Arabs And Islam In The Mass Media Media Essay

Arabs And Islam In The Mass Media Media Essay The perception of Arabs and Islam throughout history has been influenced by the political elite, the mass media and the Hollywood film industry. .Arabs and Muslims have always been represented as one in popular discourse when in fact the majority of Muslims are not of Arab background. This paper will demonstrate the stereotypes and generalisation by examining Hollywood films in the 20th century. Juan Cole a professor of modern Middle East and South Asian history says I think Anti-Arab racism profiling has become respectable. Islam has always been a contentious issue brought up by the media often linked with terrorism, extremism and the widespread notion that conflict between the Arab Muslims and the West is inevitable. These stereotypes and generalisations have been around for the many centuries in particular throughout the 20th century in the Western world through one of the main drivers which is visual media. According to a poll completed by the Washington Post in 2006, forty-six percent of Americans have a negative view of Islam; these statistics are higher than the polls that were held in 2001 after the events of September 11. In the same article the Washington Post mentions that conservative and liberal experts believe that the attitudes created towards Islam are fuelled in part by political statements and media reports that focus almost solely on the actions of Muslim extremists. In the West, mainstream media does not provide an accurate representation of Muslims that represents their ethnic, racial, cultural and national diversity. It means that a majority of the Western world do not understand the multi cultural and diversity of the Muslims due to what they see in the films and the mass media. Michael France the Vice President of government relations for the Conservative Heritage Foundation states that Political leaders do not help the problem by sometimes using language that links all Muslims with extremists. In his quote he acknowledges the fact there is a problem, this problem is a result of what people see in the media of Arabs and Islam. There is a tendency in the media to focus on one aspect of Islam. Consequently, when the only representation of Muslims in the mass media is as terrorists or extremists, and there is minimal focus on the lives of the ordinary mainstream Muslims, consumers of the media begin to shape their opinions of Islam and Muslims through extremism and terrorism. Similarly the Middle East, Islam and Arabs are all characterised as one and not distinguished. It is very problematic to view and understand a vast and complex region such as the Middle East through such a selected and distorted guise. It takes away the humanity and diversity of millions of ordinary people living decent and humane lives. These unrealistic representations also have the ability to put fear in people, causing all Muslims and all Arabs, irrespective of their reli gion, to be perceived as threats. There has been a consistent pattern of Arab stereotypes throughout the 20th century. These stereotypes are mainly conveyed through cinema. Hollywood has a tendency of projecting those of Middle Eastern appearance as villains and associate them with certain stereotypes. These stereotypes include the oil rich Arabs who are too dumb to know the value of money and are trying to buy chunks of America, exotic woman wearing see through dresses belly dancing, the magic flying carpet and one of the most common stereotypes which is the Arab terrorist that hates America. Yet, despite these perceptions that are revealed within the films they are also far extended to cartoons that are created for the younger viewers. A great example of this is Aladdin (1992), directed by John Musker  and  Ron Clements. The film was seen by millions of viewers world wide. In this film they have recycled every stereotype that goes back to the start of film that was originally inspired by the arts of the Orient. The opening seen of Aladdin, being with a song which contain the lyrics Oh, I come from a land, a faraway place, Where the caravan camels roam, were they cut of your ears, if they dont like your face, its barbaric, but hey its home. For a film that is specifically aimed towards the younger generations, this dialogue is not only inappropriate but discriminates against all Arabs in general. In comparison if such vile words was to be directed towards another kind it would be deemed unacceptable by society. Carl Ernst, Chair of religion studies at the University of North Carolina quoted In the movies Arabs are the equivalent of Hollywood Indians. Out of every film ever made in the 20th century, nearly 25% of them have demeaned and generalised Arabs as being all the same and as just one thing. This reflects on the preconceived notion of the Western worlds perception