Call of Duty: Modern Orientalism

Orientalism, simply put, is a state of thinking about people of non-western nations, specifically the eastern nations, as less than those people of western nations. This way of thinking was used in a manipulative way for western countries to gain land, power, and most importantly justification. Orientalisms main goal is to create a power dynamic with the west being far superior in all aspects of life compared to those of eastern nations. The use of eastern stereotypes was no accident or created because of pure innocence of explorers, they were put in place to create a contrast between the East and West while portraying the people of eastern countries as inferior or savage.

These stereotypes can still be seen in modern culture. One prime example of this is present in the videogames like Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, that kids all across the modern world specifically in America and some parts of Europe play. Originally starting off as a World War II game it eventually turned into a contemporary war video game. You follow a British and American soldier fighting the Russians, but mainly a terrorist group from the Middle East. The terrorists are mostly wearing turbans and carrying around AK-47s, some of the more prominent stereotypes of Middle Eastern people. Also, most of the terrorists do not have beards which compares them to local Afgan militia. On top of this most maps that are in the game are based on what the West thinks of as Middle Eastern towns. The game depicts them as armageddon type scenes with the use of very rundown buildings and helps provide imagery that tries to connect these towns with poverty and desolation. The game takes place mainly in Makkah, Saudi Arabia and the contrast between the game's image and real life is shocking.


“Bog”- Map in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Based on developers ideas about Makkah, Saudi Arabia)


A real picture of Makkah, Saudi Arabia

These stereotypic portrayals of Middle Eastern nature are not due to pure innocence and lapse of judgement. The ideas of Eastern nations and culture are actually quite scientific as it is a way that people of Western ideology can maintain the power dynamic in a way that seems normal to most people. It keeps the history and storytelling in favour of the Western power dynamic. The only way to combat this is to actually gain knowledge about these places and to understand that just because people live differently to others, it does not make anyone less of a human.