Variety: Ever since President Trump signed the Muslim Ban Executive Order, I have seen many representatives of the entertainment industry come together to support a community that the very same industry has vilified for decades.
Having said that, as an American-Muslim woman and the Director of the Muslim Public Affairs Council’s Hollywood Bureau, I have been overwhelmed by the support of the industry in standing up for the universal values of freedom, human dignity and justice for all citizens of the world, including, and this time, especially for Muslims.
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This has been a pretty popular topic of conversation among my friends both at CMU and professionally, and the consensus seems to be that we are not sure exactly what to do but that we have to do something. I know that it's the beginning of whatever this giant Anti-Trump movement is going to be but this seems like it's not a good enough answer. Obviously the easiest and possibly best way to combat stigmas is through representation, but even though it was super easy for me to write that and movies that white wash get a ton of bad press, for some reason we can't quite figure out how to make it work. If there were more people making the decisions who weren't white men I don't think that it would be such an issue but that is another topic. Hollywood has more power than people realize, and over all I have been very proud of the celebrities who have spoken out about what is going on in the government today, but I do think that there needs to be a larger push for more action, and less talk. We have to start demanding that we walk the walk and we don't just talk a big game. Women have to get paid more, people of color have to be better represented, we have to start doing full force what we are telling others to do. That is how we start to change the global narrative, by changing our own.
First of all, I think it is really sad that it took the backlash from this executive order to give a feeling of acceptance for Muslims in America. That would be like if there is some kid who gets bullied by everyone and finally feels accepted because they got punched in the face, broke their nose, and now everyone is posting get well messages for them on Facebook.
That aside, this article does a really good job of explaining the importance of the stories we tell in terms of whose stories we tell and how we tell them. Storytelling, be it film, television, books, theater, or anything else, can give people insight into the lives and experiences of people who are different from them. That understanding is important for how we treat and interact with each other. Much of the Islamophobia in America stems from many people having an inaccurate view of Muslim people, and telling stories that show that Muslim people in a realistic and positive way could help with that. Another important point Obeidi makes is the importance of having Muslim screenwriters. In order to accurately tell stories from a give perspective, you really do need people who are coming from that perspective. Otherwise it is almost inevitable that the writers will get something wrong. As storytellers, we have a major influence on the way our society views the stories of others. We need to make sure we are using that power in a way that helps our society as a whole and the individuals within it.
When Aziz Ansari took the SNL stage on January 21st, as the first South Asian American to host the show, there was really only one thing he could talk about. The man who had been inaugurated as President the day before. I loved Ansari’s monologue and I thought he had some not only funny but genuinely interesting things to say on the topic of President Trump and his immigration policies and racist rhetoric. The one that resonated most with me and I hope struck a chord with all members of the entertainment industry was when he addressed the news and pop culture’s tendency to vilify Muslims. I think we have to begin to tell the stories of Muslim characters in such a way that the fact that they are Muslim is not their primary characteristic. And the best way to allow those characters to appear on our stages and screens is to allow Muslims to put them there. As Julian pointed out, to accurately and empathically express a viewpoint is to have created by those who understand it on a personal level. I agree with Obeidi that I have deep faith it the ability and importance of storytelling, and now more than ever is the time to exercise that ability to its fullest.
While I was reading this article, I was reminded of a statement Roy Wood Jr. made during a clip of the Daily Show with Trevor Noah about Steve Bannon getting appointed as chief strategist. He said that “This is great, man! This is great!...Trump and Bannon, they’re not like other Republicans, man. They’re not hiding their racism behind voter I.D. or stop-and-frisk policies. It’s out in the open now… We live in a country where people don’t even want to admit that racism is a thing. Now we’re cutting to the chase, and we know who’s chasing who. Now, instead of trying to expose hidden racism, it’s on display for everyone to see. And that is easier shit to deal with. This is the situation we’re in, Trevor. By electing Trump, America bought a ticket on the racism train. So, hell, we might as well take the express.” With this new Muslim Ban, the issue of racism and discrimination has been put to the forefront of many people’s minds, making the things we do, especially in a mass-medium like TV and film, more important and worth more careful thought than ever. Just as Sue Obeidi wrote and Roy Wood Jr. implied, this is the perfect opportunity! An opportunity that is a shame to even be come up, but an opportunity that will allow advocates for diversity, equality, justice, and understand to make their marks with clear and loud justification. There are some people who believe that entertainment such as movies or TV or performers shouldn’t be expressing controversial opinions or ideas, which is stupid, because entertainment in general is becoming more bolder when it comes to social justice. Also, this obvious decree of racism pressures Hollywood to become more diverse in characters, accurate representation, and quicken “normalization” of people with diverse. I love a series that uses diverse characters, but doesn’t use their diversity as their defining attribute. If you want to normalize a certain race of people, then show common human qualities and actions! People aren’t exotic or rare! They are people with emotions and ideas and flaws! And if there is a time to show that, then there is no time like the present.
