HowlRound: The horrific November attacks in Paris by supporters of Islamic State, as well as the December shootings in San Bernardino, have revived fear and distrust of Muslims in many Western countries, and the rise of Donald Trump has exacerbated the situation. Some citizens in Europe and the United States have engaged in ugly debates about whether or not they ought to welcome refugees from places like Syria, while their political leaders wearily contemplate the possibility of getting further involved in yet another war in the Middle East. The place of Muslims in Western society has also recently been a hot-button issue in the theatrei. According to American Theatre magazine, the play most frequently produced by regional companies this season is Ayad Akhtar’s Disgraced, the Pulitzer-winning drama about the struggles and dilemmas faced by Muslim Americans.
2 comments:
I was having a conversation the other day about how I couldn’t even begin to imagine what it must be like to be a Muslim-American right now. Not only do we see Donald Trump everything from social media to cable television spewing hate filled rhetoric, but he is the frontrunner of one of the major political parties in the country. What must it be like to know that that kind of hatred and fear exists towards your people in your own country? That is why, in my opinion, it is more important than ever to be producing plays, movies, TV shows, etc. with strong, positive representations of Muslim people and culture. How a certain group of people are portrayed across the entertainment industry can have a huge effect on how they are perceived within a society. Just look at what the popularity of shows like Glee did for the general acceptance of LGBTQ+ people. Within theater, if we want to be producing plays that have important ideas for our time, nothing is more important right now than combatting the horrible xenophobia that has infected our country.
I agree with Helena in that it must be terrifying to be practicing Islam and living in the United States right now. The sheer amount of religiously-targeted hate being produced by both the media and politicians (I'm looking at you Donald Trump) is unbelievable. Even ignoring all of the moral and ethical issues with holding these beliefs, there is a great deal of hypocrisy involved too. These people and media outlets will argue that they should be able to discriminate against the LGBTQ+ community due to "freedom of religion" but then will immediately turn around and attack anyone who is Muslim just for holding a different set of religious beliefs. No one should have to go through every day living with that fear. In order to shift people's views of Islam representation is crucial, and the arts can play a huge role in that. Theatre can be such a powerful tool for change if used correctly, and by producing more work by Muslim playwrights or plays about Muslim people it will help to show everyone just how wrong all of this horrible hate speech is.
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