Orientalism

For the foreseeable future, I don't think that orientalism is going anywhere. It's too easy for the entertainment industry to make exploitative movies and tv shows, for them to just vanish. Want an easy gimmick for your bland generic Hollywood blockbuster? Just set it in Bangladesh. Show some shots of packed in chaotic slums and marketplaces in the trailer. Maybe include a guy sitting on a velvet throne with a mustache and a turban. Oh, and a tiger. Certainly the director of this film could cast Bengali actors, shoot scenes in regular locations instead of fake sets, bother to learn about the culture in Bangladesh and shoot a film that actually reflects that culture. Not the made up, exaggerated American version.

But why would they? Why would they put in all that extra effort to make a film that American audiences wouldn't be nearly as interested in? At large, consumers like the white-washed movies, the exaggerated stereotypes. They don't actually care about Bangladesh, or any Country/culture that would fall into orientalism's scope. And it's likely that they won't start to care any time soon. As frustrating as it must be for many people to see a faux, stereotyped version of their culture, it's just a movie. Orientalist works aren't nearly racist enough to cause a strong uproar. Not to mention, everyone in America has grown up surrounded by orientalism. By now, we're numb to it. It's not some shocking new development, it's something that we have more or less accepted as a culture. I can't see that just changing, at least not any time soon.