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Valentino's GhostThe Politics Behind Images
Narrated by M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell Valentino’s Ghost exposes the way in which the U.S. Government’s foreign policy agenda in the Middle East drives the U.S. media’s portrayals of Arabs and Muslims. In 1920s Hollywood, the Arab was a hero, as played by the iconic Rudolph Valentino in his hugely successful “Sheik” movies. By the 1970s, Arabs and Muslims were depicted solely as embodiments of evil, not only in Hollywood films, but in children’s cartoons, in the news media, on TV, and even on radio. What happened to the hero image? What social and political and religious forces shifted that image to a socially acceptable negative sterotype? Why do supremely talented artists and intellectuals in America consider it perfectly “realistic” to depict Arabs and Muslims in a fashion that would be described as bigoted, if the same image were applied to blacks, Jews, gays, Native Americans, et al? What about Evangelical Christian bonds with Israel, and “The Israel Lobby” AIPAC? How did we sink into Abu Ghraib? What about the Arab spring and Twitter? Valentino’s Ghost is narrated by M*A*S*H star Mike Farrell. The 95-minute film features the legendary late American writer Gore Vidal; and John Mearsheimer, author of “The Israel Lobby;” along with Harvard and Oxford historian Niall Ferguson; Robert Fisk, Britain's most celebrated war correspondent; New York Times reporter Anthony Shadid, who died in February, 2012, while reporting from the front lines in Syria; historian Melani McAlister; TV star Tony Shalhoub; media expert Jack Shaheen Hollywood writer Alan Sharp, Rabbi Dovid Ysroel Weiss; and author Diana Abu-Jaber, along with comic relief from Maz Jobrani, Aron Kader and Ahmed Ahmed. Valentino’s Ghost takes viewers on a riveting chronological adventure through our culture, and shows viewers the various patterns and contexts that lie behind the images that bombard us daily, about this very important part of the world.
"Stunning for its comprehensiveness, 'Valentino's Ghost' is not only a riveting account of the multiple ways in which American media have framed Arabs, Islam, and Muslims over the past century, but an explanation as to why...If you see the need for change and want a place to start, watch this film to develop your tools." "An important and informative teaching tool. Comprehensive in its scope, 'Valentino's Ghost' provides the crucial background to enable viewers to put stereotypical representations of Arabs and Muslims in historical context. Rather than simply cataloguing negative portrayals of Arabs and Muslims in U.S. media, it demonstrates how they are shaped by historical and political forces, revealing them to be cultural artifacts of these same forces." "An extensive, carefully prepared compendium of American media images of the Middle Eastern Islamic world highlighting negative stereotypes of the people of the region...Many U.S. citizens--even those who see themselves as open-minded and non-prejudiced--will come away from this film with a new realization of how badly they have been misled into genteel bigotry in their judgements about this part of the world...I found the film entertaining and enlightening and will recommend it widely." "Enormously effective in exposing the U.S. media's long-standing misrepresentations of Arabs and Muslims. Attention-grabbing, accessible, and provocative. Essential and urgent for every classroom and to anyone interested in questioning widely held assumptions. Valentino's Ghost is sure to deepen any discussion about the influence of the U.S. media, anti-Arab racism, and Islamophobia."
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