Intersection of Psychology and the Media - Essay Example

Intersection of Psychology and the Media in Portraying Race Despite the attractiveness of hyper-reality and the wide-spread belief that all experiences can be appreciated virtually, there is plenty of precedent indicating that this is not so. Life cannot be understood or lived solely by what is contained in the available media, even when that media is as full-coverage and real-time as the internet and satellite live broadcasts claim to be. Danger exists in the idea that the definition provided in the media of a given situation or group of people and the authority thus created provides the only definition by which we can know something. Orientalism, as it was known by Napoleon, was based on just such knowledge – that is knowledge about the Orient projected upon it by the Western world. This idea of the Orient, as it was expressed among the Western scholars – overrode the true Orient. Observers entering the true Orient were already convinced of what they knew regarding an unchanging and already defined system, locking everything labeled Orient into a passive, unresisting object for study. Comparable linguistics were the basis for many of these assumptions. This had, and continues to have, a negative effect upon the Western world’s perception, understanding and appreciation of a multitude of cultures that were erroneously grouped into a single identity. To understand how images in the visual media consistently misrepresent non-western cultures, it is necessary to understand the theories of Edward Said, who first explored the idea of Orientalism as a means of building upon Michel Foucault’s concepts of the creation of meaning, as well as to take a look into some recent examples of these concepts at work as they define the self and the other from differing social positions. The introduction to Edward Said’s book Orientalism is essentially an argument in three parts illustrating the various means he plans to use in order to support the key arguments he makes in the remainder of the book; namely, to first show how the Orient has become something that is not a “free subject of thought or action” through the more imaginary concept of Orientalism and second to demonstrate how the “European culture gained in strength and identity by setting itself off against the Orient as a sort of surrogate and even underground self” (Said, 1979, p. 3). Opening with an argument regarding the use of the term Orientalism, Said makes three observations. The first one centers on the idea that the term ‘Orient’ refers not to the truth of the region, but rather to an idea that has been developed in the minds of Europeans that tends to group all individuals of the Middle East and East as belonging to a single cultural and religious sector. Although not based on actual truth, this concept is naturally present in the European culture in the form of academic and other social institutions, the established vocabulary, the imagery utilized and the colonial styles. Secondly, ‘the Orient’ has been established as the Other, allowing the Europeans to define themselves as a colonizing country against the inferior culture they had themselves defined. Finally, building off of the ideas proposed by Michel Foucault, these distinctions made between Orient and Occident as well as the vocabulary, imagery and other sanctioned discussion and instruction regarding it, has confined the Orient, making it impossible for Europeans to consider the Orient without finding it necessary to first actively combat these limitations on thought or action. These concepts can be traced in the ways in which the Muslim society, and Iraqi people as a whole, has been portrayed in the media, especially since the Twin Towers were attacked in New York on September 11, 2001. The people of the Middle East have continuously been portrayed as either threatening or inferior in some way to those of Western cultures. For example, in a CNN News Report in December 2006 entitled “Hanging Angers Arab Hajj Pilgrims”, Hajj pilgrims are depicted as they take part in their sedate celebrations and calm activities in the city streets. Although numerous people are interviewed and the reporter indicates that they are ‘outraged’ at the concept that Saddam Hussein would be hung on one of their high Holy Days, the people interviewed seem very tranquil and low-key. They answer questions intelligently, in a normal tone of voice and without any rancor or sarcasm in their tone. There is no evidence of outrage and the calm manner in which the various individuals are seen to go about their business, all dressed in the traditional white clothing of this period, serves to give the impression of numerous sheep, milling around a feeding trough rather than angry religious zealots ‘outraged’ at America’s actions, even though it wasn’t America who determined the date or enacted the punishment. An accompanying article to the story, essentially reporting the same information, revealed a group of white-clad Hajj observers kneeling in prayer taken from high overhead. The hundreds of rounded backs thus presented to the camera were also reminiscent of a flock of sheep, crowded together in the square. By contrast, Figure 1 illustrates the same story covered by the Iraqi Al-Jezeera network. This image, though, shows a more active, humanistic viewpoint that focuses on the emotions of the people involved. The photo captures a traditional stone-throwing ritual from a human height. The man in the forefront has just released his stone, leaving his hand as the foremost element and his hand still shaped into something of a claw. This sensitive approach to the illustration shows both the reverence of this individual for his faith as well as the potential for this individual to raise his hand in anger toward those who have determined to ignore his culture and beliefs. Figure 1: Hajj pilgrims Source: “Saddam execution angers pilgrims.” (30 December 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 