Does the media industry promote islamophobia through films such as ‘Four Lions’ and ‘The Hurt Locker’? Is this a concern?

The media industry chooses to focus on ethnic minorities to explore terrorism within films, and these minorities are usually Asian men, specifically Muslim. “Islamophobia is prejudice against, hatred or fear of Islam or Muslims. The term seems to date back to the late 1980s, but came into common usage after the 9/11 attacks in the United States”. It refers to types of “political dialogue that appeared prejudicially resistant to pro-Islamic argument”. It could be argued that worldwide consumers of this media are familiar with viewing a specific minority attempting to destroy the world in media texts. In reality, Muslims are being racially targeted and becoming victims of islamophobia. This essay will explore how the media industry promotes islamaphobia in society by using characters within their films which portray stereotypical Muslims as terrorists. In addition, this essay will explore the concerns developing from this, including moral panics and the way audiences react to the media.

Four Lions is a production based on four Muslim men who are portrayed to be idiotic terrorists; this implicit use of satire promotes islamophobia as the characters explicitly oppose conforming to the norms of society. For example, one protagonist pretends to be a terrorist during a debate on terrorism. After this the protagonist is removed from the building and forced in a car of another protagonist (Barry). Barry a white Muslim convert purposely drives into a wall attempting to teach the younger protagonist a lesson which is not revealed to the audience. And so, these characters representing the religion of Islam, dressed in traditional clothing, represent “a dynamic of a bunch of guys who get together and mess everything up”. The male protagonists are represented to be dim witted, and therefore negatively portrayed in comparison to females, who in this production are represented to be strong, decisive and succeders. The use of a role reversal empowers females and challenges the theory of the Cultural Myth (Barthes, 1967). The theory of the Cultural Myth states that women are passive and need saving by men. In the case of Four Lions, the only female is shown to have a feminist power whilst instructing the men that they are acting disgracefully. However, the female protagonist is then belittled by the men and dismissed, on the basis that she is inferior because she is unreligious and female, restoring the media industry’s neutrality regarding Islam and gender roles. This emphasises that the media industry represents the Muslim men to be dominant and determined to terrorise. In addition, Four Lions promotes the belief that Muslim men have no direction in life and therefore turn to terrorism. This is particularly emphasised when Waj (one of the four lions) buys a kebab and then informs the town’s people that he is a terrorist. This lunacy is reiterated with the use of irony by producer Chris Morris where he directed the protagonists to sacrifice sheep and attach bombs to crows to add a comedic factor. In terms of Audience Theory the views of the audience can vary as debated by Friske (1982). It is stated that audiences in different cultures may interpret media differently. On one hand, Muslim audiences may take offence, whilst other ethnicities, for example, African Americans may develop a prejudice towards Muslims due to what they view in productions. And so, the Muslim society is likely to be offended by this production as it stereotypes all Muslim men. Additionally, it is likely to spread the belief of islamaphobia as the audience view the behaviour of the characters which is negatively used to portray Muslims.

In British society texts such as The Hurt Locker stereotype Muslim men to be Islamic extremists, and so the audience view that the “terrorists use violence for effect, to generate attention”. With regards to Alvarado we learn that negative attitudes emphasise boundaries and differences between ethnic minorities, for example, Asian, White and Black communities. Also, by highlighting the political divide between the two groups in productions, the media industry segregates the Muslim consumers and in effect labels them to be extremists. With regards to the theories of Hegemony (Antonio Gramski) and Marxism the audience is able to distinguish that money motivated; middle class citizens have the main source of power in a capitalist society, effectively controlling the media. Crucially this concerns the public as this encourages a social hierarchy to be formed within society. This “suggests that our knowledge of the world is constructed by media representations”. This is a large concern as it leads to the Hypodermic Needle theory which emphasises that the audience stay passive and are then drip fed ideologies and beliefs from a dominant society. Not only is this undemocratic, but this encourages the belief that the audience need ‘Dumbing Down’ to understand factors between two societies which hold opposing beliefs. By doing so, a hierarchy is made within society, this forces groups of to oppose ethnicities and adds to the ranking of importance between the ethnicities within society. And so, stereotypically, as the Asian community is stereotyped to be the villains, they are likely to be lower than the British community. It is the social hierarchy which “represents the imaginary” stereotyping that all Muslims are extremists, leading to prejudice and racism.

