Perception of Muslims in the United States - Essay Example

Argumentative Essay

Marvel comics have been rated among the best film producers in matters concerning super villains and superheroes. The article on Avengers versus Allah is an illustration of how Muslims are perceived globally as being terrorists. In his article, Nicholas tries to lay down how the comic industry changed drastically after the 9/11 incident in 2001. Before the event, Muslims were viewed as stereotypical human beings by their way of dressing, manners, and religion (Nicholas 781). The author lays down his facts with the use of logical fallacies; in turn, he utilizes the rhetorical triangle by use of the three appeals of argument in the essay.

Logical fallacies are typical errors that a person uses in reasoning and can undermine your argument. Mostly, they lack evidence to support your claims and are termed as irrelevant points (Hans 1). In the article, the author tries to show that all Muslims have a negative character because of the 9/11 incident. The author depicts the use of the Ad Hominem fallacy, an attack on the nature of a person without considering their opinion first. Not all Muslims have a mindset of Jihad "a belief that if you kill many souls, you will be given seven virgins once you get to Baal- Allah." Instead of Marvel Comics focusing on how Muslims are orientalist stereotypes, they should consider that some are just harmless beings looking to live their lives peacefully.

Additionally, in his article, he postulates the use of the Bandwagon appeal, where some producers like Pamela Gellar try to convince their audience that Muslims are dangerous beings who love chaos. Pamela Gellar pays for anti-Muslim posters to be placed in buses and trains (Nicholas 793) in the event of trying to change people’s perception of Muslims even after a Muslim lady getting crowned as the new Ms. Marvel. According to political scientists, most politicians use this type of fallacy when trying to win votes from their followers in terms of throwing shade on their rivals by tarnishing their names to gain favor in their followers' eyes.

The entire ideology of the article is based on issues concerning race, gender, and religion. Racial discrimination is a significant thing in America; most people from different communities face discrimination. Based on this fact, the author shows the utilization of the genetic fallacy, which is technically the claim that an ideology or an individual must be untrustworthy because of their ethnicity or geographic location. The article is solely trying to base its facts on how Muslims or anything related to them is evil. Still, the author tries to disguise their dislike for the Muslim community by bringing up the issue of a Muslim Ms. Marvel. For eons, disastrous things that happen are associated with Muslims except that if it is a White person that commits an offense, the news is not spread widely. The fact that racism has become a wanting issue in America is what makes it become a high target for terrorists.

According to Aristotle, a sound argument must contain all three appeals of argument that constitute the rhetorical triangle; logos, pathos, and ethos. His straightforwardness in laying down his facts aside from having some fallacies is what depicts his explicit use of logos. However, based on the article's argument, one can partially agree and disagree with his argument. Marvel Comics ex-director once stated that the company produces films and comic books to gain profits and, at the same time, satisfy their audience's wants (Nicholas 784). However, an author or scriptwriter cannot just sit down and think of something without having experienced it before. Most writers use pathos as a way of showcasing their theme in a particular script. After the 9/11 incident, many filmmaking industries, including Marvel Comics, began shooting movies related to acts of terrorism or trying to take over a specific empire. People's perception of Muslim religion shifted to being orientalist, where they were perceived as being dangerous people hiding in their garments and turbans.

Grant Morrison tried to calm down people’s paranoia after the 9/11 incident by coming up with a film with a Muslim heroine named Dust. In the movie, Dust tries to get lured into changing from being a strict follower of their canonical ways to dressing in provocative clothes that will make her seem attractive. The film gained popularity and correct to say; it attracted other film making companies and lured them to filming movies supporting Muslims. By doing so, this shows an act of cowardice and hypocorism in Americans. If at all, Grant Morrison did not produce the film, would people change their perception towards Muslims anytime sooner? In my part, I do not think so because that is not the case nowadays. The majority of the films being released nowadays have the same theme as the 9/11 incident and Grant Morrison’s film. The question that some of us ask ourselves is, why would people assume that all apples in a tree are rotten if they are just a few that are bad?

