[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,From True Lies to American Sniper, from 24 to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Call of Duty: Modern Warfare, Western media is
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,full of images of evil brown people who need to be
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,wiped from the earth by noble, righteous white men
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,heroically fighting for freedom and justice.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And sure, it’s so commonplace by this point
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that maybe you don’t even bat an eye at
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,old-fashioned American Islamophobia
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in our media.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whoa!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Even Back to the Future,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that beloved comedy classic,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,takes a moment to toss in a few scary
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brown men to menace and terrorize our white heroes!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Unfortunately, we can’t hop in Doc Brown’s DeLorean
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and undo all the harmful representations of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Muslims, Arabs and Middle-Easterners that have
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,haunted our stories since...
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,well, basically the Crusades.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But we can try to make sure history
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,doesn’t keep repeating itself.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Okay, maybe that’s not entirely fair.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In some ways, things have changed.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Once upon a time,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,non-white actors could hardly get
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,any work in Hollywood at all.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,These days, shows like Homeland and movies
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,like Executive Decision are providing some brown
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,actors with ample opportunity to portray scary
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,terrorists who get gunned down while screaming
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,something absurd like “Death to America”.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It doesn’t even matter if you’re not actually of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Middle-Eastern descent!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you’re vaguely brown,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you can stick around (to play bad guys).
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, sure, not every Middle-Eastern character in
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,films is a villain.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the 1921 box-office smash
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Sheik,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the dashing hero gets the girl in the end.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But the Arab world of the film is presented as
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,exotic and dangerous, and the sheik himself, the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,one good, heroic Arab, is played by
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Italian-American heartthrob Rudolph Valentino!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You see,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,since he’s not really Arab, he’s allowed to get the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,girl in the end.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you think this kind of racist coding to signify
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the difference between “good Arabs” and “bad Arabs”
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,went away with the advent of talkies, think again.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Have you ever noticed how,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in Disney’s Aladdin,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the good guy might as well be a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,tanned American surfer dude...
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,...but the bad guys look and sound a little
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more…”Arab”?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While Hollywood historically has sometimes given
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“good Arab” roles to non-Arab actors,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it has also sometimes given not-so-good Arab
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and South Asian roles to white actors,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,too, denying brown people work and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,decent on-screen representation in one
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fell swoop.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s the world’s worst Catch 22!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, take “Mr. Habib,” the scheming
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Middle-Eastern villain in Father of the Bride Part 2
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who is played by Eugene Levy.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those aren’t even real words he says to his wife!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s just vaguely Middle-Eastern sounding
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,gibberish!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the written equivalent
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of this is very common as well:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,video games and TV shows constantly
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just toss up some squiggly text
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and try to pass it off as actual Arabic!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, this one is Arabic,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it sure doesn’t say
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what the Homeland producers wanted it to!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As insidious as it is to flatten entire cultures
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and populations into The Land of Squiggly Writing,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there is nothing so pervasive and damaging as
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hollywood’s tendency to constantly portray vaguely
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Middle-Eastern people as generic terrorists.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s so common that on screen,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brown skin has practically become synonymous
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with bad guys who have little or no
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,character development beyond
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hating America and freedom fries.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of the biggest problems with this is that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it erases the actual lives and cultures of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Middle-Eastern people,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and leads many Western viewers to lump all of them
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,into the same group.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So let’s start by clarifying a few terms whose
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,meaning has been obscured by media that paints the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,entire Middle East with the same
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,broad, shallow, ignorant brush.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,First of all, we’ve done a lot of research on this
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and as it turns out,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,words actually have meanings!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Weird, right? You can’t just lump Arabs and Muslims
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,together because they are not the same thing!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Arabs are a specific ethnic group,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,united by culture and language,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and who primarily originate from middle
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,eastern countries.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Arab is not, repeat NOT, a
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,racial category.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Got that?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can be white, black,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brown and still be Arab.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But not all people from
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Middle East are Arab and vice versa
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- like, oh say, ethnic Persians in Iran.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A Muslim is someone who practices Islam,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a religion with over 1.7 billion members
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,spanning a vast number of ethnic and cultural identities.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The “Muslim world” actually comprises a multitude of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,groups that folks often forget,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including: Iranians, South Asians,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,North Africans, Indonesians, black Americans.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Islam is not confined
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the Middle East, to olive-skinned people, or
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,just people who speak Arabic.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But despite the fact that Islam is a religion, not
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,a race, it’s vital for us to understand that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Islamophobia is racism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you’ve been paying attention thus far,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then you might be asking yourself,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“If Islam isn’t a race, then how can
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Islamophobia be racism?”