Sue Obeidi makes very strong points in this article. A lot of what she says are concerns that I have expressed for a while. It's always a slightly bitter-sweet situation for me when people seem to only care about the struggles of a certain group of people once it is publicized because of some major event. I'm happy to see the world finally care, but annoyed that it took a specific situation for them to care. It's a fault of society that we all share. It's hard to try to see the struggles of others when those struggles are not something you experience or see everyday. I agree with Obeidi about the fact that Hollywood has a responsibility to normalize ethnic minorities in the way they are portrayed in entertainment. If we think back to television in the 70's and 80's with shows like "The Jeffersons" portraying black families living comfortable lives as regular Americans while also showing their struggles, we can see evidence of how media has influenced society's perceptions of black people during the time period.
In the recent months I’ve heard a lot of truly awful rhetoric being thrown around. One large part of that was the vilification of Islam and those practicing the Islamic faith. Another (much smaller, less immediately damaging) part was against the entertainment industry. The number of times I’ve heard ‘shut up and entertain me, you have no place in politics’ as a response to celebrity activism is appalling. I simply could not believe how many people were ignorant to the important role art and entertainment play in our social and political climate. Of course, these are the same people who feel an entire religion is dangerous, so I’m not sure why I was surprised. But the truth is, Hollywood is big enough and powerful enough not to give a damn about these people (definitely a privilege). Artists and entertainers have the ability to make a difference and the privilege to be able to use said ability with few repercussions. I expect to see a significant increase in Muslim representation in the arts aver the next few months and years.
This article was very insightful and summed up a lot of how I am feeling right now and how others are feeling I'm sure. It is so important that artists take a stand against much of trump's tyrannical executive orders. Donald Trump is going to self destruct- I'm sure of it, but we cannot allow him to do the same to our nation. It is great that Hollywood is calling for action because these issues need as much commercial attention as they can get. I know many of these issues resonate with us here at Carnegie Mellon and we're still figuring out how to respond. It is so important that this academic institution publicly condemns the president and that it's students also do the same. The President can ignore the signs if he wants to but we need to take this anger to the polls at midterms and to the primaries.
I believe my entire repertoire of comments last week had to do with the fact that film and theater have an incredible impact on the real world and an audience's perception and understanding of people who have had very different life experiences. So yes, Hollywood definitely had the ability to alter the overwhelmingly bad perception of Muslim and middle eastern people in America, but let us not forget that Hollywood is also a part of the problem. For years various marginalized identities have all been subjected to stereotyped portrayal in media. Too many times Muslim people (men in particular) are cast as the bad guys. They kidnaped Iron Man. They are the villains in almost every episode of 24 or any other "secret service" tv show. When you portray a minirity repeatedly as the aggressor, public proception follows. The same is true for the portrayal of Black men in media as well as people with "scary" mental illnesses and disabilities. So, let's let this year be the year that Hollywood realizes that minirities can be portrayed as multifaceted and potentially decent human beings and not reduce every character with a marginalized identity to a stereotype. Thank you.
I think it is safe to say that we are currently living in a political and cultural landscape of fear. Fear of the immigrant, fear of the other. Trump’s plans to ban Muslims and other middle-eastern immigrants, and to publish a weekly list of crimes committed by immigrants (“legal” or “illegal”) are all designed to incite fear and hatred of the other, an other that it seems like many americans don’t even realize are as much like them as anyone else. The dangerous ideologies being spread about immigrants are being put into place to make others feel as if they are owed something, like immigrants are taking something away from them. The the image of the “lazy immigrant”, the “criminal immigrant”, the terrorist Muslim or the rapist Mexican, is a crazy amplification of the worst fears and insecurities of white americans. Hollywood, and Broadway, not to mention smaller entertainment companies, have so much power to shape and potentially change people’s minds about the humanity of those who they are so vehemently trying to keep out. Storytelling, at it’s core, is about appreciating the inherently human qualities of each of us, regardless of where we come from or what we look like. If only modern media could be more fearless about acting out against such terrible stereotypes before more people are banned, broken, hurt, deported, torn apart. It’s about exactly what the author talks about as “normalizing” Muslim characters as we’ve begun to “normalize” gay characters. As the line between media and “real life” continues to blur, the representation of characters onscreen and onstage permeates noticeably into people’s everyday perceptions.
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