Reel Bad Arabs is a groundbreaking documentary about the slanderous treatment of Arabs in cinema since the very beginning of film history up until today, which has gone virtually unchallenged and unnoticed by most mainstream audiences. Narrated by Jack G. Shaheen, the author of Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People, this 50-minute documentary illustrates how since the beginning Hollywood has showcased racist portrayals of Arabs, (as well as Blacks, Asians, Jews and homosexuals) and portrayed Arabs as ‘sub-human.’ Shaheen also explains how these stereotypes did not simply disappear but slowly morphed into the more dangerous stereotype; that most Arabs are cold-blooded, ruthless, and inept terrorists who will stop at nothing to kill Americans.
Arabs in film reside in an imaginary place that Shaheen calls “Arabland,” where the desert stretches for miles and every palace has a torture chamber in the basement. One of the trends of early Hollywood is the Arab villain who fights the white heroes with scimitars and underhanded fighting techniques. The princes have luxurious palaces with harems but are never satisfied; so they have to capture the blonde, blue-eyed white women. Shaheen brings up that “yesteryear’s Arabland is today’s Arab land” and shows a clip of Disney’s Aladdin (1992). He goes on to explain that the film recycled every old Hollywood stereotype where the opening song starts off with “they cut off your ear if they don’t like your face. It’s barbaric but its home.”
Not only was this film morbidly fascinating, it was really an eye opener for me especially. I am of Arab decent, have watched many of these movies and never once thought of any of them as racist. These stereotypes have been so ingrained in our American culture that people do not bat an eye at such outlandish and dehumanizing portrayals of an entire people. What really unsettled me was the beginning of Back to the Future (1985) when the Libyans fire upon Doc Brown and Marty. The Libyans are a throwaway; they are never mentioned again once Marty gets into the time machine and are only a catalyst to get Marty to travel back in time. The terrorists could have been of any descent or not even terrorists at all; they have nothing to do with the overall plot of the film. I’ve watched Back to the Future maybe a dozen times and never thought twice about them until watching Reel Bad Arabs.
The documentary is told in easy to understand language and may shock audiences, but it is a necessary and important film. More people need to realize the dangerous consequences of racist stereotypes. Thankfully, many of the racist images have been somewhat eradicated: the minstrel show, cunning Asian villains, and dirty, covetous Jews. We no longer have to see any of these in today’s films. Now, we have to not only raise awareness of dangerous Arabic stereotypes but to eliminate them.