Edward Said on Orientalism Based on Saids Own Discussion - Movie Review Example

Your Edward said on Orientalism On Orientalism-Edward said is a short movie based on Said’s own discussion about his critically acclaimed book “Orientalism” published in 1978.Orientalism is the about preconceived notions of western and European people about Middle Eastern and Muslims. It questions our understanding of strangers merely on the basis of their skin color. Said attributes this attitude as Orientalism and argues that foundation of this understanding is not objective and indifferent. In this movie, Said discusses six aspects of Orientalism: the repertory of Orientalism, Orientalism and empire, American Orientalism, Orientalism today: the demonization of Islam in the news and popular media, Oklahoma City bombing, and Orientalism and the Palestinian question. Considering instability and chaos throughout the world, the paper strongly recommends everyone to watch the movie and summarizes Said’s discussion and my personal opinion about American Orientalism, and Orientalism today. The Repertory of Orientalism Repertory of Orientalism is huge, Said explains that it was impossible to study Orient in an unbiased manner during 1850-60s.The huge volumes of works were organized in a particular “scientific” way which Said regard as Orientalist. Huge and repetitive attribution of Orient with sensual women, mystery and monster kept coming not only in images but from painting, literature and arts. This was not the realistic representation of Middle Eastern people. Being a resident of region for a long time, Said could not relate to any of such images. Unfortunate misrepresentation does not end here, as the idea extended even further in the writings of famous authors and novelists. Said identifies shocking similarity in the description of Egyptians between Gerard de Nerval’s Journey of the Orient and Edward William Lane’s book wrote in early 1830s. The comparison implies that this nation is not changed even in two centuries in their mannerism and customs. Believing in the theory that Orient is same whether you find them in India or Egypt. It connects Orient with a kind of timelessness which plants the idea that it does not develop and change with time, thus makes underdeveloped and backward nations. For Said, the whole idea of such representation is contradictory with history. Orientalism and Empire Locating the roots of Orientalism, Said argues about the reasons behind Orientalism. In doing so, he reveals that Orientalism originated during the imperial conquest. Imperial powers conquered the nations in political and ideological manner as well. In order to make the conquest smooth, these powers categorized people in identifiable and abstract categories on the basis of their skin color. This classification was formal and became an objective knowledge. Said considers that Napoleon’s conquest of Egypt in 1798 initiated colonialism but his intention was not loot. He brought scientists, historians and other scholars who recorded Egyptians in a scientific way. The whole activity was intended for European knowledge and understanding. Said stresses that for understanding foreign culture, you need to be present among natives and have the skill to record what natives themselves cannot identify. American Orientalism Said differentiates among American and British or French Orientalism. British and French experience was more direct while American experience is less direct. British and French remained in long relationship with their colonies while staying in the same region. On the other hand, American experience is based on generalizations as it never occupied the territory. Another difference that politicized American Orientalism is the presence of Israel as American ally in the Middle Eastern region. This scenario brought a Jewish and European state amidst Islamic oriental world. American interests in oil and Israel’s anti-Islamic ideology is imported into American Orientalism. The situation in Palestine provides the media imagery that makes us believe that there is no threat except Hamas terrorists. But, there is not mention of Israeli military occupation in Gaza and West Bank which is the longest occupation in world history. Therefore, Palestinian struggle for national independence is represented as hostility and their reactions as upsetting activities. Said ads that terrorism related imagery of Arabs makes it practically impossible for Americans to experience Middle Eastern representation which is not influenced by this conflict. Orientalism Today Talking about the presence of Orientalism today, Said refers to the domination of Islamic representation in popular media as threatening and Muslims as terrorists. Said criticizes this narrow perception and argues that there are other aspects of Middle East which are either ignored or misunderstood by west. Similarly, during Iranian or Islamic Revolution, Said observed “an arsenal of images” which was employed to represent them as an utmost negative and evil nation. Said is shocked to find that after 17 years of his book “Covering Islam”, the coverage of Islam in media became worse. Said observes the most irresponsible journalism when it comes to Islam while it does not happen in other cases, such as, Oklahoma bombings. It is because supposedly independent media is controlled