I havn'tseen this film but found a site on the sinternet that claimed it was racist and showed the arab world in a bad light.
Is this true?
I need a film to comment on for my media coursework. It has to have been released 2003 onweards. My title is the representation of arabs in the media.
Any help would be great!
This movie is not racist because shiek ryiadh becomes a friend of Frank hopkins at the end and also there an arabic man who has been killed while helping Frank hopkins in the middle of the race when they release the cheetas to kill frank hopkins
shareI've read every entry here. I find the opinions very diverse. I am of the same opinion as those from the middle east: I did not see the prejudice at all. I have some reasons.
The shiek was always obediant to his understanding of his religion.
1. He was hospitable. It was his main characteristic. People of the middle east respect hospitality more than we know. Think about it. While anyone is wandering around in the desert, remember that to refuse hospitality is to invite death. The Englishwoman, by contrast, though she lived many years in the middle east, understood nothing about their values. That was unique to her: it had nothing to do with the fact that she was English.
2. He was obediant to his view of justice. It was not cruel: he believed that he need not use torture although it was in his mandate.
3. He was actually quite broad minded something I don't think anyone has meantioned. He spoils his only offspring unmercifally: he is a typical father who keeps on fighting rear guard actions. He daughter is very willful. I think all fathers have extra muscles in their eyes to roll them to the roof.
The best parts of the Arab world come out in the daughter as well. She knows her place: you could argue that place is not as you would have it, but she never could live in his world any more than he could live in hers. That is not prejudice so much as it is reality. They love each other deeply, but both know nothing can come of it. It doesn't stop them from knowing who the other is. She preserves the mystery that an unconsumated relationship brings. Neither will forget it as they turn to their separate duties.
I enjoyed the movie. I cannot find anything in it that suggests anything other than a rip snorting good adventure with wonderfully drawn main characters.
The minor characters would be scumbags no matter what religion they belonged to.
It is VERY racist and inaccurate in many aspects concerning Islam and the arab region at that time. I as an arab was offended deeply, and dissappointed that this movie actually made it in theatres in my country. However, as a universal citizen i take a humble view of these things for they convey the ignorance of some and i should not mull over it too long. Its dissappointing though for a fine actor like Viggo who barely picks up a project a year to diminish his stature and steep as low as to offend nations that has thousands of his fans.
shareHere's the problem:
Every one of these characters has a big flaw. The only exceptions are Hopkins and the young girl; one American and one Arab. Because the movie takes place in a Middle Eastern country, most of the flaws we see are in Arab characters, simply beacause there are so many Arab characters. But this doesn't necessarily mean the movie was meant to be racist. As I said before, the only developed characters we can see as true "good guys" are Hopkins and Jazira, one from each of the two different groups. Also, Jazira's father has many good characteristics and is redeemed by the end of the story, while one of the most dislikeable characters was a white European lady. This movie was made in America and its central character was American, so of course it will have a deeper understanding of American culture than Middle Eastern, but I don't think that makes it racist.
Bottom line: There IS racism in the world, a lot of it. There is plenty of hostility between cultures and individuals without people generating more. Why don't we focus on ending war and hate crimes, and THEN we can go over action movies with a fine-tooth comb? Belive it or not, there are more serious things out there than Hidalgo.
"mclally"...
I totally agree with you
Someone said they heard this film portrayed Arabs in a bad light. Well, last time I checked, most middle eastern Arabs show us nothing good. They double gas prices. They beat and stone their women. Suicide bombings. Hijackings. Last time I checked, they haven't done much to prove otherwise.
"Lookie! Built you a little fry house!''
you guys spend too much time on this
As I was walking to St.Paul's
A woman came over and said can I grab your...arm
You're racist for even thinking it's racist.
by the way, I'm having pork for dinner tonight.
"In this business, we're not men, we're only bullets that can be replaced."
Ponder on this for two seconds:
The muslim calls the American "infidel".
The American does not call the muslim "muslim". (or anything else for that matter)
If anything this film is racist against Athiests. (or all non-muslims)
Real life isn't much different: a muslim can say anything against anyone and get away with it because of religious beliefs.
But the other way around?? Watch out! Jihad coming!
In the real world the muslims are taking over the world and the rest of us have to sit and watch it happen.
There! I said it!
"In the real world the muslims are taking over the world and the rest of us have to sit and watch it happen."
What a pathetic racist looser you are.
------------------------------------
what's the problem? It's true. Europe is in deep trouble
"I won't say a single solitary slovo unless I have my lawyer here. I know the law, you bastards"
Oh really?
