Us vs. Them

Edward Said defines Orientalism as a pattern of making certain generalization about the part of the world known as the East. He specifically states, “Orientalism was ultimately a political vision of reality whose structure promoted the difference between the familiar (Europe, West, “us”) and the strange (the Orient, the East, “them”)” (3). He continues on to say that Orientalism is a theory to most people, but it needs to start be looked at as reality. The stereotypes that follow it prove that the theory are real today. The idea of Orientalism creates an inverse relationship between the East and West. The East is portrayed as unorganized and chaotic and the West is analyzed as superior and great.

The stereotypes and suggestive differences are evident in the present-day Western culture. Due to Orientalism, the East will never be equal to the West. A typical stereotype is that laborers are paid less in the East than in the West. I think not only is this stereotype true, but the West utilizes their cheap labor to improve their own economy. The West clearly embraces the stereotype and even takes advantage of it. Also, in pop culture, it is evident that there is clear division between the East and West. The way that movies portray the East is mostly violent and the government there is unorganized. Meanwhile, the West is displayed as cheerful and well established. I think that today people have an Orientalist mindset even if they claim that they have put previous judgments behind them.