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Islamophobia and Media

Studies since 9/11

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INTERNATIONAL ISLAMIC UNIVESITY ,ISLMABAD

• RESEARCHERS

• HUMA HAFEEZ

• HUMAIRA MASSOD

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Statement of problem

• Is to examine portrayal of Muslims in

Hollywood movies in a manner that creates

personal hate and prejudice in the heart

and mind of International Viewers.

• The consequence of which is faced by

those Muslims who are living within United

States and Europe.

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• Is to take account various details of images and dialogues to extract the intended signified through various scenes of movie.

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Research Questions• Can Media be held responsible for shaping public opinions?

• How had the media treated Islam Since 9/11 ?

• What impact Western Media have on rest of the work ?

• Can media be held responsible for propagating Islamophobia ?

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Literature review

ISLOMOPHOBIA Marxist theory

Semiotics

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Islamophobia is defined as the fear or dread of Muslims

and their religion Islam

. Under such abhorrence Muslims have been portrayed as

barbaric, ignorant, closed-minded, semi-citizens,

maddened terrorists or intolerant religious zealots

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MARXIST THEORY

• Media as a mirror of society controlled by economic and political social structures

• Power of media to manipulate minds

• Money makers and filthy rich class devise the ideologies and make profit out of it

• Careful selection of footage and images consume by general public

• Economic ownership and control on content leads to power access at the expense of masses

91-Term initiated by Charles sander pierce2-A Mean through which sign convey meanings 3-Divide sign into three distinct categories: iconic, indexical and symbolic4-Iconic sign is a true imitation of shared characteristics between sign and signifier5-Indexical sign contains cause and effect relation 6-Symbolic sign has social and conventional basis, it has to be learn as it does not comes naturally

Semiotics

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METHODOLOGY Barthes tools of Semiotic Analysis has been used on a movie which is a North American Smoke house production SIX variables have been employed.

THE INOCULATION

NOTION OF MYTH

PRIVATION OF

HISTORY

CONNOTATION AND DENOTATION

THE STATEMENT

OF FACT

IDENTIFICAT

ION OF

OTHER WITH

THE SELF

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SYNOPSIS

OF MOVIE

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DENOTATION & CONNOTATION

• A CIA Officer

• Six Hostages

• Angry Mob of Iranian People

Three signifiers

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DENOTATION

A person holding American flag which has been set on fire .

• Analysis on surface level. • People of Iran waiting outside

American embassy with placards and Khomeini posters & Loud chants and slogans. (Argo, 5:11)

14An angry mob rushes into the gates of Embassy and takes 50 people as a hostage.

Escaped hostages are rescued by the CIA officer and taken back to America safely (Argo, 10m: 34s)

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Connotation

The hidden meaning

CIA Officer reflects American imperialist power

Citizen of Iran and their cause to have an Islamic

Country has been wrongly portrayed

American hostages depict the epitome of civilized

nation

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Iranian revolution as a reflection of racist and Islamophobic stereotype Iranians as religious fanatics Ignorance of Islamist cause, present at the right wing of revolution

Notion of myth

17Privation of history Ben Affleck has completely ignored the history and the real cause behind

the revolution. In 1953 Americans appointed Shah Reza Pahlavi as a new king in

exchange of oil trade. (Argo, 1:05). This sequel has completely ignored the background story that raised

people of Iran to such an extent that they end up in a revolution.

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• . In Anglo Iranian company British government hold a major share. By the 1950’s nearly 10% of the world’s oil

came through Anglo Iranian oil refineries.

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Mossadegh raised the issue of nationalizing oil refineries.The revolution in this sense had a right meaning in it which has been portrayed unjustly in the movie

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Inoculation:• Inoculation is a technique that is used to highlight only darker aspects of any issue or event. It focuses more on minor evils of society and conceals the truth behind them by hiding bigger evils. With the help of

images(Argo,4m:05s) he has tried to draw an idea that defines Iranian nation that has wronged them in making decision to create an Islamic Revolution

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• A scene where the Muslim masses outside the embassy are depicted in mostly wide shots as an undifferentiated, unintelligible crowd, the moment a camera goes inside the embassy and meet American characters, it get close-ups, humanity, individualized characters and dialogue one can understand.(5M:14S)

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Throughout the film, Iran is depicted as a terrifying place where traitors are hung in

public and menacing Muslim mobs lurk around every corner, ready to confront the

protagonists each time they venture outside (Argo, 5:37)

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• The film is particularly selective in

using subtitles to humanize certain

characters and not others.

• A young female servant in the home

of the Canadian ambassador where the

American characters take shelter is

given a name and translated dialogue.

• When Americans speak Farsi, their

words are almost always translated

• Where as The political chants and

banners that might help us understand

the demands of the protesting crowds

are almost never translated.

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• In Iranian setting red and black color are quite prevalent. Women are wearing black veils connoting mysteriousness and fear, and men are holding placards with red color in them which refers to war, anger, and despair.

