In today’s modern and technology-driven world, there is nothing that quite influences public opinion like the media. When films on terrorism are made, especially based on real-life events, they can leave impressions on the audience that may be biased, depending on the portrayal of those involved. The films Zero Dark Thirty and In the Name of the Father are both based on real-life people and acts of terrorism, post- and pre-9/11 respectively. While these films have that fact in common, that is where the similarities stop. In the Name of the Father gives a sympathetic, moving look at the life and story of Gerry and Giuseppe Conlon, who were falsely accused of involvement with the IRA (the Irish Republican Army). On the other hand, Zero Dark Thirty retells the events leading up to the killing of Osama bin Laden, but also manages to perpetuate stereotypes of Pakistani and Muslim people, coming off less as a moving tale and more as American propaganda.
One of the most controversial and sensational films about focused on terrorism is Zero Dark Thirty. The film begins shortly after 9/11 with the two main characters of the film interrogating a man believed to be involved with the Saudi Group (more accurately the Saudi Bin Laden group, which they never elaborate on). The film wastes no time inserting narratives about Pakistani and Middle-Eastern people, in a very clear effort to distinguish them by their looks: long beards, traditional salwar kameez (Pakistani dress), and thick
In the airports, Muslim people became “the usual suspects”, were thoroughly searched and often interrogated. In her article, O’Connor claims that the lives of American Muslims changed forever, and the statement is hard to disagree with (“How 9/11 Changed These Muslim Americans’ Lives Forever.”) Those who had nothing to do with the September 11 attacks, their children and grandchildren were sentenced to face racism, hate and violence.
When discussing 9/11, the author writes about Post-9/11 America seemed determined: “Never Again.” Despite important differences, genocide and terrorism share one important feature, which is that both parget civilian populations. This led the author to ask, “To what extend is the mind-set of the perpetrators revealed by the way they frame their victims culturally (Mamdani, 11)?” The debate on this question turns around the relationship between cultural and political identity and in the context of 9/11, between religious fundamentalism and political terrorism. The ideas the author raised in the Good Muslim, Bad Muslim section, stuck out to me the most. Mamdani explained that President Bush moved to distinguish between “good Muslims” and “bad Muslims.” From the “bad Muslims” point of view, they were obviously responsible for terrorism and at the same time, Bush seemed to assure Americans that “good Muslims” were anxious to clear their names and consciences of this horrible crime and would undoubtable support “us” in a war against “them.” This doesn’t hide the central message of the discourse that unless proved to be “good,” every Muslim was presumed to be “bad.” All Muslims were now obligated to prove their credentials by joining in a war against “bad Muslims (Mamdani, 15).” This part of the reading really got me thinking about
The repercussions of September 11, 2001 have been numerous and one thing that certainly cannot be repudiated is that 9/11 resulted in Americans needing a scapegoat. In his book, Scapegoats of September 11th, Michael Welch devotes the first chapter, “Hate Crimes & State Crimes in the War on Terror,” to a discussion of how the September 11th attacks have resulted in stereotyping and the discrimination against a few ethnicities and religions in the United States. In looking at the aftermath of the attacks, Welch also talks about how politicians responded to the attacks and the strategies that they used to advance their political ambitions.
The OP-ED piece written by Peggy Noonan on Nov. 19th, 2015 attacks the reader on several different fronts, but allows the same reader to empathize with individual aspects of the piece, or all of them. Feelings take center stage at first and Ms. Noonan challenges how the reader feels by deploying evidence; a synopsis of terror throughout the last two decades. Relentlessly she shows how just how permeable humanity is to intimidate by terror, along with the failures of President Barack Obama. Obama’s approach is belittled, even claiming the President is “barely relevant” and she does not consider his viewpoint. On a glance, she opens with a personal experience and then depicts several terrorist events, while tying them to the failures of Obama, and finishes with an example of greatness and questions who should steward this country going forward.
D. How it shook the illusion held by many Americans of a nation safe from
Wright is unmatched in his intimate insights into the lives of the key players, from bin Laden's relationships with his wives, to O'Neal's turbulent personal life. It is with this immense detail, that the author persuasively argues his two main contentions.
