Jul 8, 2020
The
United States and its close allies Saudi Arabia and Israel have
been bombing and occupying large sections of the so-called “Muslim
world” for decades – drastically ramping up after the 9/11 attacks
and seemingly with no end in sight. The U.S., like all empires,
cannot operate a large, complex system premised on violence,
meddling and subjugation without a moral pretext. This moral
pretext, even before 9/11, was primarily about fighting a war on
so-called “Terrorism” or “Islamic extremism” while allegedly
promoting “stability,” “freedom” and “democracy.”
Along
with American news media’s constant fear-mongering over scary
Muslims lurking in the shadows, a major pillar propping up this
moral pretext is pop culture – namely the cultural products coming
out of Hollywood. Our decades-long "War on Terror" would no doubt
be much more difficult to sustain without a constant reminder from
TV and film that, despite the fact that the average American is
more likely to be killed by a vending machine than a terrorist
attack, the threat of Islamic terrorism remains ever-present and
existential, marked by an inevitable “clash of civilizations”
devoid of context or any notion that the U.S. is a primary driver
of violence across the globe.
Over
the course of three episodes, we'll be taking a look at how
Hollywood’s television and studio film output helps prop up
America’s military aggression in the Middle East, engages in both
casual and explicit racism, strips conflicts of any historical or
imperial context pushes the idea the only Good Muslim is a snitch
or CIA agent, and generally leaves its audience angry and
ill-informed.
In
this episode, we review Hollywood’s long history of anti-Muslim
racism in both classic and campy action/adventure films and TV and
how it both primed us for – and sustains – the never-ending and
self-perpetuating "War on Terror."