An Arab on TV, It Must Be 24!

In class we watched a short film that focussed on the frequency people saw Arabs on television. This short is called The Arab World: As Seen on TV, and can be found at http://www.otherart.org/media/arabs.mov. It sparked a thought in my mind, and I began to recall when I last saw a Arab on television. Quickly your brain moves to the nighlty news, where the War on Terror seems to reign supreme. However, now filter out the news and when is the last time a Arab was on tv? The only characters that appear to me, are Apu from the Simpsons and the Fox Show 24. These both portray arabs as a stereotype: a convience store owner or terrorist.

Now as I read Culture and Technology, a book written by Jennifer Slack and J. Macgregor Wise, I am informed of how Technology and Identity are intertwined. They discuss how Technology and Idenity are interdependent of one another and how both shape the other. They go on to talk about how certain traits are a greater or lesser factor in the overall scheme. The biggest countributor in my opinion is Profitability. They discuss how technology is motivated by increased profits. I believe this is related to how Arabs are portrayed on television.

As wrong as it may seem to ask, but honestly would a show with a predominatly Arab cast be succesful in America? No, it would not. Now is this because all arabs are terrorists? No it is just the unfortunate subsequent result of the awful events of 9/11. The portrayl of Arabs as Terrorists on television is merely driven by profits. It is not the hidden agenda of movie producers, that are looking for an outlet to release manifested anger.

The video titled the Arab World: As Seen on Tv is well edited and produces a very clear image of how misrepresented the bulk of Arabic people are protrayed on television. It is the capitalistic mentality of the nation we live in, where we are willing to sacrifice others to increase our quality of life, better worded as MONEY.