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Viewed together with the dominant media climate in America, it can be seen that Islamic men are depicted as untrustworthy and socially aggressive, an image that has transgressed into a cultural norm. Though terrorism remains the most pertinent and troublesome association with Islam, the economic and religious aspects of Hollywood portrayals are equally as damaging because, out of the ashes of minority atrocity, has emerged the phoenix of the demonic Islamic man: a melting pot of contradiction and fear induced Western prejudice.

Conclusion

The topic of the American cinematic portrayal of Islam has very recently been given an added injection of relevance with the launch of ten part miniseries called Sleeper Cell, which broadcast on cable’s Showtime in December 2005. The drama concerns four members of the secretive Islamic terrorist network and the police department that are trying to track them down. The plot at first appears worn out and cliché but Sleeper Cell has won praise from all quarters in the US for its break from tradition. In a welcome addition to the genre, the chief inspector chasing the gang is also a Muslim, one of a more moderate stance to the fundamentalist extremists of the cell.

Moreover, two of the four terrorists are white Muslims of European descent, which is far more representative of America’s Islamic demographic where 25% are not from any Arabic descent. Though some American Muslims would prefer to see an archetypal ‘good guy’ be cast as an Islamic man outside of the context of terrorism, the attention to detail to the realities of life in contemporary America for a Muslim male has been widely applauded, as Sandi Dole of the San Diego Tribune (website first viewed December2005) explains.

“The story line does begin to raise atypical questions about who are the real Muslims. Many Americans are wary, their trepidation fed by too-frequent incidents of destruction – from the USS Cole attack and9/11 to the London subway bombings and, most recently, the hotel explosions in Jordan. Other Americans understand that evil people Cando bad things – they don’t blame the religion; they blame the people.”

For the time being, however, Sleeper Cell remains an anomaly. Fox TV’s widely popular series, 24 is seen by more viewers and correlates more closely to the real cultural mood in America regarding Muslims. Where there is a discernible lack of prejudice within the greater public, there is likely to remain a residue of fear, bred largely by misunderstanding and propaganda.

In comparison to other means of portraying Islamic men, namely the various arms of the media, Hollywood has taken less of aggressive stance concerning Islam, steering clear of controversy where it can. Furthermore, Hollywood continues to stereotype a host of other races and nationalities, even British men, the so called benefactors of the transatlantic ‘special relationship.’ In 1999, for instance, Star Wars Episode I: the Phantom Menace followed the same route as Aladdin and cast a digitally enhanced character with an ethnic accent that was seen as racist by people from the Caribbean. Islam is ther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。