by political and commercial interests of someone else. Criticizing the generalization about Muslims, Said says it becomes hard to think beyond the media established image. Said argues that it is easy to gain media attention for political gains; same is done in American Orientalism. For Said, it was essential to keep the fear of foreign evil alive in order to justify the gigantic military budget which is twice the whole world’s collective military budget. On the other hand, Middle Eastern people and Muslims let themselves represented in an Orientalist way because of the dictatorship in all the countries which depend on American government patronage. Orientalism in Action: The media and the Oklahoma City bomb Said observes that there is persistence of Orientalism in 1995 Oklahoma City bombings. Popular media insisted on governmental stance that it is linked with Middle Eastern terrorism. This is been done without investigation never realizing the fact that it was an American youth doing it by following the principles of American extermination. Orientalism and the Palestinian question Said considers Palestinian problem is the most challenging one in 20th century. It challenges us whether to live together in peace with our differences or live separate loathing each other. Following the work of Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci, Said says the challenge now is to interpret the history which takes us away from generalization and will teach us to think of our history in terms of its relationship with others. Matter of Palestine is complex because it is sacred for three big religions of the world: Islam, Christianity, and Jews. Considering the emerging threats in this region, Said suggests that only peaceful co-existence under some polity is the way out. Differences need to be understood without coercion, there is no shortcut to peace and stability. American Orientalism (Opinion) American Orientalism seems evident everywhere as Said portrays it. It may not be direct invasion of the under-developed territories but it poses a threat for their identity. The kind of occupation American has is more of economic nature which is implemented through IMF and World Bank. I strongly believe in Said’s interpretation that America has interest in Middle Eastern and Muslim regions because of oilskin this scenario; supporting Israel not only serves the purpose of Jewish and Christian unity against Islam but also establishes US hegemony in the region. No doubt, there can be terrorists in Palestine but that is because of the sensitive political situation in the region, Israeli occupation and Palestinian oppression. Media never investigates the issue to provide the unbiased picture. In fact, media serves the purpose of powerful and same is the case with Palestine. I don’t intend to say that Hamas is right when they kill innocent Jewish people but media reports as if Hamas leaves its evil activities, the problems will be solved which certainly is not the case. American Orientalism continues to penetrate in movie and books which make it even more difficult for common American to understand the truth. Currently, I am observing continuous evil representation of Pakistan in popular media while nobody bothers to consider the fact that Pakistan is fighting the battle of America. Orientalism today (opinion) Before watching the movie, I never realized that what difference media could make of a nation’s identity. I am compelled to think that who is going to change our way of dealing with clashes. What media is doing and what it should be doing? Despite the presence of antiracist laws and death of racism, the world is experiencing another form of racism now. It is as simple as common sense; I mean how media can see 300 million people from the same lens. I feel it is either a great conspiracy against Islam and Muslims or herd mentality of popular media that keeps repeating what they want to establish. Muslim representation as terrorist in newspapers, TV, movies, and books is a prejudiced and should be reconsidered. Media should be reporting the events objectively and irrespective of the fact that who is involved. It is high time to get rid of cliché and generalizations about other people and learn from history the most important lesson of mutual understanding and peaceful co-existence if we want to be remembered as prestigious nation in history. The experience of watching this movie entirely changed my way of consuming popular media. Considering the media’s overwhelming impact on our understanding, I highly recommend everyone to watch this movie without his/her orientalist lens on. I am compelled to recommend this movie because it reveals a simple and straightforward idea that can help us to connect the dots and learn what is truthful. In the very beginning, Professor Sut Jhally gives another reason that “Orientalism” not only revolutionized the study of Middle East and influenced other disciplines but also initiated study in new fields. The work is considered to be controversial; I guess because it reveals the truth and challenge our blind following of what is presented to us. Irrespective of the cause you support, either you are Jews, Muslims, or Christians, the movie leaves every peace loving mind thinking that how this prejudiced approach is going to die without taking another form. Read More