Orientalism and Race in Disney Movie - Essay Example

Orientalism and Race in Disney Introduction Orientalism relates to a term used by art historians and literary as well as cultural studies scholars for the imitation or depiction of aspects of Middle Eastern and East Asian cultures by writers, designers and artists from the West. However, the definition has largely been adopted by the Disney world to reflect cultural aspect in the film industry. The movie industry is regarded as a tool for gender propagation and control. The Disney Corporation is attempting to encourage people from various parts of the world to consume their fantasy by creating films that depicts other races of the world as well as trying to make them appear as equal subjects. According to Edward Said, the Europeans went to the extent of dividing the world into two parts namely the east and the west or simply the occident and the orient. The division was based on the different levels of civilization. The adopted the use of orientalism to define themselves as well as to show how they regarded other races of the world. There were a number of attributes that defined the oriental as well as the occidents. They further regarded themselves as the superior race compared to the orientals and they justified their colonization by this concept (Said, 34). Racism allegations spread across all media and is not fully a confinement of print media or visual media. In the recent past, social media has played a prominent role in fuelling the already critical and unfortunate situation. The other angle is that there are counter blames between the white Americans and the non-white citizens on who propagated discord. For instance, the ugly face of the media came to the fore on social media in what was supposed to be a celebratory moment. This was when Davuliri an Indian born American citizen lifted the Miss America tittle.Events following this was a social media washed with racist slurs. It went to the extent of her being branded a racist and an Arab with links to 9/11 terrorist attacks. Hall applies the term ideology to relate to those images, concepts and premises which provide the frameworks through which we represent, interpret, understand, and make sense of some aspect of social existence (Hall, 271). He further alludes to the fact that argues the portrayal and perpetuation of race in the media, which is a key producer and transformer of ideologies, touches directly the problem of ideology. Hall established that ideologies results in various forms of social consciousness and as a result will always work best in circumstances where they formulate as well as construct their worldviews. According to Hall, the media constructs a definition of what race is for viewers, what meaning the imagery of race carries as well as how the problem of race should be understood. The media further divides the world in terms of categories of race and setting people apart based upon their appearance and notions that have been socially developed over time. The media portrays two forms of racism which include overt racism and inferential racism. Overt racism is defined by the coverage granted to openly racist arguments, positions, or spokespersons while inferential racism relates to the apparently naturalized representations of events and situations relating to race irrespective of whether they are factual or fictional which have racist premises and propositions inscribed in them as a set of unquestioned assumptions (Hall, 273-274). Writers pulling stances in their publication are high profiled writers with a wealth of media experience. They command a large readership following which offers them a vantage position in spreading hate and in-depth discord among the American population. The motive behind these writers work on selective coverage and covering races they attack is a challenge to establish. Sources from some quarters have established that historical injustices faced by some races have resulted to media partiality. It is alleged that a section of the media are determined to work up emotions of members emanating from the same race. This is to remind them and portray other races as racists who in years back had afflicted emotional and other types of pain and suffering upon them. In the contemporary society where information technology plays a pivotal role in disseminating information, blogs have fuelled racism. In the recent past, the media as an avenue disseminates information to millions of population within seconds. For example, the LA times was adversely mentioned to be selective in reporting George Zimmerman’s case in its network. Online blogs written by famous journalists attract huge following. Chances of racial postings leading to animosities among several groups of people within a few seconds is a real threat to racial intergaration.The fact that social media laws are not stringent to keep such articles in check continues to be a fertile ground for racial discord. The debates surrounding racism and selective media coverage is not a new occurrence but an ongoing historical trend. Most recently, Jennifer Rubin who is a writer with washing post expressed open disgust by President’s Obama’s public remarks on Trayvon Martin’s death. She went ahead remarking that President Obama was not a good person and a person who went out in public to discuss subjects of irrelevance to America. This outright dismissal is most likely to have been good news in the years of white racist extremists but on the other hand generated anger among the African-American community. The remark by Chicago Tribune’s Huppke Rex that saying racism has come to an end is like confessing you have a friend who is black was another contribution to the dubious trends.However,some writers have joined these debates as alternative voice of reason. Heartland’s institute Peter Ferrara on his Forbes blog is of opinion that racist attitudes posses no influential role to play in the current American society.Similarly, MacDonald blamed the media for being obsessed with unfounded claims that racism continues to hold back blacks from succeeding in American society (Brent 62). Despite racism being rife if counter arguments are anything to go by, the major question also lies in the denial of its existence by extremists who fuel it. Trends deduced expose the fact that media personalities especially the print journalists pay little attention to media policies and ethics. This is then replaced by overriding emotions, resentment, and anger, which after being unleashed is harmful to the public. Scientific approaches are given little concern by writers who ignore fronting their arguments by imploring research methods to add weight to their assertions. This leaves their opinions be open to emotional manipulation with little regard to ethics that should control their work. Said argues that the beginning of European colonization, they encountered less developed nations of the east. They found the culture and civilization of the eastern nations very exotic, and created the theory of Orientalism, which was the study of the people from these exotic civilizations. The term Orientalism has been used in the historical disciplines to portray different phases of the Eastern and Middle Eastern cultures. The Orientalism hypothesis alludes to the pre-informed fallacious opinions that the Romans had on the East. Works of literature and even art instigated the perception among the Romans that people of the East were inferior and endowed with feminine aspects. Literary works by Strabo portrayed the Romans as invincible people and regarded people from the East as less equal humans. Moreover, the geographical works of Strabo that Romans used as references are his personal opinions he puts down without research. For example, he avers that the area occupied by Arabia is found in the Gulf of Aqaba, though he is not sure of the existence of the Gulf of Aqaba (Ball 34). As a matter of fact, the Romans’ perception of the East was a paradox of the reality on ground. This comes to the forefront when the Romans and Barbarians met at the battlefield. Crassus initiated a campaign, which portrayed Parthians as lazy and weak people. Assumptions about the Eastern people made Rome lose the war to the barbarians. Consequently, the turn of events after war when Rome falls to states of the East contradicts their perception. This confirms orientalism theory (Said 26). In conclusion, selective reporting from various instances has proven to be a fertile ground sowing racial discord among the diverse America’s population. This is because the content posted depends on individual views of the writer towards a particular race or events. Ignoring media ethics and policies have led to extreme cases of incitement. This is because some readers follow the columns of favorite writers and follow their teachings without clearly analyzing them. By playing emotional games with the readers, writers fun racial messages to the unsuspecting readers who are not aware of incitement motives (Baldwin 45). The social media has taken the prevalence of racism a notch higher since there lacks clear guidelines under this platform. It also makes information spread so fast a situation likely to result to negative effects on the offended or group attacked. Research should pay keen attention to social media and laws that can keep racism challenges under control. Subsequently, morals should guide the media concerning the content they post for their respective readers. Work Cited Baldwin, James. Notes of a Native son. New York: Beacon Press, 2012. Print. Brent, Staples. Just Walk By. New York: Kindle Books, 1999. Print. Clint, Wilson. Racism, Sexism, and the Media: Multicultural Issues Into the New Communications Age. New York: Sage, 2012. Print. Virginia: City Lights Publishers, 2009. Print. Wise, Tim. Between Barack and a Hard Place: Racism and White Denial in the Age of Obama. Said, Edward W. Orientalism. New Delhi: Penguin Books, 1995. Print. Hall, Stuart (1977). Culture, Media and the Ideological Effect. Mass Communication and Society. Ed. James Curran et al., 315-48; reprint, Beverly Hills, CA: SAGE Publications, 1952. Print Read More