Hollywood (Mis)representations of Arabs and the Middle East From a Production Perspective – The Case of FX Channel’s Tyrant

Abstract

For a number of scholars and cultural critics, Hollywood’s tendencies of representing Arabs, Muslims, and the Middle East are regarded as stereotyped, clichéd and, in some cases, downright offensively racist. Meanwhile, the absence of scholarly works investigating the issue from a production perspective is immense. Drawing from theories on cultural production and creative personnel, and combining them with a fieldwork I conducted at the set of Tyrant (2014-2016), FX Channel’s Middle Eastern drama, this article intends to fill this gap, by exploring the complexities of accurately representing the ‘Other’ when working with a mixed cast, addressing a diverse audience, and having to deal with politics.

Keywords

• arabs
• muslims
• middle east
• orientalism
• stereotypes
• clichés