What is Orientalism, and why is it bad?
Image description: actor Marwan Kenzari in 2019's Aladdin, and 2020's The Old Guard. Side by side example of the same actor in different roles. The left image is Orientalism at play, the right image is not.
What is Orientalism, and why is it bad?
In this post I will explain what Orientalism is, with examples of SWANA (previously known as MENA) characters specifically, and why Orientalism is a harmful trope in media.
What is Orientalism? From the dictionary: Orientalism is the representation of Asia in a stereotyped way that embodies a colonialist attitude.
In my own terms, Orientalism is a depiction of the east through a very White, western lens and often ends up being offensive to the people it is portraying.
For this post I'll be focusing on MENA (Middle Eastern, North African) now known as SWANA (Southwest Asian, North African), and Islamic examples in media.
This post was written to shed light on tired old tropes, and I hope it is useful.
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Examples of Orientalism for SWANA:
1. Yellow filter
Image description: Jake Gyllenhaal as Dastan in Disney’s Prince of Persia movie (2010). There is a yellow filter coloring the whole screen.
That annoying yellow filter onscreen whenever the scene depicts a SWANA or Islamic setting. Most of the scenes in Prince of Persia were yellow.
Kudos to movie The Old Guard on Netflix for NOT using a yellow filter on the scenes filmed in Morocco.
Stop using yellow filter, Hollywood!
Image description: a still from Netflix’s The Old Guard (2020) movie showing the characters in Morocco, with no colored effects over the image.
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2. Aladdin
Image description: Disney’s live action Aladdin remake (2019), showing the characters of the movie, with magical artefacts, and a yellow filter.
Disney's Aladdin shows SWANA characters as highly exoticized fairy tale/story book people with magical genies, exotic talking pets, magic carpets, and other magical artefacts.
Often these fairy tale depictions in western media fall back on mythical settings or made up cities as an excuse to not base their story in a real place, therefore shirking all accountability of providing good representation for the people depicted.
---- 3. Sinbad The Sailor movies
Image description: still from 1947 Sinbad the Sailor, starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr. and Maureen O'Hara. Image shows a depiction of what is supposed to be the harem of the Emir of Daibul.
Sinbad The Sailor was a big deal for older Hollywood. Same issues as Aladdin; exoticized fairy tale elements, skimpy costumes, mythical and magical characters.
Also the cast were often all white people in fake tan, rarely SWANA actors.
(One small mercy: at least back then, Hollywood hadn't developed the annoying yellow filter yet.)
Image description: still from 1977 movie Sinbad and the Eye of the Tiger. Starring Patrick Wayne as Sinbad, and Jane Seymour as ‘the princess’. Yes, they’re both White.
The only good thing I can say about this movie is the stop motion effects by Ray Harryhausen, who also provided effects to 1963′s Jason and the Argonauts.
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4. Prince of Persia
Image description: movie poster variant for Disney’s Prince of Persia (2010) featuring a sandy, blurry cityscape on the left, a magical artefact with a yellow filter in the center, and two white actors (Jake Gyllenhaal, Gemma Arterton) in sexed-up costumes as the main characters.
You should see the theme by now.
More exoticized characters in skimpy costumes with magical powers, under a yellow filter. And more white actors/non-SWANA actors in fake tan depicting SWANA characters.
Here’s a side by side comparison of Disney's ‘SWANA’ princesses:
Image description: poster variants for 2019's Aladdin, and 2010's Prince of Persia.
Someone pass me my sunglasses, all this yellow filter is hurting my eyes.
Both these Disney princesses are presented in a highly exoticized, sexed up fashion, with mythical beasts (Jasmine on the left), and magical props or skills (Tamina on the right).
Neither of the actresses are SWANA or Muslim, they're both British and Christian.
Naomi Scott who played Jasmine is British-Indian background, not Muslim, and as you can see is very light skinned. Hiring her over a darker skinned actress is colorism (favoring western standards of beauty: lighter skin, western features).
Gemma Arterton who played Tamina is white British.
Disney made both these movies ten years apart with virtually no other SWANA representation in between.
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Why is Orientalism harmful?
Because it's othering.
Exoticizing real people in media is a bad trope. Bad tropes affect and harm real people, because those bad tropes affect other people's perceptions of us and affect their attitudes towards us.
Especially with rising Islamophobia in the west.
Hollywood either shows SWANA as seductive, scantily clad, Seven Veils dancing, magical temptresses for women... or silent-yet-angry action men/angry terrorists for men.
There is rarely an in between. (Maybe a hacker/thief in the supporting cast, if you are lucky.)
And then the worst part of all those harmful tropes is Hollywood/mainstream media will still perpetuate colorism by hiring white, non SWANA, non Muslim, light skinned actors for the 'good guy' roles, then at the same time only hiring SWANA, Muslim and brown or dark skinned actors for 'baddie' roles. (Just Google Disney’s recent Ms Marvel casting for these exact examples. Fix Ms Marvel!)
Hollywood will hire us to play baddies, but not to play goodies. There is a blatant agenda at play, and that agenda is rooted in racism and Islamophobia.
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How to spot Orientalism in media:
Next time you see a SWANA or Muslim character onscreen, ask these questions
1. Are they a 'good guy' and if so are they being exoticized in some way? Costume, magical abilities or magical props? How light is their skin? Would they 'pass' as white? Is the actor playing them SWANA or Muslim?
2. Or are they a cardboard cut-out villain? In which case, how brown is their skin? Is the actor playing them SWANA or Muslim?
3. What is the storyline? Is it being told through a white lens? Is it a white savior narrative? Who wrote it, who made it? Where was it filmed?
4. Is there a yellow filter (I hope not!)
Just these basic questions usually tell you what you need to know if a piece of media is participating in harmful tropes toward SWANA or not.
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As a parting note, shout out once again to Netflix’s The Old Guard movie (2020) for not falling into as many traps as most Hollywood movies do.
For comparison, here is a quick side by side of actor Marwan Kenzari, who plays both Jafar in Aladdin and also Joe in The Old Guard.
Image description: Kenzari as Jafar, Kenzari as Joe
Look at this difference!
On the left, every example of Orientalism on display. That yellow filter. The exoticized costume. Magical props, talking animal, and magical abilities. It's basically a Pantomime character. He looks more like the stage-show version of Jafar than a live action blockbuster movie released in 2019 should look.
On the right, Kenzari looks virtually the same out of costume (I'm so glad they let him be a good guy with facial hair! Usually facial hair = villain when it comes to SWANA!). There's no silly yellow filter. He is a regular looking human being, and yet his character still possesses magical abilities in this movie.
The difference is he isn't being exoticized in The Old Guard.
Can we get more rep like Joe in The Old Guard, please?
And before anyone says I'm coming after Pantomime characters, I'm not. I saw the stage show Aladdin, I enjoy bawdy theatre as much as the next person. I must reiterate that the reason Orientalism is bad is that it’s the only representation SWANA and Muslims have of themselves on the big screen.
If there was MORE representation in general, and MORE nuanced depictions of SWANA and Muslims in media, then the sporadic racist content Disney puts out wouldn't matter as much because they wouldn't be THE ONLY rep.
And that's why I was so relieved to see The Old Guard pave the way to better representation. I'm not saying it was a perfect movie either. I'm saying that it shows better representation is possible.
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Originally posted on my blog, magnificentlynerdy.blogspot.com