When terrorism is focused upon in the media it is persistently based on Islam and so this is a concern as it singles out a particular minority within a democracy. With over 62 million inhabitants in the United Kingdom the media industry questionably targets the 2.4 million Muslims by representing those using idiotic terrorists who attach bombs to crows and sacrifice sheep. In turn it’s understandable that “personal and social consequences of any medium result from affairs or by any new technology”. In this case the media industry promotes ‘new technology’ which is used to models society’s views and ideologies towards others. With relation to the theory of the Hypodermic Needle it could be that the media inject its ideologies within the passive audience whilst they view the productions. This provides the audience with an undemocratic view on society and leads to segregation and racial prejudice. Also, it can be argued that the misrepresentation of the minorities is a factor the media industry dismisses. From this it can be concluded that such productions are made to attract consumers’, maximise profit and create characters that are either heroes (British) or villains (Muslims). Likewise, the cultivation theory states that the media industry has full control on the representations of groups. By controlling what the audience view the media industry passively reinforces beliefs and values that the viewer can easily identify and relate to within society. This suggests that if a terrorist attack is carried out, stereotypically according to Hollywood and British art house films, Muslims are likely to be targeted and blamed, similar to what occurs in reality.

Adding to the concern of islamaphobia The Hurt Locker is filmed in first person cinematography, the solider is British and opposing the Muslim extremists and so the audience identify the emotions of the solider and too oppose the Muslim extremists. The British media industry represents the Islamic men to cause terrorism, however, only one view of the war being shown, and this use of narrative means that the audience are not “protected by the usual mediation” as provided by television channels. In turn, with reference to the Hegemonic Model it can be assumed that “much of the media is controlled by a relatively small group of people and that the viewpoints associated with these groups inevitably become embedded in the products”. In turn, Cultural Imperialism suggests that worldwide media is dictated from the view point of the Americanised industries as it has its ideologies and values imposed upon the rest of the world. For example, 85% of the global film market and 68% of the Television market is controlled by American media institutions including Hollywood. This is a concern as “Ethnic minorities are continually misrepresented by racial (and racist) stereotypes”. And this leads to productions such as The Hurt Locker, where war is shown to be simply the American/British versus the Muslim extremists who intend to destroy the American dream. As the American dream can be associated within many western countries the audience are likely to support the democratic movement and therefore oppose those who challenge it. And so issues regarding Post Colonialism are reassessed by the audience where it becomes apparent that there are differences in culture, politics and military dominance. To conclude, using misrepresentations negatively within the media industry opposes a liberal democracy, this is a concern as media has started to undermine the political system. Therefore, by doing so it punishes those Muslims who exercise the “freedom of thought, conscience and religion, and freedom to express your beliefs”. Politically this is incorrect as it wrongfully stereotypes Muslims. Furthermore, it may lead to civil wars, more terrorism and an unsettled political system where undemocratic parties like the British National Party are likely to dominate and oppose all ethnic minorities.

The comedic use of four Muslim protagonists failing at life in Four Lions stereotypically undermines all Muslims, and so in reality this is likely to cause racial prejudice and in turn islamaphobia. The media industry has become fixated on terrorism and even the producers such as Chris Morris have stated that his characters are “absolutely real using: nail bombs, explosives, collateral damage, and the whole nine yards”. Therefore, the audience assume that Morris intentionally “takes us into their world; we don't know what the motives are, or how they came to be radicalised” however the audience is aware of the terrorists remaining “hidden and unidentifiable” to cause enigma. In addition, this leads to television programmes such as Panorama, commissioned by the BBC, to produce texts such as ‘British Schools, Islamic Rules’ which scrutinise the learning of young Muslims “claiming to have found 5,000 Muslim schoolchildren being taught that some Jews are transformed into pigs and apes and that the penalty for gay sex is execution”. This too supports the media industry with stereotyping all Islamic followers to be extremists, despite the BBC being an independent public service broadcaster, funded by the annual television license fee. It is a respected foundation “worth 7 billion pounds” yet it too singles out an ethnic minority within a diverse democracy.

Historically blockbuster productions such as Die Hard 2 ensured the terrorists were eastern European and equipped with heavy artillery. This was the case as Russia was not within the British Empire and therefore acted as a threat towards Britain. In modern cinema the terrorists are Islamic, however not geographically classed. Ironically, “In 2009, a Europol report also showed that more than 99% of terrorist attacks in Europe over the last three years were, in fact, carried out by non-Muslims”. But despite this Muslims are still negatively portrayed within the media. In comparison with historic texts, modern texts such as Four Lions and The Hurt Locker have used real terrorist attacks e.g. 7/7 and 9/11 as “models”. In addition, economically Hollywood has benefited from domestic emergencies such as terrorist attacks, as it is usual for “Hollywood to create heroes” for the audience to confide in and search for escapism and identify happiness. By doing so, “Classical Hollywood narrative provides reassurance and this structure was applied in the retelling of stories which gave us powerful heroes who save the day. These fantasies responded to the post 9/11 context and provided some comfort in a time when danger seemed very close”. So historically, it is usual for the media industry to rely on minorities in their productions to disrupt society. This has been a concern for some time and has lead to many protests despite this social branding carrying on. Islamic followers “are portrayed in the media as criminals” and this continual misrepresentation is undemocratic and concerning.

