Guilty: Hollywood's Verdict on Arabs after 9/11

Appearing in July of 2001, Reel Bad Arabs reviewed the rampant prejudiced stereotyping of Arab characters in Hollywood movies. Following up on that work here, Shaheen (emeritus, mass communication, Southern Illinois U.) examines the situation following the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. Not surprisingly, he catalogues continuing negative portrayals of Arabs in Hollywood films, but he does find positive portrayals in about a third of the films he reviews. He also takes stock of the situation on American television, where he finds that the Arab has become "TV's new bogeyman," and discusses possible solutions. In the second half of the book, he includes short individual discussions of each film examined. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)