After viewing the video of the interview with Said I could not help but begin to contemplate whether or not orientalism was real. I found out that it was a term that he began to use to label what he felt became the problem which is now referred to as orientalism. It is a touchy situation considering the fact that it argues how people attempt to put labels and biases on different cultures and people, but at the same time, isn't that what Said is in turn doing? It is difficult to decipher how I feel as of this point in our class because every video that we have watched so far is displaying the same message to not believe the media or information that we take in from the news, and videos attempting to persuade us of having a different outlook than what is the truth. But, being a 21 year old girl living in the United States, born and raised in the state of New York, is their really a way for me to know the truth?
I am hoping at the end of this class to really understand the problems and understand fully what the definition of orientalism is. I think right now I am almost confused about what to believe, and what not to believe. It seems to be an issue which is far from black and white. Their are so many examples, and obstacles that I feel need to be ironed out before I can actually decide truth from simply more media attempting to shape the way I think.
It is also difficult because no matter what media you take in; either reading a book or article or journal, or simply watching a news cast or video, you are being fed information that the creator wants to infiltrate into your brain and convince you that it is what is truth. It makes it difficult to understand problems and ideas that are located so far away from your own culture. It is very difficult for an American to view these materials as primary sources because of the countless filters that appear in media. The videos and articles, and books work as secondary sources for each individual to pull out what they believe to be true, never really knowing if what it consists of is whats correct, or truthful.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Peace, Propaganda & the Promised Land: US Media and the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict
The Situation:
This film was extremely informative, but very one sided at the same time. Certain parts of the film opened my eyes to certain aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. I was aware that Israel was currently in territory which they had occupied since the 1960s, and I was also aware of the fact that the United Nations Security Council was pleading for a cease fire years ago. What I was unaware of until today in class was the way that Israelis have been plowing down houses and recreating communities to be occupied by Jews. The only thing that was flowing through my head that could be perceived as comparable to these events, and they were also mentioned by a fellow classmate, was the occupation of the Nazis upon the Jews in Poland. Israel is basically attempting to create communities illegally on Palestinian soil and call it there own. This would be like the United States infiltrating Mexico and creating communities for American right beyond the border of the United States and Mexico. I feel that not only is this a violation of countless policies of the United Nations, including the Geneva Convention, but also a human rights problem and war crime. Palestinians are being left with no homes, money, and their belongings, if their lucky, left on the streets.
The USA Media:
It is disgusting how twisted our media is, but not shocking. Considering the fact that Israel has always been a close ally with the United States, it is not shocking that the United States government would support Israel and attempt to cover up what they would perceive as unacceptable news to the public. The conflict is very multifaceted and complicated to the point where research could be done, on both sides, for probably years, and an individual would still be unable to retrieve every fact about the conflict. It hurts me that when we turn on our television, the information that we receive has already been so filtered that it might as well be as credible as reality television. I don't think that the media in the United States will ever be able to be 100% truth because of relations with other nations, and also information and secrets within the government that the public will never be made aware of. As much as I would love to see peace in the Middle East, and some sort of solution surface for the people who are being injured and murdered daily, I honestly don't believe it happening for a long period of time.
Propaganda in Films:
I was appalled by the realism that was conveyed in Reel Bad Arabs. I brought up in class and must reiterate how shocked I was to see Aladdin, the Disney cartoon, brought up in this film. That was one of my favorite films growing up as a child and I think subconsciously I recognized Arabs as "bad people" because of the films portrayal, but it was done in such a clever manner that I never realized how derogatory it was. The lyrics of the song would also simply roll off my tongue, while never realizing what I was saying. The lyrics about cutting throats, I learned, were edited out of the score of music, but there are many children, including myself, who grew up singing these songs while watching the film and not realizing what we were conveying and how racist that was. It definitely proves how propaganda can be used on any age person, and how easily it can be slipped into the minds of young children. Disney is one of the top producers of children's films and they should most definitely not be producing films with such derogatory material for children to learn such negative thoughts about people from other cultures.
This film was extremely informative, but very one sided at the same time. Certain parts of the film opened my eyes to certain aspects of the Israeli-Palestinian Conflict. I was aware that Israel was currently in territory which they had occupied since the 1960s, and I was also aware of the fact that the United Nations Security Council was pleading for a cease fire years ago. What I was unaware of until today in class was the way that Israelis have been plowing down houses and recreating communities to be occupied by Jews. The only thing that was flowing through my head that could be perceived as comparable to these events, and they were also mentioned by a fellow classmate, was the occupation of the Nazis upon the Jews in Poland. Israel is basically attempting to create communities illegally on Palestinian soil and call it there own. This would be like the United States infiltrating Mexico and creating communities for American right beyond the border of the United States and Mexico. I feel that not only is this a violation of countless policies of the United Nations, including the Geneva Convention, but also a human rights problem and war crime. Palestinians are being left with no homes, money, and their belongings, if their lucky, left on the streets.
The USA Media:
It is disgusting how twisted our media is, but not shocking. Considering the fact that Israel has always been a close ally with the United States, it is not shocking that the United States government would support Israel and attempt to cover up what they would perceive as unacceptable news to the public. The conflict is very multifaceted and complicated to the point where research could be done, on both sides, for probably years, and an individual would still be unable to retrieve every fact about the conflict. It hurts me that when we turn on our television, the information that we receive has already been so filtered that it might as well be as credible as reality television. I don't think that the media in the United States will ever be able to be 100% truth because of relations with other nations, and also information and secrets within the government that the public will never be made aware of. As much as I would love to see peace in the Middle East, and some sort of solution surface for the people who are being injured and murdered daily, I honestly don't believe it happening for a long period of time.
Propaganda in Films:
I was appalled by the realism that was conveyed in Reel Bad Arabs. I brought up in class and must reiterate how shocked I was to see Aladdin, the Disney cartoon, brought up in this film. That was one of my favorite films growing up as a child and I think subconsciously I recognized Arabs as "bad people" because of the films portrayal, but it was done in such a clever manner that I never realized how derogatory it was. The lyrics of the song would also simply roll off my tongue, while never realizing what I was saying. The lyrics about cutting throats, I learned, were edited out of the score of music, but there are many children, including myself, who grew up singing these songs while watching the film and not realizing what we were conveying and how racist that was. It definitely proves how propaganda can be used on any age person, and how easily it can be slipped into the minds of young children. Disney is one of the top producers of children's films and they should most definitely not be producing films with such derogatory material for children to learn such negative thoughts about people from other cultures.
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