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.