Who's calling who a racist? Hmmm?
As always it's the muslim that cries racism!
How many churches or synagogues are there in downtown Baghdad? Or in downtown Rabat? Or how about Bahrain? Afghanistan? Iran?
Everybody knows that a Christian church in Irak wouldn't last very long.
Christians would be run out of the country faster than you can say spit.
Try that with a mosque and the entire Muslim community will come down on you and before you can say Ali Baba, there will be massive media coverage of screaming Muslims all over the world pleading for justice.
And you know it!
I'm persoanlly sick and tired of Muslims getting away with everything in the name of religion. If anything, the religion of Islam should be banned.
Wanna know why?
Muslims are too uptight, you can't take a joke, you disrespect women by making them cover themselves up (and you brainwash them into thinking it's a good idea), you constantly worry about failing Allah's will and you're always watching eachother to make sure you don't get too Westernized or say anything bad about your own religion.
And heaven forbid you would agree with a non-Muslim about anything negative concerning Islam. Cos then you can kiss your 72 virgins goodbye.
Oh....and what if they're 72 *male* virgins, eh? :-)
Arabs in this film are as humanized as the mythical Indians in any 50s-vintage Hollywood Western. In other words, they are depicted as noble savages, clownish Others, regular savages. There's even an Indian Princess among them for good measure.
Anyone in the mood to see an apologia for Western imperialism and Manifest Destiny might as well watch a well-made example of it, like Raiders of the Lost Ark, rather than this clunker of a movie.
Muslims ARE slowly taking over a little at a time, pushed by the fiery beast known as 'political correctness'. Every other religion can be downed, such as Christians, but they/we sit idly by while it happens. Take for instance Keith Ellison. The guy's a Muslim which was voted in because 1/3 of the population is Muslim. 95% of the students at the local high school in Dearborn, Michigan (sp) are Muslim. There are more mosques than Christian churches - or synagogues. Let's face it guys, the Koran is NOT a book of peace, it's a book on hatred, lies, racism towards anyone who's not Muslim - even death to those who don't convert. The killing of Christians is overly encouraged.
The Koran says it is ok for a Muslim to deceive and work its cancer slowly in the bowels of society, detouring the law of the land in the name of Islam. Keith Ellison, the 5th congressional district congressman didn't swear on the Bible (which is his personal right), but the Koran. Give the Muslim jihads a point for actually funding and helping an American hating muslim into public office. What the hell is wrong with this country?? Also, give closet muslims such as Oprah Winfrey, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton points for a lot of it. There are a number of US officials who dislike the idea of a Muslim running or gaining a seat in public office - and I don't blame them.
People can say what they want, the war in Iraq is a crusade in disguise. The meeting between President Bush and the Pope was not only a historic event, it was a sign to the Muslims that the Crusade is still persisting , which not only is scaring individual Muslims, but whole Muslim states. It's time that members of other religions (mainly Christians, the most popular faith in America) go to the ACLU and boycott because of the racist attitude from Muslims towards Christians.
You can bet your bottom dollar that a white Christian could virtually do nothing, but give a Muslim an inch and the little serpent will weave a mile out of hatred and simple racism.
In essence, Muslims in America who stand up against this country should be tried for treason. If America is such a devil based country, why do so many Muslims come to the US to live? Ulterior motives, maybe? I don't know about you guys, but I stay away from places and people I don't like. If I don't like it, I'll avoid it, especially if I absolutely hated it because of the people who were there.
It's a double standard and people need to rise up and say enough of the anti-American campaign that's been going on in this country for the last five years. Take it to them and deal with them wherever they are instead of letting them slowly infiltrate America. Bush knew this and this is why we're wiping out hundreds of thousands insurgents, who otherwise would not care to come to America and blow themselves up in Wal-MArt. I'm uberly surprised that a suicide bomber hasn't struck some crowded landmark in America.
"You can't triple stamp a double stamp. You can't triple stamp a double stamp."
Sorry, but I have to take this.
Zoepetier;
"Everybody knows that a Christian church in Irak wouldn't last very long."
I'm sorry to be blunt, but are you an idiot? Christian populations have existed in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt and elsewhere for millennia. In the specific case of Iraq, they did especially well under the Ba'ath Party (look up Tariq Aziz, the Iraqi foreign minister). Also look up the Maronite militias and government troops that figured so prominently in the Lebanese civil war.
When you're done with that, call up your high school and ask for a refund on your history and geography classes. You're in urgent need of an education. So's your friend Bub, who apparently doesn't know that Christians and Jews are covered in the Koran as fellow believers in God, and who thinks Bush meeting with the Pope means a crusade's coming. (The Catholic Church, FYI, embraces Muslims along with Jews as believers in the same God who can also go to heaven. So if you're planning any crusades against Islam in the future, include us in as well).