30 December 2007 from: < http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3.htm?FRAMELESS=true&NRNODEGUID=%7bC8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3%7d> While the first portrayal, sent to predominantly American viewers and readers through the Cable News Network, which also broadcasts in other English-speaking countries, illustrates a passive, calm and even-tempered group of people, attempting to reassure English-speakers that the enemy could be easily subdued as they appear to be in the CNN report, the Al-Jezeera report illustrates this same group of people as imminently capable of doing violence even in the midst of their religious observations. Indeed, far from being the passive sheep easily cowed that are displayed in the reports of those trying to garner support for an unpopular war, the individuals depicted in the Al-Jezeera image tend to bolster national support against invading enemies, placing the war on holy grounds and reinforcing the idea that the nation and its people are strong enough to defeat any invasion force. This same kind of psychological manipulation of a viewer’s impressions is revealed when one compares depictions of former Iraq leader Saddam Hussein in the West versus depictions of him within the national news organization, Al-Jezeera. In the West, images of Saddam taken during his recent trial continue to present him in the most negative light possible. In Figure 3 (below), the international news organization CNN portrays Saddam as incredibly angry, demanding and unrepentant. His finger is pointing toward the camera and his contorted facial expressions give the impression that he is accusing rather than listening. His open mouth emphasizes the impression that he is giving his own lecture to the court regarding how they should proceed or what they should find. This suggests a very arrogant stance taken by the dictator which is only emphasized to a greater degree because of the way in which most individuals in the Western world tend to view themselves as being superior to anyone from less developed countries such as Iraq. Because of these superior assumptions made by many in the Western culture, Saddam’s posture takes on an additional negative overtone as no one likes to be chastised by their inferiors. All of these assumptions are made with the image alone before any text is read, yet the psychological impact supporting the idea that Saddam is evil, arrogant and beyond rehabilitation is made clear. Compared with the sheep-like populace, Saddam is established as being the end-source of all troubles in the area, subtly suggesting that removing him from power and from any possible ability to influence, only guaranteed with his death, will bring the country quickly in line with Western ideas of how they should be organized. Figure 1: Saddam's execution pending Source: “US Officials: Hussein execution this weekend.” (29 December, 2006). CNN. Available 30 December 2007 from: Again, images presented by the other side are markedly different from those shown to the Western public. Figure 4, for example, taken from the Al-Jezeera network, shows Saddam as a much more thoughtful and intelligent man sitting calmly at his trial. Rather than refusing to listen and belligerently attacking the court, Saddam is shown studiously attending to the proceedings. In the image, Saddam is seen wearing dark-rimmed glasses, providing him with a sense of intelligence and studiousness entirely out of character for the type of demon dictator envisioned in the West. He is looking down toward a notebook of some sort, presumably taking notes and gathering his thoughts regarding the proceedings to determine his fate. He seems to grasp the gravity of the situation and wears an expression of concentration. He is calm and composed. While his forehead is somewhat wrinkled in concentration, the look on his face is as different from that depicted in Western newspapers as to suggest a different man altogether. This is a man who holds his country together, organizes difficult factions into a cohesive whole and keeps the violence of the populace, evidenced in earlier images of pilgrims throwing rocks, to acceptable levels. While it is true that the two images were taken at different points in the trial, during which the attitude of the former leader might have changed, it is equally true that photographers on both sides had numerous options for images throughout the course of either trial date. The message sent to the public is therefore influenced to a great deal in the simple image selected to illustrate the story. While one tends to portray Saddam as the sole cause of strife in the region, cruelly oppressing an otherwise docile public, the other illustrates the strength of a man capable of keeping traditionally violent factions in line. Figure 2: Saddam at trial Source: “Saddam appears in genocide trial.” (6 December, 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 30 December 2007 from: As has been seen in these Iraq issues, the West’s concepts of the ‘other’ in terms of race are frequently and purposely shaped to give us certain ideas regarding people who live far away which also translates to people who live next door. A key concept in the philosophy of identity includes the idea of the Other as being essential to determining a definition of the self. This is explained in the statement “[w]hat appears to be cultural units – human beings, words, meanings, ideas, philosophical systems, social organizations – are maintained in their apparent unity only through an active process of exclusion, opposition, and hierarchization. Other phenomena or units must be represented as foreign or ‘other’ through representing a hierarchal dualism in which the unit is ‘privileged’ or favored, and the other is devalued in some way” (Cahoone, 1996). In the previous comparisons, this can be seen in Al-Jezeera’s tendency to depict its people as imminently capable of violence and their leader as a studied, calm and rational