A new generation is changing how US films and TV series depict Arabs

By working together, Arabs can replace the peddlers of prejudice with peddlers of good will, writes Jack Shaheen

Homeland,starring Rupert Friend and Claire Danes, has been heavily criticised for portraying Arabs in a negative light. Kent Smith / Showtime

For nearly 50 years I have written extensively about how Arabs are portrayed by Hollywood. What I’ve learnt is this: they are almost always evil, the godless enemy other. The images are hard-wired into our psyches. As a result, prejudices have escalated, not diminished. Islamophobia has joined Arabophobia. Today’s reel villains are not just Arabs, they are Muslims from countries such as Pakistan, Iran and Afghanistan. Not so long ago, the credits listed Arabs as Terrorist #1, Terrorist #2, Terrorist #3. Now, the credits state: Jihadist #1, Jihadist #2, Jihadist #3.

American Arabs and American Muslims also appear as terrorists. This dramatic change took place with Fox-TV's 24 series, which first aired about 10 weeks after the September 11, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington DC. Until then, American Muslims and American Arabs, with the exception of Danny Thomas and Jamie Farr, did not exist in TV land; they were invisible. But 24 portrayed them as homegrown terrorists intent on destroying their country.

The series spawned many copycat programmes. Each and every week, viewers began seeing mostly mute dark-complexioned villains prowling TV screens. The villains held teenagers hostage in a Hawaiian High School and blew up students in an Illinois coffee shop. Mosques are not projected as holy places of worship, but as a haven for terrorists. Devout calls to prayer are vilified. Frightful music underscores the visuals, implying something terrifying will happen. These are sins of omission and commission.

To help eliminate these damaging stereotypes, I offer the following suggestions: First, successful American actors, producers and directors with Arab roots and American Muslims, people such as writer-director Cherien Dabis (Amreeka) and Mr Robot's Emmy Award winners Sam Esmail and Rami Malik, should form a coalition of activists. No one knows more about how best to replace stale stereotypes with heroic, humane images than these talented image makers. They could meet regularly with the industry's film producer, especially when they learn a new TV show or film will be made. Once a movie begins filming it's too late to make changes.

Far too many of America's Arabs and Muslims have been typecast as terrorists. Consider the plight of actor Amrou Al-Kadhi. At 12 he was cast as the son of a terrorist in Steven Spielberg's Munich. "I am only 26 now," he says, yet "I've already been sent about 30 scripts for which I've been asked to play terrorists on screen." My proposed coalition could help end such type-casting.

Second, scholars should go outside the walls of academe to work hand-in-hand with this newly formed coalition. They could share their research with its members, informing them about what network shows are advancing and/or debunking harmful stereotypes. The scholars could also meet one-on-one with executives and image-makers, as I did for my first book, The TV Arab (1984).

Third, more presence is needed. Presence propagates power. And “the more power you have”, remarked producer Gilbert Cates, “the louder your voice is heard.” Fortunately, my voice is being heard via The Shaheen Archive – a collection of more than 4,000 Arab artefacts. The archive is housed at New York University, serving as a valuable resource for scholars and students. To date I have awarded 70-plus media scholarships to Arab American scholars. Their presence in the media makes a difference.

Arab and Muslim American performers are making inroads into Hollywood's image making factories. Comedians Maz Jobrani, Ahmed Ahmed and Dean Obeidallah created entertaining features and documentaries: Ahmed's Just Like Us (2011), Obeidallah's The Muslims are Coming! (2013), and Jobrani's Jimmy Vestvood: Amerikan Hero (2016).

A dozen or so bright Arab American and Arab Canadian women now make movies. These directors include Jackie Salloum (Slingshot Hip Hop) and Annemarie Jacir (When I Saw You). And there are now two dozen-plus talented Arab women directors from 10 different Arab countries: women such as Saudi Arabia's Haifaa Al Mansour, who directed the 2012 Academy Award nominated drama, Wadjda.

There’s still a long way to go, but these young women along with their male counterparts are leading the way, replacing damaging portraits with inventive, realistic images.

Fourth, directors of Arab Film festivals in the US, the Gulf and elsewhere should invite and honour Hollywood image-makers whose movies humanise a people. To their credit, festival organisers continue to support and screen films made by Arab artists.

Damaging stereotypes do not exist in a vacuum. Perceptions affect public opinion and public policies. Horrific screen images last forever. They injure people, including people who may look Arab. And, stereotypes endanger those military units trying to defeat extremist groups such as ISIL, which uses these stereotypes in its recruitment films.

Sadly, due in part to the hate rhetoric of some political leaders, there has been an increase in Anti-Muslim incidents in the US. There is more harassment, more fear and more hate crimes, including the deaths of innocents: Muslim college students in North Carolina, a Lebanese Christian in Oklahoma and an imam and his friend in New York. Others – an Indian in Kansas and a Sikh in Washington – have died because they looked Arab.

Despite this situation, I remain optimistic. I have faith in young scholars and image-makers of all faiths and colours. In an episode of the new comedy series Superior Donuts, someone sprays "Arabs go home" on the window of a dry-cleaners owned by an Iraqi-American. When the Jewish owner of the doughnut store sees this racist message, he removes the graffiti from the Iraqi's window. Then he takes a can of spray paint and paints "Arabs Welcome" on the window of his shop. When president Donald Trump attempted to ban refugees from entering the US, actor Ben Stiller went to Amman, Jordan and met Syrian refugee children and their families. "Every family I met shared the hope for a normal life," he said. "Nobody wants to be a refugee."

And, actor Mandy Patinkin admitted that for the first five seasons of Homeland, Muslims were the bad guys. He said Homeland was not helping the Muslim community – "and we take responsibility for it". "We're part of the problem, but we also desperately want to be part of the cure."

By working together, we can also be part of the cure by replacing those peddlers of prejudice with peddlers of good will. We can become, in the words of Martin Luther King Jr, “movers and shakers”. Please join me; be a mover and shaker.

Jack G Shaheen is the author of Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People and Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs After September 11