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Title: Hollywood harems Rating: 2.7 out of 4 Reference: Producer & writer, Tania Kamal-Eldin.
Library of Congress subjects: Women in motion pictures--Middle East Women--Middle East—Drama Women--Middle East--Public opinion Motion pictures--Social aspects--United States Motion pictures--United States--History--20th century Stereotype (Psychology) in mass media Middle East--In motion pictures Sociology subjects: Feminisms & feminist analyses Media/text analyses Popular culture in North America Racism, sociologically analysed Reviews and Numerical Ratings 2 A very long video that focuses on the historical, not contemporary. Highly repetitive, highly repetitive. No gender analysis & no serious political analysis: “stereotypes can be harmful!” (Liberalism 101). Doesn’t define concepts. Riley Olstead & Lachlan Story 3 This video has a twofold purpose: to educate & to entertain students on its provocative & creative content. It has a fresh approach to the topic of stereotyping in the mass media. An excellent video for students who want to better educate themselves as to how Hollywood stereotypes & derogatively depicts women of the East (as manipulative creatures, vamps, concubines, & femmes fatales, which make this video shocking to view). Hollywood is also responsible for negatively influencing males of society to believe that women are sexual slave objects for males’ enjoyment. Although students will find that this is your stereotypical video, wherein males are once again to blame for degrading females of society; nonetheless, this video does have many strong arguments, which in turn makes it an excellent resource for classroom debates. Appropriate for students of all levels. Minh Hoang (undergraduate) 2.5 It would be a good choice for courses in cultural studies, but on the whole, it is not particularly insightful. Though the analysis that is offered is interesting, much of the video is really just a parade of film clips, without enough commentary given to establish an intellectually challenging critical framework. Laura Fenton 3.5 Good display of how the sexuality of those women who are defined as “Other” have been portrayed in a racist manner in Hollywood images. Exposes how, for many decades, Western women have been depicted as prudish, whereas their counterparts in the East are made into promiscuous women - dressed scantily, often used in bathing scenes, and performing in bizarre HOLLYWOOD-CREATED rituals. The video stupendously shows how Hollywood takes what is traditional in the East and almost makes a mockery out of it: “Other” women are often shown wearing veils and yet, Hollywood continually unveils them by systematically reducing them into scantily-clad sexual creatures. An effective demonstration of how Hollywood absorbs and caters to the (colonial) Western saviour complex: White Hollywood commonly presents Eastern women as damsels in distress, needing to be saved by white Western men from their terrible conditions, in order to stroke the masculine, Western ego. Also, this video is a great exposé of how Hollywood exaggerates hegemonic gendered identities. Great video! Lots here to discuss! Suitable for students at any level. Belinda Godwin 2.5 Often entertaining, has many good points - e.g.,
how Asian cultures are conflated in films, how intruder-in-the-harem
sequences permit a voyeuristic gaze. But often slow-moving, shows no
examples beyond the 1950s till the very end, & should provide considerable
further analysis. Lecture topics: Orientalism, representation of minorities
in media, representation of femininities (and, implicitly, masculinities).
Reem Attieh & Kathy Bischoping 2.5 Could be useful in an introductory class on race
but not in 4th year. Does a good job of archiving & demonstrating
the conscious project of Orientalism in old movies but does not provide
the set-up – i.e., a mention of “Orientalism”, a discussion
of American cultural politics. It could be shown in conjunction with
a short clip of a modern movie to contrast how Arab women are shown
– i.e., in these old movies they were depicted as sex objects,
with enticing veils, whereas in current movies the veil is a symbol
for docility and mutedness. – Graduate Workshop
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