I’m a young Muslim woman. I live a normal life, I go to school, I hang out with friends and I wear the hijab; but I rarely see people like me on screen.
Instead, I see young women wearing the hijab which is presented as a symbol of oppression. Films portray them as silent and subservient in the burqa, only speaking when a man allows. We Muslim women are reduced to stock characters.
The same judgements are made about young men. All too often they are shown as radicalised individuals, wishing to fight against the West in the name of ‘jihad.’ These limited portrayals are staggeringly disproportionate: although Muslims make up 25% of the population, only 1% of TV characters are Muslim.
Is this representation realistic? Is it even good?
Muslims are stereotyped in films and on TV
You might think TV doesn’t have a real-world impact, but such images shape how we see each other. Actor Riz Ahmed believes that the representation of Muslims on screen affects the policies that get enacted, the people that get killed and the countries that get invaded. An analysis of over 900 Hollywood films concluded that Arab or Muslim men are typically represented as terrorists or similar characters. Homeland, Iron Man, and Sicario 2 are examples from mainstream media which dehumanise and demonise Muslims.
Moreover, the most common words associated with nearly 100 Muslim characters were “terrorist”, “sadistic pigs”, and “murderous gangs of fanatics”. Amazon’s The Boys overbearingly presents Muslims as a threat to Western values, when they turn up for the first and only time to hijack a plane. The popular BBC show Bodyguard, aired in 2018, failed all five criteria of the Riz test in the first twelve minutes of the first episode.
If young Muslim children can’t watch their favourite superhero movie without feeling ‘othered’ and villainised, we risk making them vulnerable to extremist propaganda. They could even pursue revenge for the negative portrayal of themselves that they see on screen.
Who is responsible for this prejudice?
Watch a movie set in ‘Arabia’ (an ambiguous term) and you’ll notice the orange filters directors place over scenes. Extraction, the 2020 film starring Chris Hemsworth, is a good example. Though set in Bangladesh – a vibrant, thriving country – the film reduces it to a mere backdrop for a ‘third-world aesthetic,’ reinforcing harmful stereotypes it could have eliminated.
These aren’t just creative choices; they carry significant economic consequences. Developing countries like Bangladesh miss out on valuable tourism opportunities due to the bias these portrayals perpetuate.
However, it’s impossible to place all the blame on directors and production companies for perpetuating these biased stereotypes without examining where this negativity first stemmed from. This summer’s emergence of far-right riots led me to research how the wider media has influenced these harmful narratives, taking us down a path shaped by decades of fear.
How the news reinforces stereotypes
In news coverage, the term ‘terrorist’ is almost exclusively applied to those associated with Islam, clearly showing a largely negative and stereotypical portrayal of Muslims.
It’s 6pm, and the BBC News theme tune plays in the background. You’re only half-watching, occasionally glancing at the screen, but certain words attract your attention: “Muslim”, “suspect”, “South Asian”, “Pakistani”. These terms reinforce a narrative, subtly shaping our biases without us even realising it.
Five adjectives were found to be most commonly used in relation to Muslims: radical, fanatical, fundamentalist, extremist and militant. Muslims are still seen as backwards and primitive. 23% of online articles misrepresent aspects of Muslim identity, and a shocking 43% of broadcast media associates Islam with negative behaviour. These generalisations are mainly directed towards Muslim women.
Contrary to popular belief, Muslim women choose to wear the headscarf out of their own free will. A 2005 Gallup Organization survey, where over 8,000 interviews were conducted with women in Muslim countries, revealed that the majority of the women surveyed did not see themselves as oppressed but as independent and in control of their own lives and decisions.
This disconnect between reality and representation emphasises the urgent need for change that can begin by reshaping the portrayal of Muslims onscreen.
Current initiatives to improve representation
The Riz Test is influenced by Riz Ahmed’s speech at the House of Commons. Two Muslim activists created the Riz Test, which has five criteria to measure how Muslims are portrayed on film and TV.
Is the character:
- talking about the victim of or the perpetrator of terrorism?
- presented as irrationally angry?
- presented as superstitious, culturally backwards, or anti-modern?
- presented as a threat to a Western way of life?
- If the character is male, is he presented as misogynistic? Or if female, is she oppressed by her male counterparts?
If the answer is “yes” to any of these, the film or show has failed the test. This is a great way of addressing the problem by holding up a mirror to the industry as well as those who commissioned such stories.
A similar test that is perhaps more well-known is the Bechdel Test, aimed at enhancing the authenticity of female stories. To pass the test, a film must meet these three criteria:
- At least two women are featured,
- who talk to each other, and
- that they discuss something other than a man.
The significance of this test lies in the data produced since the Bechdel test became widely applied. The total median gross return on investment for films that passed the test was $2.68 for every dollar spent, compared to just $1.06 for films in which women only discuss men. This evidence highlights the impact of positive representation and enforces the urgent need for more authentic narratives which represent Muslims in film.
Blueprint of Muslim inclusion advocates for more onscreen representation. Film companies are being urged to hire more Muslim creators to conduct script reviews and agencies asked to seek out more Muslim talent.
Looking to the future
We need to empower the younger Muslim generation into taking that first leap into the industry, instead of scaring them away. In a country where half of the Muslim population is facing poverty, it is crucial to help young people to enter creative industries. With shows like Ms. Marvel and Ramy taking the Muslim world by storm in their complex portrayals of Muslim characters, we’re paving the way for more nuanced stories to be told.
Though certain Muslim performers have become household names only recently, this isn’t enough to close the chapter on Muslim inclusion. Real change requires all media to adopt a fair and balanced approach.
Adopting the Riz Test, especially in the print media as well as film and TV, would be a positive step. The Guardian is one of the only news publications that was consistently the least biased and campaigning for an investigation into media reporting.
Each step towards authentic representation may seem small, but it’s a monumental leap forward for the Muslim community.
