prepared for use when he gets confused and says “radaman”, as a detention camp. His obsession reaches instead of “Ramadan”. Absurdity ensues with such heights that, at a neighbor’s party, when jokes and ridiculous props – a rubber chicken Bob bends over to get a beer, Stan dons a and huge glasses – 29. The instance of absurdity latex glove and lubricates it with cream to per- leads the creators to represent Bin Laden arri- form a rectal examination. In the same series, ving in Heaven and coming face-to-face with episode “Bush comes to dinner”, Roger and God in the episode “Mom’s the word”. Ameri- Stan, at a dinner attended by President Bush, can Dad! episode “Bush comes to Dinner” the report they have been searching for “the te- aforementioned Osama Bin Laden is thought rrorist mastermind responsible for tormenting to be an employee30 of MacMillan and Sachs our great nation”, torturing and interrogating Investments, a company in the fictional world Danny, who they associate with terrorism and of American Dad. who they think knows the whereabouts of Bin Laden24. Concerning women of apparent Arab-Islamic ancestry situated in their countries of origin – This is frequent Islamophobic narrative pre- as mentioned before in Iraq, Afghanistan and sent in these series that insistently repeats Saudi Arabia – the women are always covered over and over again that being a Muslim is wearing one piece attire (mainly the niqab and synonymous with being a terrorist. In the epi- abaya), which are normally referred to in the sode “Mypods and Boomsticks” of the series series as burqas31. In truth, not one of the 118 The Simpsons Moe, the owner of the bar Ho- female characters in the series wears a burqa mer frequents, warns that, “This Bashir kid is at any time, although it is true that they are Muslim, and there fore up to something”25. wearing integral one-piece clothing32. These Homer, as credulous as he is alarmed, answers women, inserted in Arab-Islamic contexts are his friend Carl, who curiously is black: “If you given the visible external attributes of Arab-Is- want to stop Bashir and his war on American lamic identity as set by western stereotypical principles, you could discriminate against discourse. In this aspect they are derided and his family in employment and housing”. Len- mocked; the following example is taken from ny, another one of the patrons and frequent the episode “Stan of Arabia part II” in Ame- friend adds: “Yeah, that’s pretty patriotic”26. rican Dad! concerning the Saudi police code Homer himself is thought a terrorist in the epi- “two – twenty” which means a woman’s ankles sode “Homerland” when it is idly speculated have been seen33. There’s also the episode Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual “PTV” in the series Family Guy where a hus- her husband is repeated ad nauseam, but most125 band tells his wife – of whom we can only see of all in scenarios with Arab-Islamic contexts her hands and eyes – “For Allah’s sake put where these women are seen as literally down- some clothes on”34. In this fictional representa- trodden by men36. tion bare skin is synonymous with democracy, therefore, when in the episode “Saving Private Brian” in Family Guy it is said that democracy 5. Language or linguistic genocide has arrived in Iraq, we see as if by magic three local women wearing niqabs and hanging clean of the language of otherness laundry turn into three porno-carwash girls35. In the linguistic aspect it is especially significant, Women in the Arab-Islamic context with their despite having specifically chosen fifteen episo- heads uncovered are non-existent; of the des dealing with Arab-Islamic content, in none 118 women portrayed in the series only one of those episodes do the characters speak Ara- appears with her head uncovered. We refer to bic. If language is considered a way of looking the Iranian woman Linda – Stan’s neighbor – at the world and understanding it, the series un- who, of course, lives in the US. The stance the der analysis herein that opt to not represent the series takes on Islamic clothing therefore is that Arab-Islamic reality prefer to understand and look at the world under their own parameters. it is a cultural obligation and that women of Is- 37 lam if they could, would not wear traditional The names of commercials are in English , not attire. In general it is complicated to determine even in both languages, as could perfectly well Burger Kings what is correct and what is not, especially in be the case with the real in the a scenario where individual agency, if it exists, Middle East which, although they don’t always may have been coerced by a structural repres- appear on billboards in just Arabic, they do tend sion in which the person had been raised since to combine both. We have seen what happened their infancy. However, the audience is denied with the airline company from Saudi Arabia, whose real planes use lettering in both langua- a more varied representation of Muslim women 38 with their heads uncovered, this in an effort to ges . Through this absence the audience per- avoid destroying stereotypes and secular cli- ceives that “the Arabs” reject everything that is chés. These representations, like Islamophobic inherently theirs – their idiosyncrasy – with their narrative, recreate the knowledge possessed, intent being to de-racialize, leading them to and the reality they refer to. This is inherently pick which cultural models they will use from the dangerous because there is almost no alterna- dominant group. As Fanon affirmed “the black tive western imagining of a model different to Antillean would be whiter, in other words, closer this reconstruction. To defend the concept of a to the true man, depending on how much more Muslim woman as something fixed and inalte- they make the French language theirs” (2009: rable is to add yet another element of subordi- 44). nation which, under what is shown as a global epistemology, lays waste to any discrepancy In spite of the facts there are exceptions which, and is counterproductive to any and all other despite being different are still not rooted in fact. On several occasions dialogue goes thus- models of subjective femininity that coexist in 39 actual Arab-Islamic environments. ly: “Salam malecum” , but the actual Arabian greeting sounds very different – [as-salam alaykum Lastly, relative to the personality of the afore- ] – making Arabic caricaturesque and mentioned female characters, the narrative in- almost leading to, through repetition, what sists that said women are submissive and sub- other researchers have dubbed “racial coding dued. This is yet another Islamophobic narrative of accents” (Giroux, 2001: 113). frequent in these animated series, the counter- part to male terrorist characters. The image of The rest of the linguistic dramatizations are the subdued women, covered and obedient to also absurd. Something like Arabic is spoken in American Dad! when a souk vendor shouts af- ° Comunicación y Medios N 37 /2018 e-ISSN 0719-1529 N. Garrido / Y. Romero 126ter having his merchandise thrown about40, but 6. Conclusions it is not Arabic, nor any other language. Or in The Simpsons when Lisa thinks her father, Ho- The analysis of the three series chosen for the mer, has converted to Islam when she finds him study, the fifteen themed episodes and more kneeling on a carpet and hears him talking unin- than three hundred minutes of content, show 41 telligibly, she thinks it is Arabic . In the series how the toxic trend starting in the Hollywood they also name typical dishes such as in a case of the sixties, the dangerous pattern of stereo- 42 in American Dad! this is not Arabic either but types used to represent the Arab-Islamic world meaningless gobbledygook, or another case in and the majority of ethnic minorities, through Family Guy where they talk of another typical derogatory images of their clothes and tradi- dish, fooshnooks, in an Arabic language that tions, is very much alive (Shaheen, 2001). The again, is not Arabic, and that Mahmud describes sample chosen for this study frankly displays the as “chicken that has been yelled at for two hours undeniable western ethnocentrism of how real then run over by a Mercedes”, after tasting it Arabs and/or Muslims are perceived and later 43 Peter affirms “You can really taste the fear” . portrayed on television; it represents a violation of the constitutional right to freely choose and Terminamos este apartado dedicado a la lengua practice religion and ultimately weakens the We end this section dedicated to language with principles of social justice and leads to negati- a scene from the episode “Midnight Rx” in The ve reactions from society at large. Through this Simpsons. Homer smuggled pharmaceutical audiovisual material narrative Islamophobia is drugs across the border from Canada and had clearly evident, and attacks the “otherness” of never been stopped given his American appea- the Arab-Islamic context. It is a far-gone con- rance which had earned him the trust of the clusion that the creators are nowhere near an border police. However, on one of his trips he approach based on critical ethnological science; travels with a darker skinned friend, a friend who there is no desire to express knowledge of reali- gets burnt while drinking coffee and complains ty of another culture. The creators would rather from the pain unintelligibly because his tongue concentrate on recreating, over and over again, is burnt. Flanders, Homer’s neighbor, decides to prejudice and a repertoire that seemingly has no cover his head with a wet towel to refresh him. end. Under this guise, and uttering incomprehensible sounds, and dark skin, the border police make The images these series broadcast are tremen- the obvious conclusion: “Stop him, he’s expres- dously simplistic and frankly false, and without 44 sing his faith, eh!” . At that moment six Cana- doubt closely linked to politics, more so in the dian Mounties appear fully armed and surround current US context. The Palestinian – Israeli the car. conflict, in which the US has unequivocally supported Israel; the embargo on Arabian oil in All of the previous shows, despite how hu- the 70s, the Iranian revolution, the attack on morous the picaresque can be, use linguistic the Twin Towers and the war in Iraq, the pre- invention for comedy in pseudo-thematic cul- vious all condition how Arab-Islamic society tural products, in this case, in episodes about is depicted in American media. This connects the Arab-Islamic world. The case could be politics and show business for the express pur- made that culturally speaking languages have pose of vilifying an entire culture through the been invented on many occasions. An obvious use of derogatory stereotyping, robbing huma- example would Tolkien and his Sindarin, or nity of an entire people. As Quin and Mchamon George R. R. Martin’s Dothraki. But the truly warn us, only those who represent an annoyan- incendiary nature of the examples described ce or some form of threat are victims of stereo- herein is that they don’t invent a language, ra- type (1997: 146). ther they make a mockery of one that already exists. Islamophobia today is a social, political and cultural challenge. To unmask Islamophobic narra- Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual tive in products for the wider audience, expose 6. See “’The Simpsons’ accused of Islamophobia127 the way they are produced and denounce said in the United Kingdom”. (2009, January 14th). productions is one of the ways that may subvert FormulaTV. Taken on May 16th 2017 from http:// the intended message. Curiously, it is through www. formulatv.com/noticias/10009/acusan-a-los- all these defamatory scenes that we learn not simpson- deislamofobica-en-el-reino-unido/) what Arabs and/or Muslims are really like, but what visual tyranny is and how it is broadcast 7. Rey, N. (2009, January 16th . “Homer «Matamoros through communicational media, and the nota- Simpson»”. El Mundo. Taken on May 16th 2017 ble influence they have on public opinion. from http://www.elmundo.es/elmundo/2009/01/15/ teletridente/1232044989.html