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The answer lies in another
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,“-ism,” one many Westerners aren’t particularly
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,familiar with: Orientalism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In short, the term “Orientalism” refers to how,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for hundreds of years,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Western artistic and academic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,history has perpetuated an ignorant and prejudiced
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,view of the East.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A view rooted in the idea of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Western culture as inherently
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more advanced and enlightened,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Eastern culture as inherently more
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ignorant, irrational, primitive,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and often, highly-sexualized.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Again, Muslims come from many different
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,races and span a myriad of cultural identities.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, the former president of the Islamic Society
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of North America is a white woman,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dr. Ingrid Mattson.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But let’s be real: nobody who spreads the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,hate of Islam is talking about white ladies.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Western media has contributed to a level of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ignorance so great that for many people it has
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,resulted in equating Islam with scary brown people,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,particularly scary brown men,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the Middle East.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s been so effective that most of you probably
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,didn’t even know that this man isn’t Muslim,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,he’s Sikh!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sikhism and Islam are two
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,completely different religions!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The fact that Sikhs are so often the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,targets of anti-Muslim hate crimes makes it crystal
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,clear that Islamophobia is all about race. The only
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reason some Sikhs--those with brown skin--are
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sometimes the targets of Islamophobic violence is
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that they are also perceived as Middle-Eastern, and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Middle-Eastern is perceived as Muslim, and Muslim
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is perceived as scary!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whew!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Thanks, Jack Bauer, what would we do without
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It isn’t just film and television that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perpetuates this kind of ignorance.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Here’s comedian
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Kumail Nanjiani on how video games often don’t put
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in even the absolute bare minimum of effort or
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,research when representing the Middle East.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Modern films, TV shows and games definitely
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perpetuate Islamophobia, but it’s no exaggeration
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to say that ignorant representations of people from
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Middle-East in Western media date back for
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,centuries.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Orientalist paintings of the 1800s were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,often characterized by overly sexualized depictions
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of daily life,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and Romantic Orientalist literature
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of the late 1700s and early 1800s served to justify
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,European imperialism by presenting Middle-Eastern
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people and cultures as inherently exotic and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,strange.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So there’s a conflation of Arab with Muslim,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and because our ideas about Islam are so deeply linked
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to stereotypes about terrorism and violence, both
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of those categories are associated
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with masculinity and men.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,While many male Muslim actors in Hollywood
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,can only find work playing bit parts as evil
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,terrorists, Muslim women are often erased
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,altogether.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The very real advances that Arab women
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,have made in many parts of the world are ignored
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because depicting them would complicate the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,simplistic racist narrative about Arabs and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Muslims that Hollywood continues trying to cash in
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,on.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s almost as if we don’t know how
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to contend with women as real people.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Filmmakers and TV producers know
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how to objectify women,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how to prize them for their physical
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,attributes and their appearance.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The stories we allow ourselves to tell about
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the Middle East,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with its different cultural mores,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,don’t allow for the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,same kind of easy objectification of these brown \N\Nwomen’s bodies -- and so we resist including them
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at all.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And when Arab or Muslim women do appear,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they’re either offered as mysterious,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,sexually wanton creatures who offer
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,temptations for white male heroes:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,think belly dancing seductresses if the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,story is set in the past, or niqab-clad secret
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,purveyors of violence, if the story is set in the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,present.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,At least we can thank 24 again for casting the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,great Iranian actor Shohreh Aghdashloo in season four
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as a Muslim terrorist who
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is also a wife and mother!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there are artists, critics, and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,writers who are out there
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,speaking about what it means to be the target of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,all-this anti-brown racism, and a lot of the most
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,interesting critiques are coming from Muslim women
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,themselves.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh crap, I think we just missed a call
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from Muslim comedian, Zahra Noorbakhsh…
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,let’s see if she left a message,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cause I know she has feelings about all this.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Oh crap, I think we missed a call, I wonder who it
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,could be. To the feminist answering machine.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There’s tremendous harm in centuries of images that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,reduce entire nations, cultures and religions to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the status of subhuman savages.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the wake of the September 11th attacks
