Orientalism

Orientalism by Edward W. Said is a critique of the study of the Orient and its ideology. Said examines the historical, cultural, and political views of the East that are held by the West, and examines how they developed and where they came from. He traces the various views and perceptions back to the colonial period of British and European domination in the Middle East. The views and perceptions that came into being were the result of the British and the French. The British had colonies in the East at this time; the French did not but were trying to create some. The colonial rulers could not rule properly, it was believed, without some knowledge of the people they ruled. They thought they could acquire this knowledge from implementing various works from the native language into their own. The "Orient" existed to be studied by Westerners who believed themselves to be superior to the "others", which is how the East was described. They were the opposite of the East and considered to the active while the Orient was considered to be passive. The Orient existed to be ruled and dominated. The term "Oriental" was used to describe the Middle, Near, and Far East. All the different cultures were rounded up just to be studies by the Europeans. The reason for the studying them was for political reasons also. Also the misrepresentations of the Orient and the various aspects of the Orient led to confusion and misinterpretation by the scholars and politicians studying them. 

In the present day, America still has an orientalism mindset just like there was in the past.Today orientalism is still seen in the movies that we watch on the silver screen. Such the movies God of Egypt(2016), Cleopatra(1963), and Aladdin(1992). The characters in God of Egypt and Cleopatra contained an all white cast even though the movie was in Egypt which makes an all white cast inaccurate for the time period set for the films. Also in the film Aladdin the protagonist characters have American Accents while the antagonist had extremely stereotypical Arabian accents. Through the portrayal of these characters it could teach children to treat others with foreign accents as bad and hostile. With orientalism still thriving in today's society it goes to show what Said was writing is still around today.