The Dictator or the Muslim Stereotype?
"The Dictator", an American parody film featuring Sacha Baron Cohen, hits upon almost every single Arab stereotype that exists in this day and age. The outright "toilet humor" this movie embodies further enforces stereotypes against Muslims, and adds to the stereotypical vocabulary of its viewers. The themes of this movie range from violent dictatorships (implied by the title) to male dominance of North-African and Middle-Eastern society to references to various terrorist figures and events.While the movie does also reveal some faults in America itself, far more attention is given to comedic Islamophobic themes.
Like many movies featuring Muslims, "The Dictator" shows Muslims as poverty-stricken people without very much intelligence, living in a constant state of war. The main character, General Aladeen, rules the North-African country of Wadiya with brutal military force. Aladeen has amassed a fortune from Wadiyan oil, and it appears as if he and his inner circle are the only people with any money in all of Wadiya. As leader of Wadiya, Aladeen devotes his efforts to making nuclear weapons with which he plans to destroy Israel. After surviving an assassination attempt, Aladeen flees to America where he stays until he safely regains his throne in Wadiya. Throughout his time in the United States, Aladeen comes into contact with plenty of Americans. Most of these Americans reveal their inner stereotypes when they come into contact with Aladeen. For example, a family is uncomfortable when they fly around New York in a helicopter with Aladeen, and one man even goes so far as to say "I hate Arabs" when he meets Aladeen. Instead of proving these stereotypes false, Aladeen enforces the stereotypes through his actions. Ironically, the one character who sees Aladeen as a human being remains ignorant to his actions and ends up marrying the sexist and violent character. Without a doubt, "The Dictator" follows the classic Hollywood glamorization of otherizing human beings.
Like many movies featuring Muslims, "The Dictator" shows Muslims as poverty-stricken people without very much intelligence, living in a constant state of war. The main character, General Aladeen, rules the North-African country of Wadiya with brutal military force. Aladeen has amassed a fortune from Wadiyan oil, and it appears as if he and his inner circle are the only people with any money in all of Wadiya. As leader of Wadiya, Aladeen devotes his efforts to making nuclear weapons with which he plans to destroy Israel. After surviving an assassination attempt, Aladeen flees to America where he stays until he safely regains his throne in Wadiya. Throughout his time in the United States, Aladeen comes into contact with plenty of Americans. Most of these Americans reveal their inner stereotypes when they come into contact with Aladeen. For example, a family is uncomfortable when they fly around New York in a helicopter with Aladeen, and one man even goes so far as to say "I hate Arabs" when he meets Aladeen. Instead of proving these stereotypes false, Aladeen enforces the stereotypes through his actions. Ironically, the one character who sees Aladeen as a human being remains ignorant to his actions and ends up marrying the sexist and violent character. Without a doubt, "The Dictator" follows the classic Hollywood glamorization of otherizing human beings.
In his article, "Reel Bad Arabs", Jack Shaheen touches on many characteristics of Hollywood films depicting Arabs that are also prominent in "The Dictator". Shaheen notes that "only 12 percent of the world's Muslims are Arab. Yet, moviemakers ignore this reality, depicting Arabs and Muslims as one and the same people" (Shaheen 4). This can be seen throughout "The Dictator", which only shows Arab Muslims and even goes so far as to include characters who state, "I hate Arabs". Interestingly, much like many of the films Shaheen cites in his essay, "The Dictator" links "the Islamic faith with male supremacy, holy war, and acts of terror, depicting Muslims as hostile alien intruders, and as lecherous, oily sheikhs intent on using nuclear weapons"(Shaheen 9). By merely stating anti-Muslim stereotypes, Shaheen quite adequately summarized the entire scope of "The Dictator".
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While some may argue that this movie was intended to act as a satirical film and show the irony behind stereotypes against Muslims, the fact is that this movie does attaches little positive characteristics to Muslims. Every non-aristocratic Muslim depicted in the film is shown as either impoverished or lacking intelligence or both. As Shaheen stated, "convenient stereotypes make everyone's job easier"(Shaheen 30). If a Hollywood filmmaker wanted to make a lucrative comedy, why not incorporate all available Anti-Muslim stereotypes into one film? "Rather than having to pen a good joke, the writer inserts a stumbling, bumbling sheikh"(Shaheen 30). "The Dictator" epitomizes this relationship between the monetary gains that stem from easy-to-write jokes that require little to no creativity.
Another factor that may have played a role in the writing of this movie was a desire to capitalize on America's sense of identity. As Christopher Greene states in his essay, "Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy", depicting Islamic people as lesser humans helps "Americans affirm their sense of general success in the face [...] of the inability of foreign nations to live up to American ideals"(Greene 75). "The Dictator" outlines time and time again that Arabs and Muslims do not fit the American image of a good, moral human. While this does add comedy to the movie, it reinforces negative stereotypes against those living in the Middle East.
Another factor that may have played a role in the writing of this movie was a desire to capitalize on America's sense of identity. As Christopher Greene states in his essay, "Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy", depicting Islamic people as lesser humans helps "Americans affirm their sense of general success in the face [...] of the inability of foreign nations to live up to American ideals"(Greene 75). "The Dictator" outlines time and time again that Arabs and Muslims do not fit the American image of a good, moral human. While this does add comedy to the movie, it reinforces negative stereotypes against those living in the Middle East.
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However, while "The Dictator" is filled with racist jokes, it does utilize irony to show some problems rampant in America. In his final speech advocating for a dictatorship, General Aladeen states many things that stem from a dictatorship which are actually a large part of American life. For example, he states, "Imagine if America was a dictatorship. You could let 1% of the people have all the nation's wealth. You could help your rich friends get richer by cutting their taxes. [...] You could ignore the needs of the poor for health care and education. Your media would appear free, but would secretly be controlled by one person and his family. You could wiretap phones. You could torture foreign prisoners." This quote outlines the redeeming quality of this film which illustrates wide scope of America's racist and unjust behavior, and although America is seen as a great country, it is, in reality, wrought with problems due to its corrupt government.
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Whether it promotes prejudice or challenges democracy, "The Dictator" reveals much about the state of Muslims as the other. On one hand, the movie attacks Muslims and Middle-Easterners in every way imaginable. On the other, the movie outlines the ignorance behind racism and prejudice by depicting the main character as such an unintelligent and unrealistic figure. This raises the question of how to combat the otherization of Muslims. Should people remove all Muslim stereotypes from their vocabulary? Or rather accept and embrace the stereotypes in order to help bring light to the fact that humans are a very diverse species. "The Dictator" clearly utilizes the latter, but in a time of such strained relations and nationalistic beliefs, the movie might have done more harm than good.
References:
"Reel Bad Arabs"-Jack Shaheen
"Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy"-Christopher Greene
"Reel Bad Arabs"-Jack Shaheen
"Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy"-Christopher Greene