It is very clear that the American media, especially Hollywood, has a severe representation problem. Recent backlash from the public over the “whitewashing” of movies such as “Gods of Egypt” and “The Forest” has further brought the American entertainment industry into the limelight over its casting practices. A common justification of these actions is that the media does not often depict minority groups because its goal is to appeal to the greater majority of viewers, or the “average person.” But what if that “minority group” was actually the second largest religious group in the world? Muslims, especially Muslim women, are nearly impossible to find on television and in movies. The few that do appear are “villains who praise Allah while plotting the West’s destruction” or their characters are underdeveloped and oversimplified. Since many practicing Muslim women wear the hijab, a cloth or garment that covers the hair, they should be easy to pinpoint on TV. But this is impossible if they are not there. Consequently, I cannot name one show that features a Muslim character — male or female.
Sakina Al-Amin is an American Muslim and a published author whom describes the general fear and discomfort towards Muslims as “Islamophobia.” She created a list of shows she has found that have the best positive Muslim representation, which upon closer examination, is actually rather alarming. For in this list is Sayyid Jarrah from “Lost”, a previous torturer for the Iraqi government, and Nicholas Brody of “Homeland,” who is possibly a terrorist but supposedly actually a good guy on the inside. So even the most positive role models and most fairly represented Muslims still can’t shake their anti-American stereotype.
It can also be noted that there is no representation on “sensitive channels” such as The Learning Channel (TLC), which normally covers interesting persons and minority groups. Shows such as “Breaking Amish” and “My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding” strive to educate and relinquish prejudice against such minority culture groups as the Amish and Gypsies. But a similar show called “All American Muslim," aired in 2011, was cancelled after its first season due to low views and loss of advertisers such as Lowe’s, who received heavy criticism for being a sponsor. So it seems that Americans are not ready to learn about and relinquish their prejudices against Muslims.
Ignorance and an unwillingness to accept Muslim-Americans are definitely factors of the unpopularity of Islamic-focused shows. Political turmoil in the Middle East and the recent refugee crisis have made talking about Islam in the US almost taboo. But “playing it safe” by ignoring the subject altogether usually means ignoring the existence of Muslim-Americans all together. There may even be a more disturbing factor than just old-fashioned prejudice and racism. For the past almost two decades, the United States has been in either war or hostile pseudo-combat with entire countries or political groups in the Middle East. “Normalizing” the presence of Muslim-Americans and the peaceful Muslim majority may dissuade the American people from continuing to fight. The propaganda of war has always been to demonize the enemy, or in this case, make them not exist. The world Muslim population has simply inherited the “bad guy” role from the communist Russians, the favorite villains of Cold War Era detective shows and thrillers. After the fall of the Soviet Union, the media needed a new stereotype to fill the shoes of "America's Biggest Fear."
Unfortunately, Muslims and Middle Easterners were chosen to play this role.
