Part II - The Innocence of Muslims.
I would like to continue where I left off, in some part II, knowing fully well that the Western/American film is not over yet...
I hope you have realized by now that it is not about a 13mn video trailer in itself, but what about this trailer represents in the grand scheme of things.
And in this post, I would like to stress on that word "representation". How the Other is presented/represented on some ideological/cultural level (even though I have conceptual problems with the word Culture here, but I will still use it) and how this representation serves political ends.
In my previous post, I talked about the hyper sexualization of the Other - and I gave a concrete example when I mentioned "the penis driven religion" called Islam. I have more vulgar representations of the Other, besides "penis driven" - another one I come across frequently is " with their asses up in the air" (referring to Muslim prostration during prayers). In themselves these may be "anecdotal " and consequently brushed off as some cheap shot at the Other.
However when terms used by the Western other like --"animals, beasts, savages, penis driven, and asses up in the air" are inscribed in a specific historical and political context --- they take on a different meaning altogether, they become ideological weapons...used against the Other. They no longer become a "joke" afforded by "Free Speech"
Again, I will try to keep it as simple as I can, even though it is no simple matter and is quite complex, as it has so many levels, layers - so to speak...
Without wanting to get into a history of Orientalism and the "representation of the other" I will draw analogies from a vivid memory...
I will start with Iraq, the cradle of Civilization, that has known no respite in lack of Civility. I will start with Abu Ghraib.
Abu Ghraib - Abu Ghraib is the perfect example of the "representation of the Other." It is not the only example yet it is my starting point.
I use the Abu Ghraib example because it is full of meaning, images, even though Abu Ghraib is now silent. And this is the power of image versus words...imagery takes over, wins over any time.
And representation of the Other requires, necessitates imagery...images...and imagination.
And since it started off with a film (an image), it is only fair that this film continues in its different episodes...
Abu Ghraib...do you remember Abu Ghraib ?
I do. Abu Ghraib is there always in the back of my mind...it is associated with Free Speech and Democracy, with Human Rights and Liberty.
A penis driven religion...a penis driven people....hooded, made to masturbate, sodomize one another, for snapshots taken by the Western man...for "laughs".
Another image - Guantanamo, where the animal beast savage is chained...shackled in iron, in metal cages, behind metal bars...while innocent.
Images zoom through my mind...
Images stored in the collective, a history of images...images...just like that cheap film made in California...
Dehumanizing and cheap....
Dehumanizing and cheap...is that what Western Freedom is all about..?!
This is only ONE of the Questions you need to ask yourselves until I come back with more...
I hope you have realized by now that it is not about a 13mn video trailer in itself, but what about this trailer represents in the grand scheme of things.
And in this post, I would like to stress on that word "representation". How the Other is presented/represented on some ideological/cultural level (even though I have conceptual problems with the word Culture here, but I will still use it) and how this representation serves political ends.
In my previous post, I talked about the hyper sexualization of the Other - and I gave a concrete example when I mentioned "the penis driven religion" called Islam. I have more vulgar representations of the Other, besides "penis driven" - another one I come across frequently is " with their asses up in the air" (referring to Muslim prostration during prayers). In themselves these may be "anecdotal " and consequently brushed off as some cheap shot at the Other.
However when terms used by the Western other like --"animals, beasts, savages, penis driven, and asses up in the air" are inscribed in a specific historical and political context --- they take on a different meaning altogether, they become ideological weapons...used against the Other. They no longer become a "joke" afforded by "Free Speech"
Again, I will try to keep it as simple as I can, even though it is no simple matter and is quite complex, as it has so many levels, layers - so to speak...
Without wanting to get into a history of Orientalism and the "representation of the other" I will draw analogies from a vivid memory...
I will start with Iraq, the cradle of Civilization, that has known no respite in lack of Civility. I will start with Abu Ghraib.
Abu Ghraib - Abu Ghraib is the perfect example of the "representation of the Other." It is not the only example yet it is my starting point.
I use the Abu Ghraib example because it is full of meaning, images, even though Abu Ghraib is now silent. And this is the power of image versus words...imagery takes over, wins over any time.
And representation of the Other requires, necessitates imagery...images...and imagination.
And since it started off with a film (an image), it is only fair that this film continues in its different episodes...
Abu Ghraib...do you remember Abu Ghraib ?
I do. Abu Ghraib is there always in the back of my mind...it is associated with Free Speech and Democracy, with Human Rights and Liberty.
A penis driven religion...a penis driven people....hooded, made to masturbate, sodomize one another, for snapshots taken by the Western man...for "laughs".
Another image - Guantanamo, where the animal beast savage is chained...shackled in iron, in metal cages, behind metal bars...while innocent.
Images zoom through my mind...
Images stored in the collective, a history of images...images...just like that cheap film made in California...
Dehumanizing and cheap....
Dehumanizing and cheap...is that what Western Freedom is all about..?!
This is only ONE of the Questions you need to ask yourselves until I come back with more...
