Orientalism blog tasks

1) Watch the opening of Yasmin (2004) again. Does it offer a positive or negative view of British Muslims? To what extent does it reinforce or challenge Edward Said's theory of Orientalism - that the west is superior to the exotic or uncivilised east?
The clip contains mostly a positive view of British Muslims. In the clip we see that Yasmin's character is integrated within British society and embraces British culture e.g when she goes to the pub with her friend. However you could argue that the man who ate peanut butter with his finger appears to be quite uncivilized, reinforcing Said's theory of the behavior of those in the east compared the in the west. Towards the end we also see Yasmin being pulled over by the police (which did not occur previously when he wasn't wearing a hijab). She instantly tells the police officers all the information they need to know which therefore suggests that she has been pulled over many times before. This therefore subverts Said'd theory. 

2) Summarise the three theorists we have looked at this week: Alvarado, Fanon and Said.
Alvarado (1987) - four key themes in racial representation: exotic, dangerous, humorous, pitied
Fanon (1952) - Black Skin, White Masks- infantalise, primitivise, decivilise, essentialise
Said (1978)- civilized vs uncivilized
3) Finally, choose ONE clip for EACH of the theorists and explain how you could apply that theory to the clip. Pick your clips from YouTube but feel free to use TV, film, music video or advertising - whatever you think is most powerful and relevant. Embed the clips in your blog before writing your analysis under each clip. Note: this means you need THREE clips in total on this blogpost.

Ride Along 2 (2016)

Alvarado- In this clip we see Kevin Hart play the sidekick, while Ice Cube plays the protagonist, both of which work as undercover cops in Miami. Kevin Hart's character appears to be quite troublesome and foolish, and does things that mess up the investigation e.g by dropping and exposing his police badge, when break dancing. This therefore links to Alvarado's theory of typical black representations as he plays the "humorous" sidekick. In contrast to this, Ice Cube's character plays a more serious role in the film, where in which he gets involved in various crimes and tries to catch criminals. Although he does not play a criminal himself, it could be argued that his character is represented as "dangerous" to fit the typical black representation we see in the media.

American Gangster (2007)

Fanon- In this clip we see Denzel Washington's character walking up to another character on the street (played by Idris Elba). He asks for his money in a calm tone, while taking out his gun but Elba's character claims that he wouldn't shoot him in front of everyone in the street. Immediately, he shoots him in the head and walks back tot he restaurant to continue eating his food. This therefore links to Fanon's theory of typical black stereotypes as the characters in this clip are all gangsters and therefore "decivilised". 

Taken (2008)

In this clip we see Liam Nesson's character in a fight with middle eastern looking villains. They use weapons such as knives and guns to fight off Liam Neeson who is after them because they kidnapped his daughter. This therefore link to Said's theory of the "civilised vs uncivilised" as the villains are "gangsters". Liam Neeson's character who is from the "West" is needed to punish the "uncivilised East".