Entry 1

Though interesting, Peace, Propaganda, & the Promised Land showed a very one sided view of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. This is not to say that it is untrue, but that the film cared little about the Israeli views of the conflict and focused on the Palestinian almost to the point of exclusion of all else and spent a great deal of time outlining the failings of U.S. Media. The video, did, however, introduce me to things I'd never considered before and told me more about events I only half remembered. I had never before heard the settlements described as they were in this film. Nor had I known what had happened at Camp David in 2000. At the time, I was in middle school and too self absorbed to pay any attention to the news. This is not to say that I completely trust everything said in the film, but rather that when I want information on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I'll go to the BBC from now on. The film, Reel Bad Arabs, was likewise eye opening. I'd known that only of my favorite films, True Lies was at times very racist, but I hadn't quite realized how racist it was. That doesn't change the fact that I will watch it again, but it does make me see it in a new light. However, though Reel Bad Arabs was well thought out and thorough, it seemed at times as if the speaker was reacting. This does not negate the fact that host brought to light some rather despicable lines and portrayals. I found it particularly interesting when the host mentioned the stereotypes of the rich or lecherous Arab. The same stereotypes were used throughout Europe with some variance to depict Jews. It was amazing, at least to me, how often there were incidents of prejudice and racism in movies I'd seen many times before.