Notes 8. See the websites Animated TV Show and Islamophopia or the blog Studies in Popular Culture, 1. The original: “They ‘know’ such a persona in associated with a course given at Koç University. somewhat the same way they know their chosen friends: through direct observation and interpretation 9. See “Abhorrent montage of ‘Family Guy’ depicting of his appearance, his gestures and voice, his Boston attack”. (2013, April 18th). EuropaPress. Taken conversation and conduct in a variety of situations”. on May 16th 2017 from http://www.europapress.es/ chance/tv/ noticia-aberrante-montaje-padre-familia- 2. Edward Schiappa, Peter E. Gregg and Dean E. atentados-boston-20130418132740.html Hewes article affects this point, “The Para-social Contact Hypothesis” in Communication Monographs, 10. El-Rashidi, Y. (2005, October 14th). “D'oh! Vol. 72, No. 1, 2005, pp. 92 – 115. Arabized Simpsons Aren't Getting Many Laughs”. The wall street journal. Taken May 16th 2017 from 3. Learmont, M. (2006, December 14th). “PTC https://www.wsj.com/article_email/SB112925107943 unhappy with TV’s religious stereotypes”. Variety. 268353lMyQjAxMDE1MjE5NDIxNTQxWj.html Taken on May 16th 2017 from http://variety com/2006/scene/markets-festivals/ptc-unhappy- 11. See episode “Stan of Arabia part I” (Ep. 12, S.1), with-tv-s-religious-stereotypes-1117955772/ American Dad! 20th Century Fox (7’45’’).

