Orientalism Paper

Rebecca Beaudry
HIS 3105
Orientalism
Feb. 19, 2009

Orientalism is the depiction of the East by Western writers and artists. Edward Said defines Orientalism in a much harsher fashion. According to him, it is the hostile and disparaging view of the East. This was, according to him, influenced by centuries of colonialism and imperialism.
This view of the meaning of Orientalism is supported by numerous films and books. In the film Peace, Propaganda, & the Promised Land: US Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, the focus is on how the United States media favors Israel over Palestine. While the film was biased in favor of Palestine, it brought up numerous points and raised equally numerous questions. These questions included why the US favored Israel and why Palestinians were so vilified in the media. The only reputable source mentioned in the film which depicted the area relatively accurately was the BBC.
This bias against the Palestinians resulted in the true conditions in Palestine not generally coming to light in the United States media. This included many of the check points and the all Jewish settlements on Palestinian land. The US media also rarely mentioned that the historical basis for why the Israelis were in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank. Nor did the United States media mention that the Israelis were illegally occupying Palestinian territory.
The film also mentioned how even when deaths or bombings in Palestine were mentioned, the Palestinians were essentially dehumanized. In one instance, children killed by a landmine were blamed for their own deaths, while the people who placed the bomb were essentially exonerated. Despite the fact that this was in a relatively residential area.
Likewise, the documentary, To Die in Jerusalem favored the Israeli woman. However, by the end of the film, it was the Palestinian woman, not the Israeli woman who looked better by the end of the film. This film focused on the mothers of two girls who died in a suicide bombing. One girl, Ayat, was the suicide bomber, the other, Rachel, was the only other person to die in the attack. Rachel’s mother cared little for what Ayat’s mother had to say, and did not care about the conditions in Palestine.
Instead, she tried to vilify both Ayat and her mother, rather than face the problems caused by her own government. When Rachel’s mother went into Palestine to meet with Ayat’s mother, she was so terrified, that she left. Several of the camera men had been arrested and Rachel’s mother honestly fear for her life, yet still she refused to see how the conditions in Palestine may have influenced Ayat to do what she did.
When Rachel and Ayat’s mothers finally speak face to face, Rachel’s mother dominates the conversation. She all but ignores anything Ayat’s mother has to say, instead choosing to all but accuse Ayat’s mother of raising Ayat to be a suicide bomber. She ignored the points Ayat’s mother tries to bring up, such as the man and child Ayat had seen die when she was young and the conditions Palestinians faced on a daily basis.
It was incredibly hypocritical that Rachel’s mother so vehemently refused to acknowledge the conditions Palestinians faced, yet had all but fled in fear of her life from Palestine. She refused to acknowledge what she obviously knew to be truth, instead hiding behind perceived superiority. When she visited a prison to speak to Palestinian inmates, she refused to hear their side of the story as well and began to lecture them, as if she knew all the answers. It was obvious by that point that she looked down upon Palestinians and rather than being oblivious to what was occurring in Palestine, she was well aware.
A third film was on the Coolies. These Indians were essentially indentured servants sent to various parts of the British Empire and treated almost the same as slaves had been treated. England had recently abolished slavery within its colonies and had need of cheap labor. So they turned to the old practice of indentured servitude. People, who likely had very little understanding of what they were agreeing to signed away years of their lives to working on plantations or in other such industries.
Labor conditions were harsh, and many people died. Likewise, many of the plantation owners treated the Coolies horribly and worked them much as they would have worked their slaves. Numerous people died during the trip from India, and losses were expected. Many times, the Coolies were sent to live in the former slave quarters. The conditions in these areas were appalling. Due to the conditions these people were forced to live in, nearly two thirds of infants died. Yet, it was their mothers who were blamed, for not having proper motherly instincts, rather than the plantation owners who forced people to live in such unsanitary and harsh conditions.
The film Reel Bad Arabs focused on the portrayed of Arabs in films and media. The speaker mentioned the mythical Arabland, which according to him is where much of the portrayal of Arabs in film takes place. In this place, there was more Hollywood mythology than truth. Arabland, according to the narrator, was a conglomeration of Hollywood myths, stereotypes, and clichés of what the Middle East was like.
He pointed out how regularly Arabs were used as villains and how on many occasions, Arab men were portrayed as lecherous or, as in the case of the film True Lies, incompetent. Women, according to him, were portrayed as either sexual symbols or heavily veiled and all but without individuality. They were often portrayed as unintelligent or barabaric, or were insulted in passing. Another example used in the film was the popular children’s movie, Aladdin. In this movie, even the opening song was horrifyingly racist, calling the area barbaric, and then further explaining that the barbarity was essentially acceptable because it was “home.”
Orientalism is how the West depicts the East in any and all media. According to Said, Orientalism is the negative depiction of the East by Westerners, as influenced by colonialism and imperialism.