Ahhhh... nothing pisses me off like this kind of idiocy. All it takes is a computer, an encyclopedia and the ability to read, but no, let's instead go and listen to some idiot like Virgil Goode or Jean-Marie Le Pen, assume that everything he says about Islam and Muslims is true and repeat it on every website we can find. If we're lucky, maybe enough people will believe us. The scary thing is that it actually works.
"I ought to tell you something."
"Don't get sentimental now, Dad, save it for when we get out of here."
"The floor's on fire."
Funnily enough, I was going to dispute the assertion that Hidalgo was racist before the two above showed up on my screen...
For what it's worth, I didn't find the movie racist. It wasn't as well researched as it could have been, so stereotyping, OK, I could see that, but there's no intention to disparage Arabs or Muslims as a people. The closest thing to a serious theme in the film was actually pretty anti-racist (Hidalgo beating Al-Hattal was about an "impure" half-breed beating centuries of breeding. Point being that will is more important than blood, something Frank and Jazira both mention at different times in the film). And for those who think this was U.S. propaganda, the movie started at Wounded Knee. Not exactly our finest hour.
Granted that the film also shows Muslims doing things that the Koran would never sanction... but seriously, does that never happen in real life? Yes, technically Jazira could never have been anyone's "fifth wife" because of the "no more than four wives" rule, but people like the Saudi royals have been ignoring or bypassing that one for centuries. There have always been those who use the name of religion to satisfy their own desires - see the Catholic hierarchy during the Middle-Ages, or the televangelists and megachurch pastors in present-day America.
"I ought to tell you something."
"Don't get sentimental now, Dad, save it for when we get out of here."
"The floor's on fire."
Wow. Just. Wow. Hard to believe you people could fill up with 5 pages of this crap. Lets just all agree that it seems we are all racist and be done with it. I hate you, you hate me, drop it, move on. The world is a better place now. Perfect.
shareWOW!!! Who knew this topic would be a hot button
shareA movie where a bad guy happens to be Arab makes it racist?!?!?
Honestly it is rediculous to say this movie is racist. The fact that they are arabs is inconsequential with regards to how they act or are portrayed. The story stems from a culture clash yes, but the Arabs don't dislike the guy because he is white they dislike him because they don't think he deserves to be there because he has not earned it. And everyones actions stem from that. The arabs are portrayed as being good and bad like anyone else. The movie has the same kind of mentality as a western where race was always a issue, whether it be native american, mexican, chinese or in this case Arab. But just because a movie is about race (only a small part in this film) that doesn't make it rasist.
All religions are bad. Not just Islam or Christianity, all of it needs to go away if we are to survive as a species.
Hednahären leds av Vintersorg!!!
Any movie not made by someone of an arabic decent, and not sanctified by a muslim cleric is racist because that is the way it is.
I think this movie is more guilty of painting the Americans as more progressive than others. The main character's respect towards women and slaves attempt to reflect American attitudes of the time - which is complete bullcrap. Sure American's did not own slaves at this time, but I would hardly say that attitudes towards Black-Americans was anything progressive or respectful. Furthermore, women were also unable to vote, hold jobs, werent considered persons.
So what really makes the movie racist, if that is what it is, is that it shows the Arab values of the time but glosses over American values by having a progressive lead representing all Americans. This is nothing more than propaganda and revisionist history ala The Patriot :S
"So what really makes the movie racist, if that is what it is, is that it shows the Arab values of the time but glosses over American values by having a progressive lead representing all Americans. This is nothing more than propaganda and revisionist history ala The Patriot"
For crying out loud, it portrayed the massacre at Wounded Knee, what more do you want?
And Hopkins wasn't meant to be a representation of America, that's why he raced under the Sioux symbol instead of the stars and stripes. He's a Sioux/American half-breed who's essentially been left without a home now that one of his two people's slaughtered the other. The reason he's friendly towards the slave isn't because he's a "progressive American," it's because he knows what it's like to be treated as less than human (by the Americans) and doesn't like it.
"I ought to tell you something."
"Don't get sentimental now, Dad, save it for when we get out of here."
"The floor's on fire."
arabian people are the people in the location of the arabian desert. Which in this movies case..they are in the arabian desert...surrounded by arabs. You must also remember this movie is set in the late 19th century..saudi arabia didnt exist then. And the entire area surrounding the eprsian gulf was known as arabia.
share