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TCM Movie Series Educates on Hollywood's Arab Stereotypes
Few in Dearborn are unfamiliar with Arab stereotypes in the media–an entertainment industry affliction sometimes referred to as “the three B syndrome”: bombers, belly dancers and billionaires.
But the Arab Community Center for Economic and Social Services, the Arab American National Museum and Turner Classic Movies are partnering up to try to dispel Arab myths through a month-long movie series, according to Lana Mini, ACCESS’s communications coordinator.
At 8 p.m. each Tuesday and Thursday through July 28, “Arab Images in Film” will showcase movies that provide valuable insight regarding Hollywood’s portrayal of Arabs.
The series is the sixth installment of TCM’s Race & Hollywood project, which examines how different racial and cultural groups appear on the silver screen.
The twice-weekly program is cohosted by Dr. Jack Shaheen, an Arab American National Museum advisory board member and noted media scholar. Along with providing on-air analysis, Shaheen helped choose the program’s movie lineup. Each week of films focuses on a different facet of Arab media stereotypes, such as “Arabs as Villains” or “Arab Maidens,” he said.
“The stereotype has been with us for more than a century,” Shaheen said. “It has lingered, I think, more than any other stereotype. There’s a sense of the industry not wanting to let go of it.”
Shaheen added that few programs have addressed the media’s negative portrayals of Arab people and culture like this one, which he likened to a university course.
“(The stereotypes) will change in time by presence and by heightened awareness,” he said. “Nothing has really been written about this particular image. No one brought it to attention. But now the information is there.”
The TCM series consists of 46 films, including Three Kings (1999), Jewel of the Nile (1985) and Battle of Algiers (1966). And the lineup’s educational value made ACCESS an obvious supporter, Mini said.
“(The Arab community) is the new group that people want to stereotype and hate,” Mini said. “(ACCESS) is about bridging cultural differences–whether it’s through music, arts or education.”
As Shaheen said, TCM’s series is one of the first attempts to dispel such cultural portrayals in a commercial setting. The media has stereotyped Arabs for more than a century, he added, and there is still need to reverse the trend.
“There is change,” he said. “But it’s not going to happen overnight. There is a long way to go to debunking these myths.”
David Uberti
Dearborn Patch