As the media industry continues to target Islam, the political balance within the United Kingdom is likely to be strained, therefore leading to islamapohobia via productions causing moral panic within society (Stanley Cohen, 1972). The theory of Moral Panic occurs when society is threatened from groups who are seen to threaten mainstream society’s values. In this case, Four Lions and The Hurt Locker both represent Muslims to be terrorists and along with this high inflation rates of 3.7% and an all time high of unemployment are likely to increase the amount of moral panic and low morale. In turn, this has major political consequences for example “Since Labour came to power in 1997, it has introduced five major pieces of terrorism legislation: the Terrorism Act 2000; the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act 2001; the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2005; the Terrorism Act 2006; and the Counter-Terrorism Act 2008”. From this evidence it is clear that the media industry dictates the world as it shapes what legislations are passed and when. This also suggests that our perception of life is mainly constructed by the media, including the governments of the world, as they too are consumers of movies with themes of terrorism and threat. Therefore, along with Post Structuralism and the uses and Gratifications Theory it is can be concluded that the media texts effects on the consumers vary. This is a concern as media effectively has the power to shape politics, legislations and the behaviour of those who are in charge of countries. In terms of islamaphobia, the media has made citizens and politicians paranoid of the threat of terrorism and therefore lead to the constant stereotyping of religious followers of Islam.

In conclusion, media texts such as Four Lions, The Hurt Locker and British Schools Islamic Rules negatively portray Islamic followers and stereotype them to be extremists. This leads to islamaphobia as those protagonists are used as idiotic terrorists, commercially used to create humour for the non Muslim audience. And so, modern cinema has moulded these perceptions whereby “a dominant class or group maintains power by making everyone accept their ideology as normal or neutral, through cultural influence rather than force”. In effect, it can be highlighted that Asian men are victims of constant negative portrayal by the media as misrepresentations are produced which lead to prejudice and discrimination.

In reality, this stereotyping is concerning as it only targets one ethnic minority within a democracy. It is specifically the Muslim society that is “portrayed in a limited fashion”. And as debated above, “of all the ways that one group has systematically mistreated another, none is more deeply rooted” than the way the media industry has victimised Islam. In reality this has subordinated the role of all Muslims in society.

Works Consulted:

Books

Hartley, John. Communication, Cultural and Media Studies. Routledge, 2002. Print.
King, Geoff. Film Comedy. Wallflower press, 2002. Print.
Lock, Pam and Bernick, Mieke. The Cinema Book, 2nd Edition. British Film Institute, 1999. Print.
Mackinnon, Kenneth. Representing men. Arnold, 2008. Print.
Neale, Shane. Genre and Hollywood. Routledge, 2000. Print.
John Sunders. The Film Genre Book. Auters, 2009. Print.

Websites

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1341167/
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0887912/
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/MM32_humour_timeline.html
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/mm21_theory_mulvey.html
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/mm23_black_press.html
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/_mmagpast/MM29_Multiplatform.html

Online Newspapers

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/nov/22/bbc-panorama-islamic-schools-antisemitism

Moving image texts

Four Lions, 2010
http://www.four-lions.co.uk/
The Hurt Locker, 2008
http://www.thehurtlocker-movie.com/
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00w8kwz

Some critics argue that the growing Disney brand is a good example of cultural imperialism.

Do you agree?

• Globalisation means that media organisations have access to larger audiences.

• National and international cultural traditions are developing as apart of a new global culture.

• New technology means that we communicate differently, this is reshaping our lives.

• One single device can now access all media from television to the telephone.

• Cultural convergence enables the largest media organisations to supply more media to larger audiences.

• Cultural perceptions are constructed by the media and they establish values and ideologies. This is called cultural homogenisation.

• Cultural imperialism refers back to the British Empire ruled by the developing world. The current US media dominates the world’s media. This is damaging for other countries culture and small independent organisations.

• Current debate about the effects of globalisation revolves around the global news system that has developed as a result o technological advances.

• Others argue that the US monopolises the global information system but is also a product and a producer of a new culture.

• The world ahs become ‘the global village’ for media. The media reflects and creates the social and cultural world we live in.

• The reception theory suggests that the audience is active, and therefore the media producers only produce texts which reflect the values and beliefs of the perceived audience.


