As TV and movies begin to make successful strides in representation, it is imperative that we also include different religious backgrounds in the conversation to further combat the worst disease in America: hate.
Author: Mariam Khamaj
“I come from a land, from a faraway place...
Where they cut off your ear if they don't like your face.
It's barbaric, but hey, it's home.”
If you grew up watching Disney movies like millions of other children, then you're bound to recognize these lyrics from the opening track of Aladdin. Despite being marketed towards minorities as progressive when it was released, the underlying tones of Islamophobia are unmistakable throughout: even solely the lyrics above paint Muslims as violent savages by referencing a severely archaic and seldom used Sharia law, further pushing the narrative that Muslims are stuck in the past.
The issue is that Aladdin was one of the only windows into a Muslim world for some Americans, and first impressions stick. First impressions lead to fully developed bigotry and hate crimes. Perhaps even worse, as a young Muslim, I was hurt, embarrassed, and left wondering why Agrabah wasn't treated the same as Arendelle.
It isn't just one religious group whose minuscule amount of screen time consists of stereotypes and overused caricatures. Jews, Hindus, Sikhs, and many other religious minorities are portrayed with a narrow set of qualities watering down their diverse religious groups. When it comes to representation in TV, the conversation is usually focused around POC and LGBT+ characters. However, though identities of faith may be a touchy subject for a producer to take on uniquely, religious representation is needed to bring respect to one another's beliefs, and self-respect to our own beliefs. With the particularly historically-prevalent Anti-Semitism and Islamaphobia deadlier than ever, Hollywood must utilize its medium to combat the root of this hate in America. Moreover, when television accepts realistic characters with different faiths, real people with different faiths will begin to feel a sense of community, which is what our country needs more of.
A report by the ISPU proved that those who didn't know a Muslim in person were more likely to be Islamaphobic, and the same likely applies to other religious minorities. Where do we get to “connect” with types of people we don’t have the opportunity to meet day-to-day? Television. Americans spend 6 hours a day watching videos a day. Motion picture should not be treated lightly: it has the power to transform ignorant bigotry and prejudice into educated respect by humanizing characters with religions that are usually depicted negatively.
Further, social identity theory says that feeling belonging to a group is vital to one’s self-esteem. With a lack of proper representation, a minority group will never feel they truly belong. This is no exception for religious minorities. For example, ⅓ of American Jews purposely avoid publicizing their religion, and ⅔ of American Muslims feel like they don't have a place in American society. The power of seeing a well-written character on the big screen with your same background and beliefs shouldn’t be underestimated. You begin to feel acknowledged, related to, and worthy. Faith is unique in that it can be the most powerful part of someone’s identity. Faith makes people believe in a greater good. Harmful or a lack of representation shouldn’t be able to get away with diminishing someone’s greater good. It is imperative that what brings light into someone’s life isn’t shut down by a poor script.
Harmful or a lack of representation shouldn’t be able to get away with diminishing someone’s greater good. It is imperative that what brings light into someone’s life isn’t shut down by a poor script.
It goes beyond even blatantly bigoted ideas on the extreme side, like the exotic Hindu or the terrorist Muslim. Microaggressions, overused tropes, and performative diversity with nothing but religious labels can hurt just as much, if not more. Although Glee gained fame for its diversity milestones, Ilana Diamant says that as a young Jewish girl, she was disappointed-- seeing Jewish lead Rachel Berry celebrate Hannaukah proudly rather than compromising her religion to sing Christmas songs for her boyfriend might have “led to less stammering when [she] had to explain to friends in high school why [she] just didn’t feel comfortable partaking in [Christmas] activities”. Amina Beg notices that when it comes to Muslim girl characters, the overused trope of feeling oppressed by their religion while rebelling by kissing a white boy is painfully misrepresentative of Muslim girls in the Western world.
Diamant and Beg have boiled the root of the issue down to one solution: representation behind the scenes. If we need those with ignorant views to change by flipping on their TV; if we need the melting pot of Americans to feel united rather than divided; if we need to combat bigotry with humanity, then we need to have more authentic religiously diverse characters than ever before. A writer cannot possibly portray the struggles, lifestyle, morals, and quirks of someone of a different religious background than themself correctly. We need Buddhist, Jewish, Sikh, and a myriad of diverse writers to make a change and bring stale, overdone characters to real-life once and for all.
Mariam Khamaj is a high school junior from Boston, Massachusetts. She is a Ravenclaw who loves crocheting and Netflix.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official views or positions of Converge Interfaith.