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s triumvirate of stereotypes made up the fundamental building blocks of the portrayal of the Islamic man in Hollywood film. These three characters should be borne in mind throughout the remainder of the discussion as the religious, terrorist and financial incarnation of evil that is depicted in Western culture has gradually pervaded mainstream cinema with predictably negative effects. Alone, each of these Muslims characters appears alien rather than sinister; the three roles combined, however, constitute the ultimate onscreen villain.

September 11, 2001

The stereotypical portrayal of Islam changed irrevocably after the events of September 11, 2001. Almost immediately, newscasters turned their attention to the reasons for perceived Islamic hatred towards the West. The result was a sentiment of disgust projected at the ubiquitous Arabic man that had perpetrated the atrocity, made worse by the action taking place upon American soil.

Within hours of the strikes, cable and satellite broadcasters relayed images of jubilant Muslims dancing in the streets of the Middle East burning American flags making it appears if the entire Islamic world was behind the atrocity. When Fox News broadcasters such as Sean Hannity (2004:1) join the ‘debate’ with inflammatory views such as those highlighted below, the sense of threat felt by the broader population was significantly and needlessly amplified.

“Three years ago evil surfaced in the Western world in a way that it had not in six decades, since the day of infamy at Pearl Harbour. Americans were forced to confront pure human wickedness in a way we had not in generations.”

By comparing 9/11 to the fascist alliance of World War Two, the American media opened up an avenue of cultural indifference that should have remained off limits. With the inherent distrust of Islam already deeply embedded in Western society, the image of the Islamic man quickly descended from that of traditional ‘outsider’ to cold hearted villain. This evil portrayal of Muslims was greatly exacerbated by the subsequent ‘war on terror’, a concept that has little tangible ideological meaning beyond the corridors of power in Washington DC. The ‘war on terror’ has helped to make hatred of Islam official; a matter of politics rather than opinion.

Just as the Koran has legitimised Arabian terrorism, so the ‘war on terror’ has facilitated American imperialist aggression and the demonization of the Islamic male in the greater cultural consciousness. Indeed, influential and highly respected American academics such as Gore Vidal and Noah Chomsky believe that this on-going perceived terrorist threat is, ultimately, tithe US Government’s advantage as it gives fresh, relevant impetus tithe pursuit of dominance in international affairs. As Chomsky (2003:13)succinctly concluded: “the goal of the imperial grand strategy is to prevent any challenge to the power, position and prestige of the United States.”

It can be seen that the post 9/11 Arabic threat is made of much more sinister material than the previous incarnation of evil prevalent in portrayals of Islamic men within Western culture and film. Furthermore, because Al Qaeda are so difficult to detect it has been deemed s本论文由英语论文网提供整理，提供论文代写，英语论文代写，代写论文，代写英语论文，代写留学生论文，代写英文论文，留学生论文代写相关核心关键词搜索。