Cultural (Mis)Appropriation, Ideological Essentialism and Language: Analysis of Stereotyping in Hollywood Movie

Abstract

This study analyzes the monolithic-cum-essentialist portrayal of the non-Euro-American world in Hollywood movies, bringing forth the fact that the project of Othering is still at play but in different manifestations. This qualitative research endeavors to apply the concept of Orientalism to carry out a postcolonial analysis of the movie American Sniper. As Edward Said, decades ago, proposed a way to understand the notions of the West regarding East in his famous work Orientalism, the study helps to understand the embedded ideologies which are promoted through movies, and the way these discourses are used to shape the Western worldview about the East. The study highlights the fact that Hollywood, famous for entertainment and advanced motion pictures, is also being used for shaping the narrative of the superiority of the West. As Islam and Arabs have always remained in the limelight of the Hollywood movies, this special association of the entertainment media with the Islamic Orient is not just for the purpose of amusement but also to (un)consciously build unbefitting images of the East and portray it as a monolith of an inferior status for the common viewer in the West.