man as well as in CNN’s depiction of these same people as little more than sheep and their leader as an arrogant and irrational despot. The film Bend it Like Beckham attempts to bridge some of the gaps in understanding and suggest that each person is a unique individual existing both within and outside of their cultural or racial identification. Jess, the main character, is classified by more than just her gender as she is a part of the minority Sikh population in London. Growing up within a strict traditional home, her family’s beliefs and obvious ethnicity serve to isolate her from the rest of society. This is immediately recognized in the lights strung up on the house in which she lives as the family prepares to celebrate Pinky’s wedding. Such outside decoration is not normal behavior for the neighbors surrounding them and serves to isolate the house from the rest of the block, even during the daytime. The noisy party held in the backyard in celebration later in the film further emphasizes this isolation as other nearby backyards are shown to be completely devoid of any kind of human activity. The traditions of her religious beliefs hold even more tightly to the concept of woman as homemaker, wife and mother, with little opportunity for any kind of public life. Indeed, public life, such as being a professional sports figure, is shunned as being completely unacceptable to a woman of proper Sikh upbringing. These ideas are well-known to the surrounding community, who has had some interactions with the minority population as is evidenced in the reaction of Jules’ mother upon meeting Jess. She is thrilled her daughter has befriended a Sikh because perhaps now Jules will learn how to behave more like a proper girl instead of running around the football field all day. This reaction is so ingrained it is immediate upon seeing Jess’ face and the words are said before Jess has had a chance to say much more than hello. Like her sister, Jess is expected to wear suitable clothing that does not expose inordinate amounts of skin, such as the shorts that are a required part of the footballer’s uniform. For Jess, this rule is even more stringent because she has been scarred from a cooking burn and this ‘unattractive’ scar might serve to frighten away potential suitors. Yet even differences in culture, once examined fully, turn out to reveal only further similarities which lead to an appreciation of the differences rather than a shunning of them. This is shown even in terms of the house lights. Despite the differences in symbols of celebration, Jess lives within the modern city of London and interacts with its inhabitants on a daily basis. Although the house might seem isolated from the surrounding structures, the truth remains that there are surrounding structures. Just as the basic house underneath the lights looks much the same as the houses on either side of it, Jess looks different on the outside but remains a part of the society she lives in. As soon as Jules’ mother realizes Jess is also a footballer, Jess is instantly reclassified into a different type of Other and the welcome is cooled. When Jess is seen in the required shorts as part of her football team uniform, her mother’s reaction is horror because her daughter is exposing her legs and the burn scar that they’ve tried to keep covered up so much, yet the uniform itself indicates a similarity to the greater culture around her and those in the greater community focus on the symbol of the uniform rather than the fact that a Sikh woman is showing her legs. Even the scar links her to the outside culture as it is a feature she shares only with Joe, the team coach. While the physical cause was different, the reason behind each scar revealed the same underlying desire for parental approval and disregard for individual limitations. Jess and Joe are the same, but different, and the differences are shown to be more like the icing on the cake rather than monstrous subhuman distortions. This expected identification with the submissive Other leads her cultural group to believe Jess’ own abilities, strengths and ambitions should conform to the dictates and time-honored traditions of a devout household. Any deviations from this are firmly denounced, ignored or forbidden with the expectation that they will simply go away as she becomes more involved in becoming the proper young lady she was brought up to be. When she expresses her love for football and her desire to play on a women’s semi-pro team that has been recently formed, exposing her peculiarity within her own society, Jess’ parents immediately refuse the request as being inappropriate for a woman: “What family is going to want a daughter-in-law who can kick a ball but cannot cook a dinner” is the expected and given response by the strictly traditional mother while the father merely relates his own experience in trying to play football in the predominantly white world. If it was a disaster for a man, it is doubly a disaster for a woman, who belongs in the home anyway. Guilty in their response to this difference within their daughter as the outside world was in the response to them, Jess’ parents are slow to accept the idea that the Other seen in their daughter is not necessarily wrong, it is simply not the same. Despite strict control of her schedule and activities, Jess still manages to get caught several times on the football field or with the team, yet her family remains adamant that she must not play sports and instead must follow the proper course for a proper woman by attending the university of her parents’ choice and marrying the Indian man they have selected for her. Jess’ room, papered in images of “that skinhead” Beckham, is far from the colorful frills and flounces expected to be found in a suitable girl’s room. Even her older sister Pinky, living the expected life that her culture has laid out for her, finds herself identifying with the Other as she escapes the rigours of her traditional life by having secret trysts