Screenwriters, the new mujahideen

Last updated on: May 7, 2013 at 6:41 pm by Svend White

Screenwriters, the new mujahideen 2013-05-07T18:41:35-05:00 Svend White

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

While we’re talking about the power of the hardline pro-Israel lobby (I say "hardline" to distinguish these rogues from responsible friends of Israel who sincerely strive to accomodate the needs and rights of Palestinians), let’s talk about its most powerful arm. No, not AIPAC. Not Alan Dershowitz.

Hollywood.

This isn’t an anti-Semitic conspiracy rant. It’s a matter of fact observation about the way Hollywood consistently frames stories involving Muslims in a manner that justifies bigotry, paranoia and doublestandards. Sometimes this is admittedly more out of sloth than malice, but that fact makes little difference. From "Ben Hur" (Remember those disgusting kafiyyah-wearing savages that Charleton Heston encountered in the desert?) to, well, almost every movie about the Middle East you can think of today, the sympathies of Hollywood have been crystal clear, and that is the greatest lobbying weapon of all in our day of hyper-media consumption, spineless corporate journalism and historical illiteracy.

William Pfaff in the International Herald Tribune ("Israel’s Personal Superpower"):

The predecessor of today’s main Washington pro- Israel organization, Aipac, was formed in 1954. But more influential in changing American popular opinion was probably the novel "Exodus" and the movie made of it, and in 1960, the trial and condemnation of Adolph Eichmann, which brought home to many the full horror of the so-called Final Solution.

That movie was rather a bit before my time and I’m not particularly aware of its cultural impact–though I know its author, Leon Uris, is a hardline Zionist and inveterate Arab- and Muslim basher–but I think he makes a very important point about the hidden political power of media and popular culture.

We all realize that skewed news coverage causes great harm to Muslims, but given how most people get their "facts" about the world from popular culture and entertainment–Everyone has heard of the Yakuza, though I suspect exceedingly few have actually read a book on Japan, much less Japanese crime.–popular movies and TV programs (e.g., "Roots" and "The Cosby Show" in the case of race relations) are far more likely to decisvely impact policy debates than mountains of facts because of how they unconsciously color people’s worldviews and predispose them for or against the various parties in conflicts.

When you really get down to it, screenwriters and movie financiers are the new mujahideen. The pen is indeed mightier than the sword when you’re a storyteller in an oral culture (which basically what America is becoming). Makes me wish my own writing were a bit livelier and my imagination more fertile so I could be part of the vanguard.

Instead of buying skyscrapers and investing their money with a constant eye on how to curry favor with Washington, the mega-wealthy Muslims of the world need to take a page from Al-Jazeerah and focus on establishing alternative media and studios (not to mention stop investing in those that actively villify Muslims, such as Fox and Disney) that have the potential to change the terms of debate and give them and Muslims in general a fair hearing in the Beltway and in Middle America.

Update: Check out this very apropos op-ed by Diane Winston in the Los Angeles Times, "So where are the Muslims on CSI?"

Muslims in the Melting Pot

Previous Post

May 7, 2006

Abbu finally gets to feed baby

Next Post

May 10, 2006 Converts, music, & Ridley

Browse Our Archives

Select a Category American Politics Animals in Islam Anti-Semitism Christian Jihadism Christianity Culture & the Arts Current Affairs Denmark Dogs in Islam Family life Film Gender Great MP3s Hate in America Imam W.D. Mohammed Interfaith Dialogue International Affairs Islam and the Left Islamic Thought Islamophobia Jihad Judaism Legos Link of the Day Marriage Misc Modernity/Post-Modernity Mormonism Multiculturalism Music Muslims in the Melting Pot Must-Listen Podcasts Non-Muslims and Islam Pakistan Pictures Pigs in Islam Polygamy Pork Progressive Muslims Race Relations Really Important Stuff Religion Required Reading Robert Spencer Scandinavia Science Science Fiction Sex in Islam So-called Globalization South Asia Star Trek Strange but True Studying Arabic Stupid Muslim Tricks Sufism/Tasawwuf Television The "Miami 7" hoopla The Corporate Media The Danish cartoons The GWOT The Jihad against Islam The Middle East Vikings! Wahhabism/Salafism Washington and the Middle East Web/Tech Women in Islam

Select a Month March 2014 February 2014 November 2013 September 2013 July 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 September 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009 February 2009 January 2009 December 2008 November 2008 October 2008 September 2008 August 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005

TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What does Proverbs 22:6 say about training a child?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Children should be seen and not heard. Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it. Teach a child discipline, and he will live in wisdom. Guide the young, and they will not stumble.