Alvarado: -Pitied (poverty)
-Humorous (comedic, quirky personalities)
-Exotic (foreignness presented in a desirable light)
-Dangerous (prone to criminality)
Fanon: -Infantilise (simple-minded and in need of help)
-Primitivise (no sophistication; associated with tribes and innate abilities e.g rhythm)
-Decivilise (association with gangs and criminality)
-Essentialise (generalize, they all look the same)
-Putting on a white mask
Said: the west is superior to the east
2) Watch the opening of Yasmin (2004) again. Does it offer a positive or negative view of British Muslims? To what extent does it reinforce or challenge Edward Said's theory of Orientalism - that the west is superior to the exotic or uncivilised east?
In the opening, the representation of British Muslims are heavily negative. While some aspects of this portrayal can be considered to be reinforcing typical stereotypes, overall, it still displays British muslims in a negative light. Firstly, when the older man and the boy go to what seems to be the place of prayer in the area, it is very empty showing that there aren't many people praying. This is further established when the boy begins to chant prayers and many shots of the muslim community outside the place of prayer, are getting on with their daily routine. If it were not for the conventional attire of muslims, the muslim community would not be identifiable as they did not go to pray and continued their routines in their home in the UK. Furthermore, it is depicted that the British muslim youths are somewhat ashamed of their culture as the muslim girl is shown to hurriedly remove her headscarf and traditional clothing, and rush out to do her job. Additionally, the boy who is praying is not wearing traditional clothing either, further reinforcing British culture seeping into the people. This extract greatly reinforces Edward Said's theory that the west is superior to the uncivilised east as all the muslims in the clip are shown to slowly abandon their eastern culture, some more than others, while accepting and accommodating to British culture. Their preference of the western culture is one way in which the superiority of the west is shown however, the most evident pice of evidence presenting the west as the superior is when the white police make a muslim woman get out her car to check her records with driving, not only does it seem that the white police men have the most power, the muslim women also succumbs to this power as, without questioning, she gives up her information, keys and other materials willingly for inspection, finally concluding that the west is superior and the east must adapt to suit the west.
3) Finally, choose THREE clips for EACH of the theorists and explain how you could apply that theory to the clip. Pick a selection of clips on YouTube from TV, film, music video or advertising and embed them in your blog before writing your analysis under each clip. Note: this means you need NINE clips in total on this blogpost.
Alvarado
Pity: Children are suffering in impoverished areas; focuses on black children in Africa despite there being many areas that are in poverty in the world.
Humour and danger: The old lady has been waiting all day for the cable guy to come and as soon as she goes to the toilet, he arrives but outs a "sorry we missed you" sign up. Can be dangerous as she gets angry and says go to hell
Exotic: A desirable foreign beauty in Naomi Campbell
Fanon
Putting on a white mask: Freeman has a great role as someone with status and class as well as being very well spoken
Primitive: black dancers have a natural rhythm and outfits seem very exotic
Infantilise: Black children in Africa need help from the people in the west
Said
The west is more superior than the east with better living conditions for everyone
The East aspire to look like those from the superior West by physically altering their face
The people from the East are flocking to the West for a better lifestyle.
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