Disney:
• Universal
• Acknowledge worldwide
• Mass markets that appeal to mass audiences
• Primary audience E, 5-15
• Secondary audience C1, C2, D, 15+

Choosing one director you are familiar with, explain why you do or do not consider them to be an auteur.

• A film director whose films are so distinctive that he or she is perceived as a film's creator

• A star is an image or representation constructed by Hollywood for a particular context

Richard Dyer’s codes and conventions of the star persona:
• Constructed image
• Star is a commodity produced by institutions
• Stars represent ideologies
• Star culture is related to materialism and ideologies of beauty
• Stars support hegemony, the audience compare themselves to the stars
• Stars represented through their roles in films
• Stars are generally aspirational for the audience – hence popular hairstyles

Auteur theory, a film director directs the artistic and dramatic aspects if a film by:
• Defining the artistic vision of the film
• Controlling the content and flow of the film
• Directing the actors
• Organising locations in which the film will be shot
• Managing technical aspects e.g. positioning of cameras and soundtracks

To identify a director as an auteur implies that their films have:
• Integrity
• Creativity
• Ideological questions and debates
• Artistic exploration
• Communication with the audience

Chris Morris is an auteur:
• Focuses on real life themes such as terrorism and the demonization of Muslims on society

• Manages to focus on serious themes with the use of humour and irony which makes ‘Four Lions’, for example, an easy watch and engaging

• ‘Four Lions’ debates whether terrorism in democratic and focuses on the negative impact and the psychological damage it does to the terrorists

• Original thoughts and ideas, such as attaching a bomb to a crow, add to the comedic affect of his work and subtle jokes ease the pressure of the main serious focus of life and death

Look again at the TV listing which you analysed for the section on effects theory.


What evidence of audience uses and gratifications in consuming media texts can you see from this analysis?

Uses and gratifications suggest that the audience is active and therefore chooses what media to consume. Each individual has reasoning’s behind choosing the media they consume and are therefore entitled to this.

Main reasons to consume media, according to Katz and Blumler (1974):
1. diversion
2. personal relationships
3. personal identity
4. surveillance

Main reasons to consume media, according to Denis MaQuail:
1. information
2. learning
3. personal identity
4. integration and social interaction
5. entertainment

Criticisms of the uses and gratifications theory:
1. too simplistic
2. its hard to explain why the audience like something
3. channel hopping occurs
4. we only consume from what is available to us
5. depends on the socio-economic situation of the audience

What the TV listing offers:
1. variety of programmes e.g. soaps, films, live sports
2. lots of genres e.g. comedy, soap, horror
3. different viewing times for busy audiences
4. sections of TV available e.g. Freeview, Sky and Virgin TV

Look at the TV schedules for this week.
http://www.tvguide.co.uk/

How might a pluralist interpret the range of programmes on offer?

There is a wide variety of programmes on offer for all audiences, ranging from soap omnibus’ e.g. Eastenders, to live snooker.

A pluralist would like to view a variety of programmes across a diverse range of channels. These would show all types of programmes including sport, movies, soaps, documentaries and drama.

What evidence is there of the media acting as the fourth estate?

With news related programmes being produced it can be argued that the media is a fourth estate.

Programmes include:

• Have I got news for you
• Question time
• News (most channels)

‘The male gaze dominates Hollywood movies’. Using the top five films of the week, would you agree with this statement?

Scream 4 – no male gaze, sense of voyeurism where the killer searches for victims

Rio – animated comedy adventure rated U, about parrots that go to Brazil

Your Highness – knights rescue the damsels in distress, whilst saving their land

Little Red Riding Hood – sense of male gaze for audience, as the towns people fight

Hop – animation about a human like rabbit on the eve of Easter

Out of the 5 possible candidates only scream 4 and Little Red Riding Hood have themes of male gaze for the audience. In Scream 4, there are scenes of the female protagonists changing and this also adds a sense of voyeurism. In Little Red Riding Hood, the protagonist is an attractive females and this adds male viewings.

The news automatically becomes the real world for the TV user and is not a substitute for reality, but is itself an immediate reality.

Do we watch the news for the information or for entertainment?
• Watch the news for information
• It provides the citizens for information across the world
• Information makes the news factual
• Its your personal choice what to view, news is not entertaining
• Fundamental reason for news is that it is not fictional

• Entertainment news provides alternative pleasures
• Use of 60 seconds of news suggests its celebrity gossip
• Entertainment suggests that news is unreal and made up

Do you receive the reality of the information or the ‘reality’ of the entertainment?
• Reality of the news provides information
• Reality of the news increases democracy
• Freedom of information means that all have access to the news
• News suggests intelligent information

• Reality of entertainment suggests that we passively watch the news
• It suggests that learning is entertaining
• Entertainment suggests pass time