of Arabs that is widely held. Furthermore, political views have also been expressed in many films such as the 1996 film Cast a Giant Shadow (1996) directed by Melville Shavelson where one of the main characters refers to the state of Israel and quotes Now here is a country surrounded by 5 Arab nations ready to shove them in the Mediterranean, no guns, no tanks, no nothing, people fighting with their bare hands for little piece of desert. Another famous movie Death before dishonour (1982) directed by Terry Leonard, Palestinian terrorists, invade a house and in cold blood slaughters an Israeli family. His film has scenes of American soldiers being kidnapped and horrifically tortured by Palestinian terrorists, and mobs of Arab protestors with beards and head turbans outside the American embassy burning the American flag. The film company Cannon, created by two Israeli producers Gholam and Globus in their 20 years at least 30 of their films vilifies all things Arab, in particular Palestinians. Many political policies and propaganda are reflected through cinema. Jack Valenti who was the president of the Motion Picture Association of America for 38 years said that Washington and Hollywood sprung from the same DNA. To solidify the connections between politics and Hollywood all that is needed is to look at many of the Hollywood films which state produced in cooperation with the department of defence. We see all these things that demonise and stereotypes Arabs and Muslims as being this one thing and the generalisation of one quarter of the worlds population. Bruce Lawrence a professor of Religion at Duke University says the media is still representing Muslim images as that of forty years ago when the majority of Muslims were Arabs. When people think of the Middle East many people are inclined to have a pre-conceived notion of what kind of people live their, their beliefs and culture without having been there or studied them or even know someone from there. The Western world seems to look at the Middle East through a camera that distorts the actual reality of those places and those people. They have an unrealistic representation formed by the media and popular culture that tends to form stereotypical views and prevent cross-cultural understanding. Perceptions of any race or ethnicity can affect decisions regarding them. This is evident due to the impact of peoples opinions. The way people think and form their opinions can be significantly influenced by what they see in the mass media. The opinions that people have had on certain events and affairs in the past and present have greatly impacted the outcomes. During the Vietnam War, America was in Vietnam as an authority but the general public opinion of the Americans was incomplete disagreement with the government. This eventually resulted in Americas withdrawal from Vietnam. Public opinion has proven itself to have been the cause of many significant and vital decisions made throughout the worlds history till present. The main reason that these perceptions are so effective especially in the case of Arabs and Muslims is a result of the twenty two Arab nations that have allowed themselves to be orientalised and to have continued with the way they are depicted by the West of them all being alike. This is due to the fact that they are in need of Americas support so they are not going to be criticising the West or engage themselves in proper dialogue anytime soon. In that respect the Arabs keep themselves in a way that collectively fulfils the kinds of representations that most westerners have in their minds about them which strengthens all these generalisations and stereotypes within Western societies and seem to people to be the truth about Arabs and Islam. Causes of these perspectives that we receive from the mass media also come down to the difficulties in receiving different perspectives from different news sources when they are owned by a small minority of individually owned giant corporations. T he major corporations in America own eighty percent of the television sector of the media. Viacom owns CBS, NBC owns Electric; Walt Disney owns ABC and News Corporation owns the Fox Broadcasting Company. These small amounts of major corporations have turned the media in to a monopolistic industry and as a result the majority of Americans are receiving limited views and perceptions. The stereotypes and generalisation of any race and ethnicity is very problematic especially in the case of Arab countries where a major proportion of the international key issues throughout the 20th century have revolved around them and their influences. Its the consistency of these stereotypes and perceptions of Arabs and Islam throughout history that has made these stereotypes so harmful. People are capable of subconsciously believing in them which manipulates the way that they perceive Arabs and Islam.