4. See “«The Simpsons» are good Catholics… 12. See episode “Stan of Arabia Part I” (Ep. 12, S.1), according to the Vatican”. (2010, October 18th). American Dad! 20th Century Fox. Religión Digital. Información religiosa de España y el mundo. Taken on May 16th 2017 from http://www. 13. See episode “Rough Trade” (Ep.16, S.1), American periodistadigital.com/religion/vaticano/2010/10/18 Dad! 20th Century Fox. religion-iglesia-simpson-vaticano-catolicos-islam- evangelicos.shtml 14. Moreno, A. (2013, March 11th). “Danish news channel uses image from the videogame «Assassin’s 5. The multiple reruns we refer to are what makes the Creed» for a report on Syria”. FormulaTV. Taken present study a current issue, even decades after their May 16th 2017 from http://www. formulatv.com/ initial release. Not only do all three animated series noticias/29876 informativo-danes-utilizo- imagen- continue to air but, as indicated in Atresmedia in videojuego-assasins-creed-reportaje/ Spain in January 2016, the 552 episodes of the first 25 seasons have been broadcast 19,600 times on Antena 15. We refer to the «West» in the same manner in 3 and Neox. This means each episode has been aired which we could refer to the «East», not because we a mean of 35 times. See Rubio, J. (2016, January are trying to attach these terms to an essentialist 29th). “We have seen an episode of ‘The Simpsons’ a perspective, rather because both are especially vague mean of 36 times”. El País. Taken on May 16th 2017 concept and in and of themselves fictional elements from https://verne.elpais.com/ verne/2016/01/29/ transformed into stereotypes. articulo/1454071133_965314.html ° Comunicación y Medios N 37 /2018 e-ISSN 0719-1529 N. Garrido / Y. Romero 12816. See episode “Homeland Insecurity” (Ep. 6, S.1), 32. For a more detailed analysis of the generalizing American Dad! 20th Century Fox. and explosive mechanisms of plural identities through the use of clothing in western fiction, see Romero 17. See episodes: “Homeland Insecurity” (Ep. Morales, Yasmina, 2015. 6, S.1) and “Stan of Arabia Part II” (Ep.13, S.1), American Dad! 20th Century Fox. Also the episode 33. See episode “Stan of Arabia Part II” (Ep.13, S.1), “Midnight Rx” (Ep.6, S.16), The Simpsons, 20th American Dad! 20th Century Fox (2’04’’). Century Fox. 34. See episode “Pilot” (Ep.1, S.1), American Dad! 18. See episode “Pilot” (Ep.1, S.1), American Dad! 20th Century Fox (4’15’’). 20th Century Fox (4’01’’). 35. See episode “Saving Private Brian” (Ep. 15, S.5), 19. See episode “Turban Cowboy” (Ep. 15, S.11), Family Guy, 20th Century Fox. Family Guy, 20th Century Fox ( 14’56’’). 36. See episode “Stan of Arabia Part II” (Ep.13, S.1), 20. See episode “Turban Cowboy” (Ep. 15, S.11), American Dad! 20th Century Fox. Family Guy, 20th Century Fox 37. See episodes: “Stan of Arabia Part I” (Ep. 12, S.1) 21. See episode “Turban Cowboy” (Ep. 15, S.11), and “Stan of Arabia Part II” (Ep.13, S.1), American Family Guy, 20th Century Fox (14’06’’). Dad! 20th Century Fox.

