Post Modernism #2

Ok, the first important thing I would address from these two stills is Peter O'Toole. Look how he is dressed compaired to Harrison Ford. They are both in the middle of the desert in their respective movies, but Peter's character actually has respect for the "arabic" lifestyle. His character has embraced their culture completely (because he understood that when in the desert, do what the desert people do to live). Now, Indie on the other hand is still completely dressed in Western attire, and from this still I recognize it as the scene where Jones shoots the black-garbed Arab with a gun when he is challenged to a sword fight. Jones shows a complete disregard for the Arabic culture in his movie, as does the director (Spielberg) now that I think about it. In "Lawrence," every Arab looks different and seems to have their own identity, where as in "Raiders" all the Arabs are dressed the same and none of them stand out. With the sword wielding one in the front, he makes Arabia seem like a dangerous place that does not welcome white boys. Now, for a little tangent. All the "Jones" movies are based around the time of WWII. In reality, a number of Arabic nations sided with Nazi Germany due to Germany offering benefits as well as a mutual hatred of the Jews between both the Nazis and Arabs. Now, Spielberg is Jewish. So would he have purposely potrayed the Arabs as less civilized due to innate prejudices? Of course I'm not calling Steve a racist, I'm just saying it's something to think about. Hollywood hasn't changed much when we look at current Arabic potrayal. Thanks to 9/11, the Arabs are back as the "ultimate villian" and movies like Vantage Point only play up the worst of stereotypes that Americans will understand. The stereotype of course is that there are ONLY arabic terrorists, and most Arabs ARE terrorists. This is clearly not true, but how many times do you see an arab in a movie doing something other than waving a scimitar or a gun or an RPG at the screen screaming "DEATH TO AMERICA!"