Recently, people have an exaggerated fear, hatred, and hostility towards the Islam religion. Before the 9/11 incident, the hatred was not at high levels compared to how it increased in frequency after the 9/11 tragedy (Michelle 659). Islam phobia is the term used to describe this hatred and fear Americans have towards Muslims. Various analyses have been made based on the measurement of different people's opinions towards the Islam religion. It is quite frank to see that a majority of Americans have a seething hatred inside for the Islams (Michelle 659). The same hatred is what they feel for other communities, more so the black community. The United Nations, in partnership with the League of Arab States, have tried to come up with a measure to encounter this problem, which has become a global issue, not only an American one. There is a lack of respect for these people in the West, where they go ahead and produce films that depict that Muslims are full of notoriety and chaos, which makes them feel inferior(Michelle 670). I think that their attacks towards nations are because of the lack of feeling wanted in society because everywhere they go, they are viewed awkwardly. Even before the 9/11 incident, Muslims were still displayed stereotypically, and this makes some of us wonder whether someone can follow their traditions without being perceived as a psychopath?

Being a Muslim-American is like a punishment that one has to go through every day. In his article, Nicholas clearly shows us that Muslims are having a hard time trying to cope with living in America. Far from the article, Trump's government shows a lot of discrimination against this particular religion. Most American-Muslims state that they are proud of being Americans, but they are not comfortable with how their fellow Americans do not view them as part of the U.S society (Michelle 672). The 9/11 incident made life impossible for almost all Muslims, and they have to struggle to get something to eat while in the country (Michelle 673). It is ironic how people will pretend to be close to Muslims in the event of their Ramadhan season, but deep down, they wish that these humans would vanish from the face of the earth. Ever since Donald Trump took the lead, Muslims have known no peace because of his pure dislike toward them, unlike President Obama, who was friendly.

The pioneer of the study of Muslims in films is Jack Shaheen, who worked effortlessly in cataloging representations of Muslims in movies and attempted to change negative perceptions. Just like Grant Morrison tried to Change people’s opinions on Muslims, so did Jack Shaheen through social media activism and lobbying filmmakers (Petersen 1). His primary focus was on minority communities, but unlike others, Muslims and Arabs were not classified as being one of them (Petersen 1). He cataloged over 90 films, decoded negative images, analyzed the effects of these depictions, and sought a way to convert film productions to give a more appropriate balanced portrait of Muslims to society (Petersen 1). His work made him a celebrated author and was dubbed as a creative thought experiment that instigated the reformation of the film industry.

Aside from racial discrimination, there is gender disparity when it comes to taking the big leads in the entertainment industry. Before the 9/11 tragedy, X-men's main characters were females, but after the incident, the producers decided to change to men; why is this? For centuries, women are viewed as a weak gender that needs the protection of men to make it in life. Aside from that, women are supposed to be submissive to men and do whatever they are commanded to do. Women were never given a platform to become great people in the world; instead, they were stripped off the crown and given to men as they "can handle it." In his article, Nicholas mentions how the frontlines were given to men, and only recently, women have begun getting the front line in the entertainment industry. However, men still outnumber them when it comes to significant roles. For example, the Avengers film among the main characters; men had a higher percentage covering 70% while women were at 30% roughly. Women cover 20% behind the scenes role the same case applies to direct movies; men take the lead (Andre 1). This clearly shows that we live in a male-dominated society where women do not have a say in important things. Hopefully, as years go by, there will be a transition from a male-dominated society to a more balanced society where both genders can work together without one feeling oppressed by the other.

Lastly, the whole thing on racism, gender inequality, has become a wanting situation. These forms of societal disparities have been extended to the film industry as well. In his article, Nicholas tries to reflect on these issues in a more conversant way by using Marvel Comics as an example. He talks of how Muslims are perceived by American society ever since the 9/11 tragedy, which is unfortunate for Muslims. Many people will argue that these people are not to be treated as ordinary people; instead, they are to be treated as villains, and wherever they go, people should be cautious. There are good Muslims out there for a fact, and they cannot justify their goodness to society because very few people will believe them. Muslims have been isolated from the community entirely. Even with some film producers like Grant Morrison trying to make things right, the frequency of how they are perceived still increases over time. As much as film producers try to justify producing films with no ill intentions but to satisfy their fans and earn money, nobody wakes up and writes a script without having thought about it or experienced something related to their central theme.