22. See episode “Turban Cowboy” (Ep. 15, S.11), 38. See episodes: “Stan of Arabia Part I” (Ep. 12, S.1) Family Guy, 20th Century Fox (2’06’’). and “Stan of Arabia Part II” (cap.13, S.1), American Dad! 20th Century Fox. 23. See episode “Homeland Insecurity” (Ep. 6, S.1), American Dad! 20th Century Fox Fox (4’22’’). 39. See episodes: “Stan of Arabia Part I” (Ep. 12, S.1), American Dad! 20th Century Fox (19’39’’) 24. See episode “Saving Private Brian” (Ep. 15, S.5), and “Mypods and Boomsticks” (Ep.7, S.20), The Family Guy, 20th Century Fox (10’48’’). Simpsons, 20th Century Fox (9’58’’).

25. See episode “Mypods and Boomsticks” (Ep.7, 40. See episode “Stan of Arabia Part II” (Ep.13, S.1), S.20), The Simpsons, 20th Century Fox (10’48’’). American Dad! 20th Century Fox

26. See episode “Mypods and Boomsticks” (Ep.7, 41. See episode “Homerland” (Ep.1, S.25), The S.20), The Simpsons, 20th Century Fox (11’09’’). Simpsons, 20th Century Fox.

27. See episode “Homerland” (Ep.1, S.25), The 42. See episode “Stan of Arabia Part I” (Ep. 12, S.1), Simpsons, 20th Century Fox. American Dad! 20th Century Fox.

28. See episode “Back to the Pilot” (Ep. 5, S.10), 43. See episode “Turban Cowboy” (Ep. 15, S.11), Family Guy, 20th Century Fox. Family Guy, 20th Century Fox (10’56’’).

