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VIDEO INFORMATION |
Print-Ready PDF
VHS:
Not Available
DVD:
In Stock
Not available in VHS format.
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VHS:
N/A
DVD:
Approx. 60 mins
Colleges and Universities
$250.00
High Schools and Non-Profits
$150.00
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High Schools & Public Libraries $10
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Reviews and Comments
"Jack Shaheen is a one-man anti-defamation league who has exposed Hollywood's denigration of Arabs in most, if not all, of its films.”
Helen Thomas | Distinguished Journalist and Author
"Jack Shaheen continues to be a piercing laser of fairness and sanity in pointing out Hollywood's ongoing egregious smearing of Arabs."
Howard Rosenberg | Los Angeles Times TV Critic
"This taut, well-argued analysis of ethnicity betrayed shows us the power of Hollywood's movies to miseducate the senses-and, since the senses are its gateways, to distort the soul."
Camelia Anwar Sadat
“Timely and salutary ... highly recommended for all public and academic libraries."
Library Journal
"Jack G. Shaheen has long been a prophet in the Hollywood wilderness, writing from carefully documented scholarship that exposes the film industry's negative portrayals of Arabs and Muslims."
James M. Wall | Senior Contributing Editor The Christian Century
"An excellent starting point for discussions about media representations of race, gender, and religion, the relationship between politics and entertainment media, and the effects of stereotyping."
Journalism History
"How can one ignore this thesis given the accumulative impact of the compiled images coupled with Dr. Shaheen's commentary? Very impressive work."
Janice Welsch | Professor Emeritus at Western Illinois University and co-author of Multicultural Films: A Resource Guide
"Jack Shaheen exposes in appalling detail this nightmare side of the Hollywood dream machine."
Christopher Dickey | author of Innocent Blood and Middle East Editor for Newsweek Magazine
"The relentless cinematic assault on Arabs has been our culture's most insidious yet closeted disgrace-until now. [Reel Bad Arabs] casts a penetrating spotlight on the movies that have shaped our infinitely distorted and warped views of Arab and Muslim life.”
Renee Tajima-Pena | Producer-Director, Sundance Award-Winning Film, My America
"It came as quite a shock to suddenly recognize a form of racial stereotyping that is so widespread-yet somehow invisible-and almost as old as the cinema itself. Dr. Shaheen carefully documents an astonishing array of Arab villains, sheikhs, and maidens. Highly recommended!"
John Skillin | Director, Audio Visual Services, Montclair Public Library
"Reel Bad Arabs performs an invaluable service by visually demonstrating the sheer volume of unrelenting negative images found in Hollywood films... Shaheen stresses that Hollywood's Arab images now seriously interfere with the ability of Americans to think rationally about the Middle East. Jack Shaheen says, "Enough." No sane person could disagree."
Cineaste
"For years, with rare passion and eloquence, Jack Shaheen has raised a constant, resonating voice on behalf of the Arab in America. An undaunted warrior devoted to righting the wrongs of distortion that have too long persisted, Shaheen has displayed unwavering dedication to the cause of fair play for ethnic groups who have suffered from misrepresentation by our film industry-Arabs most of all. For his courage in protecting the integrity of an entire people against the tides of prejudice in American mass culture, we are all deeply in his debt."
Asaad Kelada | Director
"Calm, measured, fair, even-handed, and compassionate. A powerful and important film that validates the human dignity of Arabs and Muslims."
Laurence Michalak | Director of CEMAT, the Overseas Research Center in Tunisia of the American Institute
of Maghreb Studies
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Reel Bad Arabs
How Hollywood Vilifies A People
View the trailer for this film on You Tube! Click Here
In this section:
Summary
Logistical Information
Biographical Summary
Reviews and Comments
Screenings and Festivals
Articles
Summary:
This groundbreaking documentary dissects a slanderous aspect of cinematic history that has run virtually unchallenged from the earliest days of silent film to today's biggest Hollywood blockbusters. Featuring acclaimed author Dr. Jack Shaheen, the film explores a long line of degrading images of Arabs--from Bedouin bandits and submissive maidens to sinister sheikhs and gun-wielding "terrorists"--along the way offering devastating insights into the origin of these stereotypic images, their development at key points in US history, and why they matter so much today. Shaheen shows how the persistence of these images over time has served to naturalize prejudicial attitudes toward Arabs and Arab culture, in the process reinforcing a narrow view of individual Arabs and the effects of specific US domestic and internationl policies on their lives. By inspiring critical thinking about the social, political, and basic human consequences of leaving these Hollywood caricatures unexamined, the film challenges viewers to recognize the urgent need for counter-narratives that do justice to the diversity and humanity of Arab people and the reality and richness of Arab history and culture.