with her fiancé while her parents think she’s at work. In this defiance of parental rules and surveillance, both Jess and Pinky are expressing typical teenage rebellion, each at their own level and in their own way. In this, they are each peculiar from the society in which they live as Pinky meets with her boyfriend at the airport and as Jess sneaks out to the football field, yet they are the same in that both are protesting against the rules imposed upon them in the name of ‘normalcy’ within their externally and internally defined racial or cultural group. By struggling to maintain their differences, they prove to be the same as every other teenager since the dawn of time. Taking the advice of the outer culture, Jess does what any normal teenager would do and lies to her parents about her whereabouts once she is told she cannot play football anymore. Despite being caught several times, she continues to play the game. However, in her increasing identification with her larger social sphere, Jess finds ways to remain true to her background and in touch with that Otherness. In discussing his relationship with his father, Jess encourages Joe to contact him. “He’d probably be proud that you didn’t just quit” she says, and ends up having a positive effect on Joe as a result of her peculiarity (among teenagers) of having a large degree of respect and love for her own parents. She is not alone in loving her parents, nor is she alone in respecting them. What she is alone in, however, is the willingness to let others know about it. After lying to her parents regarding her football dreams for so long, Jess finally figures out that her difficulties on the field are a direct result of having her culture standing between her and the goal, something many people never figure out. If she is to make a success of a sports career, she must have the blessings of her family and her society. Although this honesty might initially be seen as a peculiarity, a deeper inspection reveals that this desire for approval is a driving force for many individuals throughout most of the world’s societies. Thus, Jess’ success is brought about not by a refutation of one culture or racial group over another, but instead as a result of a general blending of the two. While the comparison of the Iraqi images indicate a black and white contrast between the ‘us’ and ‘them’ mentality of both sides and the film illustrates how two sides can be blended to create a new and better whole, Said indicates that these types of mis-portrayals carried by the various types of media are not always necessarily as deliberate as the images might at first suggest. Within his novel Orientalism, Said reiterates the position taken by Foucault that there is no such thing as pure knowledge because “no one has ever devised a method for detaching the scholar from the circumstances of life, from the fact of his involvement (conscious or unconscious) with a class, a set of beliefs, a social position, or from the mere activity of being a member of a society” (Said, 1979, p. 10). Because the concept of Orientalism is such an ingrained concept in the minds of the Western world, Said argues that it is impossible for a Western writer, regardless of genre or intent, to approach the topic from the perspective of an individual without first coming upon the topic as a Westerner. Indeed, Said argues that the concept of the Orient as it has been created within the minds of the West is so ingrained in so many facets of Western life that it manifests itself through the intertextual context and is indistinguishable to the Western writer from his own “pure” thought. These ideas have since been supported by numerous other writers looking into the various ways in which the West tends to conceptualize the ‘other’ in pre-determined understandings. Ziauddin Sardar in his book, also entitled Orientalism, said, “It was in its encounter with Islam that the West first developed its vision of the Orient as an unfathomable, exotic and erotic place where mysteries dwell and cruel and barbaric scenes are staged” (1999, p. 2). The approach Said outlines in studying these works includes consideration of the authority with which the author wrote including “strategic location, which is a way of describing the author’s position in a text with regard to the Oriental material he writes about, and strategic formation, which is a way of analyzing the relationship between texts and the way in which groups of texts, even textual genres, acquire mass, density, and referential power among themselves and thereafter in the culture at large” (Said, 1979, p. 20). To distinguish how these texts establish their authority, Said indicates it is necessary to study the “style, figures of speech, setting, narrative devices, historical and social circumstances, not the correctness of the representation nor its fidelity to some great original”(Said, 1979, p. 21) for evidence of the exteriority of the representation, ideas quickly accessible through studying the media presented and keeping the concepts of Foucault in mind. References Bend it Like Beckham. (2002) [DVD]. Dir. Gurinder Chadha. Fox Searchlight. “Hanging angers Arab hajj pilgrims.” (31 December, 2006). CNN. Available 30 December, 2007 from: < http://video.aol.com/video-detail/hanging-angers-arab-hajj-pilgrims/1947606857> “Saddam appears in genocide trial.” (6 December, 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 30 December 2007 from: “Saddam execution angers pilgrims.” (30 December 2006). Al-Jezeera. Available 30 December 2007 from: < http://english.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/C8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3.htm?FRAMELESS=true&NRNODEGUID=%7bC8396129-4469-41BF-9508-BCE4E81B6BA3%7d> Said, Edward. (1979). Orientalism. New York: Vintage Books. Sardar, Ziauddin. (1999). Orientalism. Buckingham: Open University Press. “US Officials: Hussein execution this weekend.” (29 December, 2006). CNN. Available 30 December 2007 from: Read More