Riz slams Hollywood for toxic portrayal of Muslims
OSCAR-nominated actor Riz Ahmed has called out Hollywood for the stereotypical and toxic portrayal of Muslim community in its films.
Ahmed, who became the first Muslim to get a best actor Oscar nomination, recently launched the initiative, the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion, to increase the community’s representation in cinema.
The initiative was launched in partnership with the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, the Ford Foundation and Pillars Fund. In a video posted on his social media handles, Ahmed said the problem with Muslim misrepresentation is one that can’t be ignored any more.
The 38-year-old British-Pakistani
actor said it was a bittersweet moment for him when he was nominated at the 2021 Oscars for his performance in Sound of Metal.
‘I simultaneously wore that slightly dubious accolade with a sense of gratitude personally... I also felt tremendous sadness. How was it that out of 1.6 billion people - a quarter of the world’s population - none of us had ever been in this position until now?’
‘I asked myself, if I’m the exception to the rule, what must the rule be about people like me? What must the unwritten rule be about Muslims - a quarter of the world’s population - and their place in our stories, our culture and their place in our society, if any?’ Ahmed said.
The actor asserted that the problematic portrayal of Muslims in cinema is something that cannot be fixed by a handful of prominent Muslims in the business. ‘The progress that’s being made by a few of us doesn’t paint an overall picture of progress if most of the portrayals of Muslims on screen are either nonexistent or entrenched in those stereotypical, toxic, two-dimensional portrayals,’ he added.
Ahmed singled out Oscar-winning movies American Sniper, The Hurt Locker, and Argo as frankly racist. ‘(These) films dehumanize and demonize Muslim characters, insofar as they are the perpetrators or victims of violence, unworthy of empathy or incapable of empathy,’ the actor said.