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,former “Worst President Ever” George W. Bush used
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the term “axis of evil” to describe nations
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,including Iran and Iraq,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in an effort to drum up
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,support for the “War on Terror”.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it worked.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,More recently, during the 2016 presidential
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,campaign Republican candidates tossed around the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,phrase “radical Islamic terrorism” as if it were
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,some kind of magic spell they could use to make
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,votes appear out of thin air.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And again, it worked!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The only reason tactics like
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,these have any effect is that,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to so many Americans,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,people in the Middle East have never
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,been established as human beings,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with real lives, hopes, dreams, and struggles.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When almost every story you’ve ever seen
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about a particular part of the world
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,paints the people who live there
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as monolithic, evil, and scary,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you’re a lot more
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,likely to believe that it’s actually true.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When people believe it's true,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they aren't just more likely to support politicians
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or policies that appeal to fear and ignorance
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,about the Middle East.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They're also more likely to act on that fear and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,ignorance themselves.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The Southern Poverty Law Center notes
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the number of anti-Muslim hate
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,groups tripled in the United States in 2016.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,noted the same increase after the release of patriotic
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,fever dream, American Sniper.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,2016 also saw a 67% increase in anti-Muslim hate crimes,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there's no question that
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Trump's racist, fear-mongering
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,rhetoric has played a part in this surge of
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,xenophobia and violence.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, Trump doesn’t
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,stop with rhetoric himself.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Within the first 100
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,days of his presidency:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He has repeatedly tried to push through bans
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,preventing the citizens of several Muslim-majority
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,countries from entering the United States.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He dropped the US military’s most powerful non-
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,nuclear bomb on Afghanistan.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And he fired 59 Tomahawk missiles at,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I don’t know, some Middle-Eastern country
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while eating the most beautiful piece of chocolate cake!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Iraq, Syria, what’s the difference?!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It was one of those countries the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,evil, scary brown people live in.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, I can already hear the army of Richard
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Dawkins-parroting, anti-feminist Twitter users typing
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,up their responses about how Islam is a religion
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,dedicated to oppressing women.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s amazing how suddenly everybody’s a feminist
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,when it lets them perpetuate hate against
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,brown people or dismiss concerns about
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,how women are oppressed in their own
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,culture.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So let’s be clear,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,misogyny is not a problem with Islam;
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,misogyny is a problem that some
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,cultures which happen to be Muslim use the religion
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to perpetuate and justify.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Christianity has been used as a tool to
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oppress women around the world
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for millennia!
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It’s specifically because our media
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,perpetually equates Islam
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,-- a religion followed by nearly ¼ of the
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,world’s population --
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,with evil, terrorism, and oppression,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that so many people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,believe that’s what Islam actually is.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And make no mistake:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Islamophobia is big business –
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,- and not just for Hollywood.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Hundreds of millions
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of dollars each year go into
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,feeding what activist
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Taz Ahmed calls “the fear industrial
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,complex that perpetuates racism.”
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Devious Russian generals and Nazi scientists
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the Cold War won’t prop up our
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,defense industry anymore,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so we needed some new bad guys.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Come on it’s not like
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,we’re just going to stop making bombs, right?
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Our entertainment media's insistence on constantly
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,portraying people from the Middle East as scheming
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,oil sheiks, slavers, snake charmers and suicide
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,bombers--but never as real people--
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,has real consequences.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Muslims here in the U.S., and
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,everyone who is or looks like they could be
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Middle Eastern, constantly face ignorance and racism.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They live in fear of the very real possibility of being
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,accosted or attacked because someone takes a look
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at them and associates them with everything they've
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,seen in the movies and everything the president has
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,said about people from the Middle East.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What we need now are more stories that dispel the deeply
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,harmful stereotypes and encourage us to see people
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the Middle East--
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether they're Arab or Muslim or neither or both--
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as what they REALLY are:
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,human beings.
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,
Dialogue: 0,9:59:59.99,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,