Through repeatedly viewing images of Arabs and Muslims as angry...

Through repeatedly viewing images of Arabs and Muslims as angry, over-sexed, lazy, incoherent and strange, audiences come to give essential meaning to concepts which should only be viewed as incidental. In this way, a concerted effort is being made to shape the subconscious image that the Western world has of the Muslim world, especially vis-à-vis the Palestinian question.

By promoting the image of Arabs as incapable of peace, the pro-Israeli lobby is constructing a rationale for not bringing Arabs and Muslims to the same table as the Israelis. Shaheen also points out that many of the most virulent images of Arabs as militant have come about after the creation of Israel. That Hollywood\'s movies are spread around the world and gross millions every week enforces these stereotypes not only on a national level but on an international one.

Shaheen doesn\'t say in Reel Bad Arabs that Arabs should never be portrayed as "bad guys" or that there are no movies which portray Arabs positively. The author makes it clear in introducing his book that Arabs can be bad guys like individuals from any other ethnic group. Furthermore, he compiles a list of movies in which Arabs are portrayed sensitively. However, Shaheen makes it clear that Arabs are too often exclusively portrayed as evil, backwards, sexual, and incompetent.

It is seemingly acceptable for Arabs and Muslims to be painted with a stereotypical broad brush. One may refer to Shaheen\'s book for hundreds of examples. Toleration of Stereotyping Breeds Discrimination The consequences of stereotyping minorities are manifold. In the case of Arabs and Muslims, the problems are compounded because approaches to the groups in the international arena can be seriously flawed, as mentioned earlier in the case of Iraq.

Widespread informal racism-racism which is not institutionalized-helps shape attitudes that can support legalized discrimination. Examples of attitudes like this abound in American history. The city of Detroit is a great example of how prejudicial attitudes can result in institutionalized discrimination, discrimination that contributes to more prejudice with potentially long lasting effects. In the past, Metro-Detroit residential areas were ranked on a scale of green (good) to red (bad).

Areas that had African Americans living in them were automatically given a red ranking.