Compare the ways in which Poe creates suspense Essay

Poe creates effective suspense in his stories, and two examples of which Poe creates suspense are â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† and â€Å"The Cask of Amontillado†. Poe creates suspense in his stories in various different ways, some are similar in each story, but some are different. Poe’s stories are filled with drama terror and fear, due to the suspense he creates. A lot of his stories are gothic and contain some sort of death or suffering. In the Tell-Tale Heart in the narrator persistently insists that he is not mad although throughout the story we learn more and more that he is in fact mad. He tries to prove his sanity by telling us how carefully he had planned the murder and all the precautions he had taken, but this just further proves his insanity. Also the narrator from the Tell-Tale Heart often talks the reader. Three examples of where the narrator directly speaks to the reader are, â€Å"but why will you say that I am mad?†, â€Å"You fancy me mad†, and, â€Å"if still you think me mad†. Another way that Poe creates suspense is by making the narrator obsessed with something, in the Tell-Tale Heart the narrator is obsessed with the old man’s eye, in the Cask of Amontillado the narrator is obsessed with revenge and in the Pit and the Pendulum the narrator is obsessed with survival, this means we cannot entirely trust the reader says, or what actions he may or may not have done, also the narrator in the Pit and the Pendulum is drugged and tired, although this is not his fault we can trust him the least. â€Å"It must have been drugged, for scarcely had I drunk before I became irresistibly drowsy. A deep sleep fell upon me — a sleep like that of death† Time is shown moving slowly when the sentences are longer and they include more commas, It took me an hour to place my whole head within the opening†, â€Å"A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine†, and, â€Å"For a whole hour, I did not move a muscle† however, when the pace of the story increases and time appears to move faster, the sentences are much shorter, normally including two or three words. â€Å"I threw open the lantern and leaped into the room†, and, â€Å"They heard. They suspected. They knew†. Watches are referenced a few times during the Tell-Tale Heart, to give us a sense of how much time has passed, although it can also mean, as each tick of the watch symbolises a closer movement to the death of all humans, although in this case, the old man’s death. A quote to support this would be, â€Å"A watch’s minute hand moves more quickly than did mine. The narrator compares himself to a watch, suggesting it is he himself who is counting down until the old man’s death, as he is the one in control. Poe uses repetition many times in the story, and the technique is used as each use of repetition helps contribute to adding more atmosphere to the story, adding to the suspense and fear that we already feel. When they are used, the story slows down slightly, which makes our anticipation for finding out what happens next grow, and this pulls us further into the story, making us read on. In the Tell-Tale Heart, as the story is a 1st person account of the event, thinking solely about its use in the plot, it helps underline how detailed the narrator is in his details and how much he obsessed over the murder. â€Å"With what caution — With what foresight — With what dissimulation†, â€Å"How stealthily, stealthily†, and, â€Å"Louder! Louder! Louder! Louder!† In the Cask of Amontillado and the Tell-Tale Heart the protagonist likes to toy with the victim, which they are about to kill. For example in the Cask of Amontillado the protagonist, Montressor, gets out a trowel, which later on that would be the murder weapon, It is this,† I answered, producing a trowel from beneath the folds of my roquelaire. he also gives the victim multiple opportunities the escape and leave the cellar, he also told the victim that he would not die of a cough implying that he would die at the hands of Montressor. â€Å"Enough,† he said; â€Å"the cough is a mere nothing; it will not kill me. I shall not die of a cough.† And â€Å"True — true,† I replied; â€Å"and, indeed, I had no intention of alarming you unnecessarily — but you should use all proper caution. A draught of this Medoc will defend us from the damps.† Also in the Tell-Tale heart, the narrator is extra kind to the old man, and on the eighth night just before he killed the old man, he knew that the old man knew, that he was in the room, but he didn’t give up and carried on with the murder One of the many ways which Poe creates suspense is that the story is in the first person. This is present in all the stories I have studied, In the Tell-Tale Heart and the Cask of Amontillado the antagonist is the narrator, but in the Pit and the Pendulum the victim was the narrator. This is effective because we can only see what the narrator is seeing and what is going on his head. Sometimes knowing what goes on in the narrator’s head can make us feel sympathy for the victim. For example, we feel sympathy for the old man in the Tell-Tell Heart, as we learn that the old man, had done nothing wrong, and was kind to the narrator. Also this is effective because this makes us more involved with the story. The differences between the stories are that the narrator in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart† gets caught by the police, because of his guilty conscience that manifests itself through the beating heart. Montresor, on the other hand, does not get caught, and lives with no one knowing. Montresor is not burdened by accusations of madness like the other narrator is; in â€Å"The Tell-Tale Heart,† it seems like the entire purpose for telling the tale is to prove that he isn’t insane. Montresor, on the other hand, just seems to want to tell the tale for the tale’s sake, not to prove that he is sane. In Montresor’s case there is hallucination of the beating heart to force him into confession; very little evidence of a guilty conscience is seen in Montresor. Poe created suspense in various effective ways, some are obvious to spot, and some are not. The Cask of Amontillado and the Tell-Tale Heart are two of his best stories in my opinion, they both create suspense in mostly different, although are very similar or the same. Poe’s stories are still popular today one reason for this could be because of the suspense that is present in his stories. I think one of the main reasons that Poe creates suspense is so that it drags the reader he so the reader would carry on reading.