• It stimulates people to make hasty decisions which according to the film maker are a big hamartia of Iranian people.

• By introducing red color in Iranian setting, film maker has tried to create a phobic image in the mind of the recipient that there is a constant danger lurking behind. Hence the viewer’s get repellent to Iranian scenes.

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•On the other Hand• There are cards made by children wishing safe return of hostages with

yellow ribbons hanging on the wall. Yellow ribbons are used by the film maker as an image that attracts the viewers and gives positive feeling. Yellow color is associated with joy, happiness, mental and intellectual energy which shows that American citizens possess all the healthy qualities (Argo, 12:50). Appendix 3, D

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IDENTIFICATION OF THE OTHER WITH THE SELF

• In ‘Argo’ Reality is presented in a generalized form

•To achieve this [pressure cooker situation], Argo also forgoes historical accuracy, and should be taken as a dramatization of real events for pure entertainment value.

•There are three events that has pictured in Argo that in reality never happened.

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-That Has Been Added By Ben Affleck Is Only To Dramatize The Hostage Crisis

-To Show Behavior Of Common People In Iran. In Other Words It’s Only The Ideological Campaign Known As To Be Islamophobia.

-Which Is Against Muslims To Examine The Rise Of Anti-muslim And Anti-arab Sentiments In The West Through Production Of Movie Like ‘Argo’. Market Clip

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FINALLY EXIT SCENE FROM IRAN• They face a very jittery encounter with the boarding officials at the airport

• Yet it was another piece that was completely invented to give misconception about Iranian army that lack common sense and can be trapped easily by making false stories as well as to show their conservative approach towards westernization or liberty.

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BEFORE TAKEOFF SCENEWhen the group is finally on the plane, and very close to tasting freedom, they are chased by the Iranian military that is ready to shoot their aircraft down.

It was also another segment in the film that was entirely fabricated.

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INFACT, ONE OF HOSTAGE HAD SAID…

“The truth is the immigration officers barely looked at us and we were processed out in the regular way. We got on the flight to Zurich and then we were taken to the US ambassador’s residence in Berne. It was that straightforward.”

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THE STATEMENT OF FACT

Language is an important element through which ideas

can be shaped. It is a power of discourse that imprints

certain ideologies in people’s mind.

The use of words in Argo has been carefully constructed

to give the intended meaning to its viewers

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• No translation has been given to the Iranian people who are working in a revolution.

On the other hand American hostages have been indorsed with good speaking skills. They are fortunate creatures who can speak two languages at a time i.e. Farsi and EnglishThis signifies that the movie maker has deliberately

broken the contact of Iranians from rest of the world, in order to push back their just cause of having an Islamic State with no external threats.

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• film maker has given voice to only American cause, marginalizing and completely ignoring the other group.

• They want to exert their authority by using strong derogatory terms and abusive language.

• In a scene when the protagonist enters State Department, there is a voice in the background; this voice is of the then American president Jimmy Carter. In his speech he is saying that…..

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“Actions Of Iran Have Shocked The Civilized World. They May Not Understand What Their Ordeal Means To Their Countrymen. At This Nation, Their Nation Is Out Raged And One

Cannot Really Know What It Is Like Inside The Prison That Was Once Our Embassy” (Argo,

13:84)

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PRESS CONFERENCE HELD BY IRANIAN STUDENTS

• “The US has failed to defend human rights it does not only failed to defend them it has violated them for all nations. We demand extradition of a man who for 47 years with the US support has killed month old babies in the arms of their mothers” (Argo, 19:56).

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Statement by American journalist in response to Iranian press conference

• “If the Americans tried military force to rescue the hostages the students will kill them all and blow up the embassy” (Argo, 19:58).

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SUGGESTIONS • Media organizations should take positive measures , which could include supportive schemes for production houses in training , to ensure the recruitment of more Employees from Muslim background.

• There are several excellent websites providing reliable information about Islam . They should be widely publicized amongst all sources of media studies.

• Stereotypes are self-perpetuating unless people challenge them. Once they are challenged, writers tend to back off , or at least start to qualify themselves.

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CONCLUSION

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REFERENCES

• GRANT, HESLOV & BEN, AFFLECK. 2012. ARGO. NORTH AMERICA: SMOKEHOUSE PICTURES.

• GARDNER, ROD, KARAKASOGLU, YASEMIN, “ISLAMOPHOBIA IN THE MEDIA A RESPONSE FROM

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• MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION”, WEB. RETRIEVED ON MARCH 28, 2013.

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• ISLAMOPHOBIA: A DEFINITION. 2004 RETRIEVED MARCH 30, 2013 FROM THE WORLD WIDE WEB:

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• HTTP://WWW.ISLAMOPHOBIA-WATCH.COM/ISLAMOPHOBIA-A-DEFINITION.

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ANY

QUESTIONS ????