29. See episodes: “PTV” (Ep.14, S.4), Family Guy, 44. See episode “Midnight Rx” (Ep.6, S.16), The 20th Century Fox (0’26’’). Simpsons, 20th Century Fox (14’10’’).

30. See episode “Bush comes to Dinner” (Ep.10, S.2), American Dad! 20th Century Fox.

31. See episode “Stan of Arabia Part I” (Ep. 12, S.1), American Dad! 20th Century Fox. Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual Bibliographical References 129

Althusser, L. (2005). Ideology and the Ideological apparatus of State: Freud y Lacan. Bue- nos Aires: Nueva Visión Argentina. Analuisa, A. X. (2015). Building stereotypes of traditional families in the animated show “The Simpsons”. Quito: Universidad Central de Ecuador. Astruc, A. (1980). “Birth of a new avant-garde: the Camera-Stylo”. En Romague- ra i Ramio, J. & Alsina Thevenet, H., Fuentes y documentos del cine. Barcelona: Gus- tavo Gili. Chacón, P. & Sánchez-Ruiz, J. (2009). “The family structure of the Simpsons through a chil- dren’s cartoon”. Revista Mexicana de Investigación Educativa, 14(43), 1129-1154. Fanon, F. (2009). Black skin, white masks. Madrid: Akal. Feltmate, D. & Brackett, K. (2014). “A Mother’s Value Lies in Her Sexuality: The Simpsons, Family Guy, and South Park and the Preservation of Traditional Sex Roles”. Sym- bolic Interaction, 37(4), 541-557. Giroux, H. A. (2001). The fierce mouse. Disney or the end of Innocence. Madrid: Funda- ción Germán Sánchez Ruipérez Grandío, M. (2008). “Series for… minors? Reality transmitted through fiction. Analysis of ‘The Simpsons’”. Sphera Pública, Revista de Ciencias Sociales y de la Comuni- cación, 8, 157-172 Horton, D. & Wohl, R. (1956). “Mass communication and para-social interaction”. Psychia- try: Journal for the Study of Interpersonal Processes, 19, 215-229. Lippmann, W. (2003). Public Opinion. Madrid: Cuadernos de Langre. Martín Correa, J. P. (2006). Behind The Simpsons. Madrid: Ediciones del Laberinto. Quin, R. & Mcmahon, B. (1997). Stories and Stereotypes. Madrid: Ediciones la Torre. Reig, R. & Mancinas, R. (2010). “Cartoon animation: gender stereotypes”. Revista Latinoamericana de Comunicación Chasqui, 111, 79-83. Rodríguez, J. D. (2015) “The Simpsons and political representation”. Revista Reflexiones, 94, 1, 109-121. Romero, Y. (2015). Dressed in purple: representation and identity of hetero-designation «Muslim-women» in Spanish fiction. En Éticas de la Alteridad, Entorno al pensamiento de Gabriel Bello Reguera, Madrid: Editorial Plaza y Valdés, 295-312. Sánchez, A. (2016). “Prologue”. Warring with Islamophobia. A guide to anti-racism. Bar- celona: Icaria, 5-9. Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. Nueva York: Pantheon. Shaheen, J. G. (2001). Real Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People. New York: Olive Branch Press. ° Comunicación y Medios N 37 /2018 e-ISSN 0719-1529 N. Garrido / Y. Romero 130About the authors

Yasmina Romero Morales is a doctor of philosophical studies (University of La Laguna, 2016), holds a Diploma in Advanced Arab and Islamic Studies (University of La Laguna, 2008) and also has two masters degrees: one in Feminist Studies, Gender Violence and Politics of Equality (University of La Laguna, 2009) and another in Compared Literature and Cultural Critique (University of Valencia, 2018).

Natividad Garrido Rodríguez is a Philosophy graduate (University of La Laguna, 2015), has a Masters in Research in Philosophy (University of La Laguna, 2016) and is currently a doctorate student of the Inter-University Doctorate Program in Philosophy at the Uni- versity of La Laguna.

¿How to quote?

Romero, Y., & Garrido, N. (2018). Islamophobia and adult animation: the tyranny of the visual. Comunicación y Medios, 27(37), 119-130. doi:10.5354/0719-1529.2018.48467