Barriers to Diversity in Film – A Research Review – Aug 07

avoiding more discussion of racism. The author argues that the over-
sexualised black woman was avoided and the film deconstructs the
black male as not being over-sexualised. Where multiculturalism is
embraced by filmmakers, the issues are framed within an inter-ethnic
love relationship, which mostly deal with a racialised sexuality, where
black women are portrayed as objects of desire. However, in British
films there is also a tendency to be critical of the position and
experience of black women in a white society as well as their
experiences within their communities (Smelik 2003).
A recent report by the Islamic Human Rights Commission argues that
popular films depict ”crude and exaggerated stereotypes of Muslims”
and legitimate Islamophobia. The authors argue that Hollywood has a
critical role to play in influencing how the public view Muslims. The
survey showed that Muslims in Britain felt negative images of their
faith on the big and small screen had consequences in their daily lives,
with their lived social experiences of discrimination, violence and
exclusion. The problem with the portrayal of Muslims is that it is all
negative, and the issue becomes important when seen against the fact
that eight out of ten people lack close contact with Muslims, making
the media their primary source of information. The authors give
examples of films which perpetuate these stereotypes, including
Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), The Siege (1998), Aladdin (1992), East
is East (1999) and Executive Decision (1996). They argue that relating
prayer in a mosque with scenes of exploding bombs and
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