Saturday, January 27, 2007

Curtain Up on the Curtain Munchers!


Sister Arzu Merali - No movie roles for her although I suppose she could always get work as a hand model!
BRITAIN: NEW REPORT SLAMS 'ISLAMOPHOBIC' MOVIE INDUSTRY
London, 26 Jan. (AKI) - Muslims have become the new 'bogeymen' of the British and American film industries, according to a study published on Friday. The report, which involved interviews with over 1,125 Muslims in England, Scotland and Wales, found evidence that all genres of film contained negative stereotypes" of Islam, Muslims and Arabs. Most Muslims surveyed found the media "Islamophobic" and felt negative images of their faith on the big and small screens correlated directly with their experiences of exclusion, hatred and discrimination in British society. Films ranging from action movies to children's cartoons portray "crude or exaggerated stereotypes" of Muslims, who are depicted as the "enemy within" bent on attacking the Western way of life, the study by the Islamic Human Rights Commission says. (Editor's note: Funny how art resembles life sometimes, isn't it?)

It claims that movies as diverse as The Siege, a portrayal of a terrorist attack on New York starring Denzel Washington and Bruce Willis, the British comedy East is East and Disney's Aladdin reinforce impressions that Muslims are violent and dangerous. (Editor's Note: Read the paper lately? Muslims ARE violent and dangerous, honey.)

The Siege promotes the "monolithic stereotype" that Muslims are terrorists ready to become martyrs in the cause of Jihad, while Aladdin depicts them as "ruthless caricatures" coming from "barbaric" lands, the study says. While "good Arabs" like Aladdin are given American accents, the cartoon's bad characters have "exaggerated and ridiculous accents," it notes.
(Editor's Note: How can anyone take these people seriously when they say shit like this with a straight face?)

The blockbuster Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Harrison Ford also comes in for criticism: "The cultural stereotypes and scenarios are patently obvious," the report says, pointing to a street scene featuring bazaars, veiled women and bearded men in traditional dress, all set to snake-charming music. (Editor's note: Snake-charming music. Bwa-ha-ha-ha)

The film East is East starring Om Puri and Linda Basset, in which members of an Anglo-Pakistani family in 1970s Britain rebel against their conservative father, "fits into many of the negative perceptions people have of Muslims," and represents Muslim husbands as a polygamous wife-beating tyrants, the report notes. (Editor's note: I refer you to the Koran for proof that they are polygamous-wife beating tyrants)

Executive Decision in which David Suchet plays one of a group of Palestinian terrorists hijacking a Boeing 747 to launch a nerve gas attack on the US capital, Washington DC, "plays on the worst fears... about a potential terrorist lurking in every Arab/Middle Eastern/Muslim-looking person, and the incompatibility of Islamic and Western values," the report charges. (Editor's note: Um. Islam is incompatible with Western values, dude.)

As well as deep unease with big screen portrayals, 62 percent of Muslims surveyed consider the media in general to be Islamophobic and 16 percent view it as racist, according to the report. (Editor's note: Tell me again, when did Islam become a race?)

Many saw the problems with cinema, TV and and also print media portrayals of Muslims to be "systemic" the report said. "The accounts of respondents indicate that the negative portrayal of Muslims is heavily present in films produced both in the UK and US. In the movies, Muslims are mostly portrayed as terrorists who randomly kill people (usually innocents) or blow things up - including themselves - or as hijackers, misogynistic or stupid, who cannot achieve anything and are therefore in need of continuous supervision," the report states. (Editor's note: Gitmo, anyone?)

The report's findings showed that such negative stereotyping has been been going on for at least 20 years, long before the 11 September, 2001 attacks on the United States, said Arzu Merali, head of research at the Islamic Human Rights Commission, quoted by the Daily Telegraphy newspaper (Editor's Note: Well, then by God, we deserved to be attacked, didn't we Arzu?????)

Hmm. I wonder how they overlooked blaming the Joooooos!

BTW, the Islamic Humans Rights Commission is Al qaeda linked and they actively troll for Muslim victims on their website perpetuating the muslim as victim myth. You should read the blather they put out - aw heck, never mind. Why ruin your Saturday night?