Viewer Discretion Advised: Contains graphic violent language & imagery
Logistical Information:
Director: Sut Jhally
Biographical Summary:
Internationally acclaimed author and media critic, Dr. Jack G. Shaheen, is
a committed internationalist and a devoted humanist. A Pittsburgh native
and former CBS news consultant on Middle East Affairs, Shaheen’s lectures
and writings illustrate that damaging racial and ethnic stereotypes of
Asians,
blacks, Native Americans and others injure innocent people. He defines crude
caricatures, explains why they persist, and provides workable solutions to
help
shatter misperceptions.
Professor Shaheen has given over 1,000 lectures in nearly all the 50
states and three continents. Among those universities that have welcomed
him are Oxford, Amherst, Brown, Emory, Harvard, the University of Southern
California,
West Point, as well as the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and
the White House
Truman Center. World capitols where he has spoken include London, Berlin,
Paris, Prague,
New Delhi, Cairo, and Istanbul. He has consulted with the United Nations,
the Los Angeles
Commission on Human Relations, the Justice Department’s Civil Rights
Division, and
New York City’s Commission on Civil Rights. In cooperation with the United
States government,
he has conducted communication seminars throughout the Middle East.
Dr. Shaheen is the author of four books: Nuclear War Films, Arab and
Muslim Stereotyping in American Popular Culture, The TV Arab and the
award-winning book and film Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a
People.
His writings include 300-plus essays in publications such as Newsweek, The
Wall Street Journal
and The Washington Post to chapters on media stereotypes in dozens of
college textbooks.
Dr. Shaheen, an Oxford Research Scholar, is the recipient of two Fulbright
teaching awards. He holds degrees from the Carnegie Institute of
Technology, Pennsylvania State University, and the University of Missouri.
He has appeared on national network programs such as CNN, MSNBC, National
Public Radio, Nightline, Good Morning America, 48 Hours, and The Today Show.
Among Dr. Shaheen’s awards recognizing his “outstanding contribution
towards a better understanding of our global community” are: The University
of Pennsylvania’s Janet Lee Stevens Award; the American Arab
Anti-Discrimination Committee’s Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of
“his lifelong commitment to bring a better understanding towards peace for
all mankind;” and the Pancho Be Award for “the advancement of humanity.”
Pancho Be, a Mayan phrase, means to seek the root of truth.
Shaheen has served as a consultant with film and TV companies: DreamWorks,
Warner Brothers, Hanna-Barbera, and Showtime.
Screenings and Festivals:
• Click here for a list of scheduled community screenings or to host your own!
• Festival del integracion de Valencia | Valencia, Spain | April 19-22, 2008
• Our Island, Our World Film Film Festival | Saltspring Island, BC | March 7-9, 2008
• Adelaide Festival of Arts | Adelaide, Australia | March 15, 2008
• Arabian Sights Film Festival | Washington, DC | October 26 - November 4, 2007
• Arab Film Festival | San Francisco | October 25, 2007
• CinemaEast Film Festival | New York City | October 18, 2007
• National Arab American Medical Association Conference | Las Vegas | September 1, 2007
• Date Palm Film Festival | New Zealand | September 2007
• Brisbane International Film Festival | Australia | August 2-12, 2007
• Liverpool Arabic Arts Festival | Liverpool, UK | July 1-15, 2007
• American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee Annual National Convention | Washington DC | June 8, 2007
• Cinema de Balie | Amsterdam, Netherlands | May 7, 2007
• Southern Illinois University | Edwardsville, IL | April 19, 2007
• Arab American National Museum | Dearborn, MI | March 28 - April 1, 2007
• Cinema Politica at Concordia University | Montreal, Quebec | March 26, 2007
• British Academy of Film and Television Arts | London, U.K. | March 30 - April 2, 2007
• National Conference for Media Reform | Memphis, TN | January, 2007
• Dubai International Film Festival | December 2006
Articles:
• The Daily Star, Lebanon: "Still getting the short end of the cinematic stick"
• The Washington Post: "Critic accuses Hollywood of vilifying Arabs"
• The Oregonian: "Documentary tackles task of dismantling stereotypes of Arabs"
• Democracy Now!
• Morning Edition: Valentino's Sheik: An Other Made to Swoon Over
• Washington Report on Middle East Affairs: Reel Bad Arabs Screened in Hollywood
• Washington Post: Cast of Villains
• The Jordan Times: Reel Bad Arabs Comes to Jordan
• The Montreal Mirror: Despot, Oil Sheikh, Terrorist - U.S. author and academic Jack Shaheen’s Reel Bad Arabs examines the Hollywood
evolution of a stereotype
• Egypt Today: A review of the DVD in a leading current affairs magazine in Egypt and the Middle East.
• On the Media: Jack Shaheen is featured in NPR's nationally syndicated show in this episode, entitled "Arab Image LTD".
• Al Jazeera: This article covers the impact of Reel Bad Arabs at the Dubai International Film Festival.
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