In his book Edward Said described the practise of orientalism as a negative thing, and it is easy to see why since the basic premise of orientalism is the west judging and discriminating agains the east simply because of the things that are done there.
Edward Said defined orientalism as “taking the late eighteenth century as a very roughly defined starting point orientalism can be discussed and and analysed as the corporate institution for dealing with the orient - dealing with it by making statements about it, authorising views of it, describing it, by teaching it, settling it, ruling over it: in short, orientalism as a western style for dominating, restructuring and having authority over the orient.” (Said, 1979, pg. 3)
Orientalism is a western product and process, in which the west believe that they are cultured and the east are not. There are many examples of this in past and modern media, whether it be film, tv or video games.
An example of where orientalism is seen in film would be a scene in Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the scene shows Sam and his group trying to cross the border into Giza without their passports, the guard is portrayed by a small man with a high voice who doesn't speak any english except the word “passports” after a small conversation the guard finds out they’re from New York and suddenly starts raving about the Yankees and let’s them through without even a word on their passports. This shows the media representing the middle east as fickle and even stupid, unfortunately this representation still has not changed. The scene even goes as far as to mock the guard by saying he is “a munchkin” and that “the little people are mean…tell him he’s tall” also saying “You look like the guy that runs my falafel stand” which is a comment on a trope that all people from the middle east look the same and also implies that they can not hold good jobs when they come to america.
Another example of orientalism in the modern day is in the series Game of Thrones, orientalism is displayed in the very first episode, essentially setting the tone for how that aspect of the show will play out. One viewer even went as far as to say “Game of thrones: A white liberal’s orientalist wet dream” and went on to count the many ways that the show is basically just “white people fighting other white people to become king, or something” which to be honest is spot on.
Orientalism has many tropes, the ones that are mainly used are:
- Barbaric
- Feminine
- Traditional
- Stilted
- Irrational
- Decadent
If you’ve watched Game of Thrones it’s easy to see where these tropes would fit in in the series. Orientalism is still a problem in todays culture and media, and not just in films but in how the media portray the middle east as in real life. I strongly believe that being separated by something a stupid as what side of the world you were born on is wrong, but until the media start representing the east in a different way orientalism is still going to be one hundred percent relevant and alive.
References:
- Said, E. (1979) Orientalism. 1st Edition. Vintage
- Wolters, E. (2013) Game of thrones: A white liberal’s orientalist wet dream. [Online] Available from: http://www.critical-theory.com/game-thrones-white-liberals-orientalist-wetdream/ [Accessed: 06/03/16]
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