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By Sara Elghobashy January 12, 2009 Long gone are the days of Not Without My Daughter and The Princess and the Marine, (thank goodness!) but has Hollywood changed their attitude toward Muslims? In an op-ed for USA Today, Souheila Al-Jadda argues that the “sinister Muslim” stereotype is fading in Hollywood by providing examples of characters that have stepped out of the Muslims-bent-on-destroying-the-world box that the media has inconveniently placed us all in. But do a few examples mean that the “sinister Muslim” stereotype is actually fading? And what about other Muslim stereotypes that remain in Hollywood? As al-Jadda explains, terrorists on the hit show 24 are no longer strictly Muslim and the show now has a female, Arab agent. The same is true for Showtime’s Sleeper Cell, which has an African-American, Muslim FBI agent. Al-Jadda also points to Aliens in America to show that portrayals of Muslims are no longer strictly terrorist-related. I agree with that there are definitely some positive examples of Muslim on TV and in film, but I don’t think the “sinister Muslim” stereotype is fading just yet. The majority of terrorist characters are still Muslim (and I imagine that recent events aren’t exactly going to help with that) and, to add to the frustration, Hollywood has a few more stereotypes up their sleeves that they can’t seem to shake out. Remember how the bad guys in Disney’s Aladdin always had accents? Well, accents are still being used, but more so to portray Muslims as foreigners who aren’t really a part of the American fabric. For example, Dr. Bhamba on ABC’s Better Off Ted has a Middle Eastern accent (and in his first few appearances, he was the weapons expert—surprise, surprise). And what about the violent, intolerant Muslims ready to stone anyone at a moment’s notice? Or the corrupt, hypocritical, oil-rich princes who lust after western women? They haven’t gone away just yet as demonstrated by the description of a recent episode of American Dad that took place in the Middle East: “Cultures continue to clash, and the entire Smith family is arrested by the Vice and Virtue Police and sentenced to death by stoning. Roger is wooed by an Arab prince, who thinks Roger is a morally loose ‘American girl.’” Great. Other stereotypes still remain as well. We’ve all heard of the weak, abused Muslim woman or the oppressed Muslim woman forced to obey her husband. Hollywood seems to love them. Muslim women are almost always portrayed as victims of domestic violence on cop dramas or they make brief appearances in FBI films so that they can be silenced by their husbands to demonstrate that men are in charge. But it doesn’t stop there. Private Practice had the infamous episode where the young, Muslim woman lied and said she was raped, all so she can have a hymenoplasty to escape the wrath of her father and future husband for having lost her virginity to a non-Muslim man she loved. Even the hilarious Community has its moments, like when Britta yells “I’m a woman AND you can see my face” at Abed’s father. Well I’m a woman and you can see my face too. Stereotype not appreciated. (By the way, Abed is a Middle Eastern character played by a South Asian. You know, because everyone from the Middle East and South Asia is the same. Even better, his dad owns a falafel shop.) I think Hollywood still has a long way to go with its portrayal of Muslims. There are those few rare instances, but I won’t believe that stereotypes are fading until I see more “normal” Muslim characters. How about a Muslim doctor on Scrubs? (We all know Muslim doctors exist.) Or a Muslim student on Glee? I’m tired of seeing Muslims portrayed as the terrorist or “the other” and in the case of women, the weak and abused or the covered woman with no rights. Come on Hollywood, where’s the creativity? http://www.elanthemag.com/index.php/site/blog_detail/muslim_stereotypes_in_hollywood_are_they_really_fading-nid503043165/