Istanbul: Ayhan Kucuk, head of International Center for Watching Violation of Rights (UHIM), said at a symposium that the U.S. film industry did not depict Muslim characters as positive. UHIM is a rights watchdog in Istanbul.
Kucuk said Muslim characters, especially in Hollywood movies, were not featured “positively”. “In this way, a negative image of Muslims is […] being transmitted to the masses through cinema,” he added.
The symposium, Global Politics and Cinema, was organized by the International Center for Watching Violation of Rights (UHIM) and Turkey’s Ministry of Culture, according to Anadolu Agency.
“According to a report by a U.S.-based researcher Jack Shaheen, only 12 characters of the 900 Muslim roles in Hollywood movies were positive and 50 others are presented as neutral,” said Ayhan Kucuk, the chairman of the UHIM.
Implying that 838 of the total 900 films made in Hollywood portrayed Muslims in bad or negative light, mentions Ummid.
Shaheen (1935-2017) had worked on anti-Muslim and anti-Arab stereotyping in the U.S.’s mainstream media, also he published his acclaimed book “Reel Bad Arabs: How Hollywood Vilifies a People” in 2001.
According to the UHIM chairman, Hollywood tried to legitimize U.S. invasions in Afghanistan and Iraq through films and TV shows.
Speaking at the event, Turkey’s former Culture Minister Nabi Avci said the way cinema and political relations were shaped was “very important”.