Edward Said's Orientalism examines the thought process behind the Western portrayal of legitimately the entirety of the non-Western world. American and British art, film and live performances that are meant to depict the Middle East or Asia (two vastly different parts of the world with a myriad of cultures within each) are in fact manifestations of entirely unfounded ideals that colonists created hundreds of years ago as they sought to seize control of countries in these regions. The most effective way to conquer a people, history has found, is to alienate them from what you believe is the 'right' way to exist, deciding that they are incomparably separate from you and in need of your salvation.
Middle Eastern and Asian cultures are displayed in Western entertainment as places where magic and mystery accompany barbarism filled with civilizations trapped centuries behind the advances of modern society. This thought, Said makes clear, could not be further from the truth.
As I am writing this, I realize I cannot even provide examples of what Eastern life is actually like because all I know of that part of the world is what I've seen in movies like Mulan and Aladdin. This glaring lack of accurate information serves to nourish the divides that exist between races of the West and East. And the perpetuation of negative and false stereotypes as the only available lens through which the Eastern world is viewed incites fear and prejudice towards people who do not have the capability to define for us their own identity by themselves.
The solution? Insisting that artists who elect to depict for us images of the Eastern world do so accurately with great adherence to the wide variance of culture and history. These false interpretations are not victim-less crimes - when one people are under/misrepresented at the expense of their success and agency, the whole world suffers as a result.
I really enjoyed your post it provided a candid and well though analysis of both orientalism as well as an interesting perceptive on a widely revered work of modern cinema. I also appreciate that don't simply describe a problem you also presented a solution. Well done!
ReplyDeleteReally GREAT analysis! It makes me think about how quickly and how easily hostility for the "Muslim Terrorists" grew where as when an American (White) person commits an act as atrocious it becomes only "that crazy person". I feel like this systematic portrayal of the "east" as different allows for a blame game to exist. Because they are different, barbaric, un-understandable etc etc. When something goes wrong it is their collective fault not just the terrorists. I know there are other factors into this stereotyping as well.
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