Arab Muslims in TV screens : the reproduction of reality by the American Entertainment Industry in the age of contemporary radical armed groups

Abstract EN

The Arab Muslim character has always represented a problematic issue in the outputs of the American Entertainment Industry.

From violence and backwardness, through fanaticism and exoticism to recently terrorism, the image of Arab Muslims has been ideologically structured to reinforce these already settled presumptions.

This representation, as the paper at hand is concerned, attempts to reproduce 'reality out there' from a biased perspective that aims, in turn, to promote the image of 'villain Ar'.

In the process of examining this vilified depiction of Arab Muslims, semiotic analysis stands out to be one prominent approach to decipher and reveal the unsaid about this ideological discourse which is inherent in cinematic products and, yet, to inspect the way in which reality is reproduced so that to manifest as 'social consciousness' about Arand Muslims.

The contemporary radical armed groups, however, extensively contributed to uphold the image of 'fanatic Muslims' in TV screens as they show adherence to certain extremist ideologies, therefore, they present an erroneous image of Islam and Muslims.

Ultimately, this picture is considered by the American Entertainment Industry as 'reality out there' about Arab Muslims.