Edward Said - Orientalism

1.   

    Does it offer a positive or negative representation of British Muslims?

I think that it offers a positive and negative representation of British Muslims; however the negative representation overpowers the positive. The only positive representation of the British Muslims is that they are religious; they are passionate about praying and about Islam. There are many negative representations of the British Muslims, for example when the women goes into the pub, with a white man, it shows that she is going against her religion. First of all, a western woman going into a pub isn’t something that would be acceptable in Islam, and the fact that she was with a white man. Other people in the pub were looking at her and giving her looks, as they don’t see that sort of thing happen on a daily basis.

2.   

    To what extent does it reinforce or challenge Said’s theory of Orientalism- that the west is superior to the exotic or dangerous east?

Orientalism is the difference between east and west. Edward Said argued that the west created the meaning of the east, as it was shown as dangerous and uncivilised. However, the theory is used in today’s society, due to the 9/11 bombings. In the clip of Yasmin, the difference of the east and west is shown, for example on the gates of one of the Muslims, there was graffiti on the gate which had ‘paki’ spray painted on it. This shows the difference of east and west, as the graffiti shows that the west doesn’t accept Muslims in their society. However, it does show the east in a positive way, as they are seen as being religious, by taking part in morning prayers and reading their holy book. In the clip, the white people are seen as rude, as they stop Yasmin, when she is wearing her hijab, they question her and she told the police what they wanted to know before they could ask. This challenges the theory of Edward Said, as it is showing both sides, but in differently ways as others see them. 

Learner Response

WWW: You make two brilliant points that could provide the basis for a much higher grade (the two theorists)

EBI: Others than those points, you mainly describe the text to me, and you wont get any marks for that

LR: What is your personal opinion on the question?
My personal opinion on the question is that I understand why the media object Robin Thicke's song and video for Blurred Lines, as women are seen as objects for men to look at. In the video, all the women are barely wearing clothes and the men are fully dressed. This could link to Butler, as she says that traditional feminists are wrong to divide society into 'women and men'. By the way that they are dressed in the video, shows a divide between the two. As both the women and men in the video are dressed differently, it shows the divide between the two genders, as it is being reinforced.

Daily Mail's Olympic Ceremony

The opening ceremony for the Olympics was held in London, showed the way the country is portrayed. It was shown as a diverse place where everyone is happy. They showed happy families that were from different races and how it is okay for people to be married to different races. In one of the opening scenes, a representation of modern life in England is shown as an educated white middle aged mother and black father are shown living together as a happy family. Dewsbury said that this was a 'set-up' and how it wasn't a fair representation of family life in Britain. 

In the next scene, there was an ethnic minority performer, there was grime music playing in the background to emphasise the fact that it was representing South London. Dewsbury said 'this multi-cultural equality agenda was so staged it was painful to watch'. However, this could link to Alvarado’s theory of racial representations, as black performers are usually seen as dangerous, as they are linked to crime and gangs. This is what people in South London are usually associated with. Also, they are seen as ‘exotic’ because they are known for having different types of food.  The typical stereotype of black people is that they are usually seen as ‘putting on a white mask’ to fit into society. In my opinion, I think that the London Olympics didn’t show a fair representation of Britain, from the way they portrayed the mixed families to the way the NHS was shown. In a way, I do agree with some of what Dewsbury said.