Today one does not even have to wait for a movie to be released. Simply click the “ON” button on a remote and suddenly, thousands of news and television shows are available for one to enjoy. Muslims are also the target of prejudice in these news broadcasts and programs. One such television program released was a drama titled “24.” Issues and Controversies reports: “The show, which deals with a counterterrorism unit based in Los Angeles, featured a group of Muslim terrorist characters who were plotting to detonate nuclear weapons in the U.S. At the end of one episode, the terrorists successfully detonated a small bomb in a Los Angeles suburb, killing about 12,000 people” (“Race and Ethnicity in Entertainment”). This fictional show wrongly spreads the stereotypical image of Muslims and their clichéd image of the fundamentalists on 9/11. By adding the title and image of “Muslim” to the phrase “terrorist” the program wrongly advertised that potentially every Muslim could be a terrorist. This stereotypical image is similarly expressed in news broadcasts through the use of terrorism news. By increasingly using terrorism and Muslims in top
On the covers of newspapers and on the screens of many, the story of the Boston marathon hits the ground. Twenty six thousand eight hundred thirty nine people from all over the world came to run in this awe-inspiring marathon. Until the tragedy strikes right in their faces. The explosions, injuring scores of people, effected the lives of innocent civilians. Cheers were replaced with screams, sirens, and the first responders providing aide to the citizens. This was a brutal event just like the one on September 11, 2001. Instead of using seclusion towards political and economical reasons for events, the mass medias perceptive towards incidents involving the religion Islam has created the stereotypical thought in society in which we live in today.
The topic of this essay was one that seemed the most relevant at this given moment in time. Post 9/11, Western media became very critical of Islam and the portrayal of Muslims and the negative associations made with them has dramatically increased.
This scene is depicting the type of social conditions that America has after 9/11. It is a misconception that all Middle Eastern people are possible terrorists.
Attacks receive more coverage when they harm or kill victims, involve hijackings or aircraft, have known perpetrators, and select targets associated with Western countries. A study of transnational terrorism shows that attacks that inflict injuries are twice as likely to attract media attention as those that do not. The attacks in which the perpetrator can be identified are four times as likely to be reported in a newspaper and ten times as likely to be reported on television (The Media’s Role in International Terrorsim). Attacks in the Middle East or Europe are twice as likely to receive media attention as attacks perpetrated in Latin America (The Media’s Role in International Terrorism). There are very similar factors that influence media coverage of attacks that take place within the United States.
Millions of people globally supported the ‘war on terror’ at one time, largely because the discourse around it was successful in divisively framing the identities involved and attributing a ‘truthful’ nature to that framing. Governments, with the Bush administration seemingly as the lead, created ‘the other’ to be ‘the terrorist’, and those ‘terrorists’ were probably Muslim or Arab. The fear was then created by the comparison of this ‘other’ to the self; or ‘them vs. us’.
The misrepresentation of minorities is frequent in Hollywood films and Arabs are one of the many minority groups Hollywood misrepresent. Arabs are portrayed negatively in films for long time even before 9/11. The Arabs characters are portrayed with always having accent, wearing traditional attire, untrustworthy, aggressive and almost always associated with terrorism. The continuously falsification could lead to stereotypes, misjudgment, and damage to Arabic culture.
The history of terrorism can be traced back as far as the French revolution. Some of these acts of terrorism only seem as distant reminders of our past, but at the same time, are not a far cry from today’s brutal acts; and although these acts seem distant, it doesn’t also mean they are no longer in the thoughts of individuals in today’s time.
“If the media were not there to report terrorist acts and to explain their political and social significance...terrorism as such would cease to exist” said John O'Sullivan, an editor of the Times of London.1 This is also the way many other people feel about the recent increase in terrorist activity; they feel that the media is causing it. The media is doing this by fulfilling the terrorists' need for publicity.2 Terrorists need media publicity in order to get their views spread to the public.3 Because of this need for publicity, terrorists are committing their acts of terrorism in areas where a lot of publicity will be gained; the United States and Western Europe are the most recent targets. The bombings of the federal building in