My Take On: Media coverage of Muslims

Media coverage of Islam related issues has changed drastically, especially since the events of September 11, 2001. Both in quantity and quality, Islam has been pushed to the front of global media, particularly in news and entertainment. But another thing that has changed is the way Islam is portrayed. Often violent themes are attached to Muslim characters in tv shows and movies to promote the ‘radical Muslim stereotype’. Which is obviously harmful as it attaches cruelty and barbaric actions to Muslims when our religion is actually a repellent of those ideals. Another media stereotype involves Muslim women. Western Muslim women are commonly portrayed as either helpless victims of male oppression or ‘strong feminists’ who oppose the ‘oppressive’ nature of their religion by disregarding its values and of course, running away with the token white boy. Repeatedly, Muslims are associated with hatred, extremism and of course, terrorism. In truth, while some characters are portrayed as Muslims wish to be portrayed, there is a variety of options screenwriter explore to push their narratives. I f we aren’t shown harmfully by being twisted away from our values, characters like us are being killed off, pushed to the side or just removed from the screen altogether.

Of course this is not to say that balanced representations of Muslims do not eist but since media representation of Islam has changed so dramatically in the past decade, it is critical work to see how these portrayals shape public opinion of Muslims. While only a minority of population holds prejudiced or islamophobia views against Islam, a majority perceives us as foreign and outlandish. This particular view pushes the public to believe that our religion is a threat to western culture, and that we are different from what members of western society ‘should be’. Consequently, as Muslims living in such environments it can be difficult to cling to our religion and culture which is why interacting with others who share our beliefs and follow our religion is such a strong and important way to hold on to our faith. Especially young impressionable Muslims, it is hard to not be influenced by what is shown on our screens but as we advance and push for better representation, I’m sure that there will come a time when our existence will be normalized and our religion will be revered as we hope for it to be.