Melanophores and Microtubule Monorails: Insights Into Rapid

Fish and amphibians are able to change their color rapidly in response to a change of their surroundings. This phenomenon is done by melanophores, containing a pigment cell called melanin, being travelled along microtubules in their cells (Levi, Serpinskaya, Gratton, & Gelfand, 2006, p. 318). A microtubule, which is made of proteins located in cytoskeleton, is one of three filaments that is long, hollow stiff tube and responsible for intracellular transport. This transport system is driven by kinesin and dynein in microtubules and myosin in actin filaments, which are called motor proteins. Gross, Tuma, Deacon, Serpinskaya, Reilein, & Gelfand, 2002, p. 855). To understand how those movements along microtubules can make the rapid colour change possible, it is necessary first to find out how each component mentioned above carries out their roles in detailed in their specific area. Melanosomes move along microtubules by protein motors throughout the cell by aggregation and dispersion and the direction of their traveling is also changed frequently.In microtubules, most kinesins move towards the plus-end of the microtubule, which is called dispersion and dyneins move towards the minus-end of the microtubule, which is called aggregation. (Bouzat, Levi, & Bruno, 2012, p. 1). These dispersion and aggregation of melanosomes are affected by certain hormones such as melatonin and MSH and it make the color of their skin become darker or lighter depending on where they are (Bouzat et al. p. 10). One significant discovery is that those microtubule- and actin-based transport systems are in a tug-of-war.For instance, microtubule-based transport system can be altered by a loss of myosin function, which is actin-based transport system (Gross et al. , 2002, p. 855). This competition regulates their transport functions without a hitch and thus, it allows the movement along microtubules to constantly go on. Due to traveling of melanophores through those two filaments in cytoskeleton by motor proteins, fish, amphibian and reptiles are able to change their color very rapidly. Those are at any times ready for a response to a change of their surroundings and it directly happens as soon as they get something to trigger those functions start working.

Aristotle and Ethical Egoism - 818 Words

Every person is born into this world with the opportunity to grow and realize his or her true potential. Aristotle believes that this is something everyone should work to achieve. No one intentionally wants to fail at being a human being and so people do whatever they can to continue to flourish. Aristotle’s philosophy favors ethical egoism because he believes that everything people do is in order to secure their own happiness in the end. According to Aristotle, human’s have two sides, an animal side and a side of reason. If we only indulged in our animal side, we would never accomplish our ultimate goal of happiness. While engaging in the pleasures of what the animal a part of us wants, we help neither others nor ourselves. In order†¦show more content†¦A person cannot become good if they don’t follow through on good actions. According to Aristotle, â€Å"†¦have these feelings at the right time, about the right things, towards the right people, for the right end, and in the right way, is the intermediate and best condition and this is proper to virtue,†(Aristotle pg. 24). When working towards the highest end of happiness, a person has to have the right attitude in order for their actions to be virtuous. A virtuous attitude benefits the greater good. Aristotle believed that it was important for an individual to live their life in a way that would nurture their growth and flourishing. Through a virtuous life, an actual person would contribute positively to the common good of all. As a result, the individual helps himself or herself live a successful life. If the common good is successful, all a part of the common good will flourish. 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