The Theory of Orientalism

With compliments to the above definitions of Orientalism, we jibe that the East continues to be portrayed as the " some other," as be above, in American society and socialization. The Eastern "other" is in general portrayed in three ways. Either the murderous opposition whose set disdain all things American or the exotic, invite and mysterious creature predominant images of the Eastern "other" in American culture and society. This is real in terms of culture such as film and fashion, as it is true with respect to foreign policy and the legal system. In short, the Eastern "other" is typically demonized or exoticized in U.S. culture.

There are numerous examples of this limning of the Eastern "other" in U.S. culture. The media plays an important function in creating the values and characteristics of national identity and the identity of the "other." In general, Arabs are portrayed as the "inferior" or " unsafe" other in the U.S. media, primarily because their own values hold a threat to those defined by U.S. national identity. This has been true in U.S. culture for a significant time precedent to the events of September 11. The portrayal of Arabs in many U.S. films has either demonized them or made them alluring through their exotic appeal and mystery. Nevertheless, scorn any al

The terrorist attacks of September 11 helped foster changes in U.S. law enforcement to include racial profile of Muslims. Such incorporation of the perception of Arabs and Muslims as the dangerous and reprehensible "other" follow within Said's theories on Orientalism. We also know how Orientalism is pernicious in the sense that it often underlies social institutions whose values and laws often treat the "other" unjustly. As Said (p. 191) maintains in Culture and Imperialism, from observing this relationship surrounded by the East and western we learn not only of the inequality between cultures that also the very foundation of American cultural practices in general; "[Studying]?the West and its dominated cultural ?

others' is not just a way of instinct an unequal relationship between unequal interlocutors, but also a point of entryway into studying the formation and meaning of Western cultural practices themselves."

The portrayal of the "other" is also seen in many feature films that drag conflicts against the Eastern "enemy." In Apocalypse Now, the Vietnamese "other" is interpret as living in the most hellish come to the fore in the world. Not content to depict Vietnam as the pip place in the world, the Vietnamese are also visualized as having a culture that is barbaric in par to Western civilization. As Captain Willard, the narrator of the film; tells us, "Charlie didn't make out much USO. His idea of great R&R was cool rice and a little rat meat," (Coppola, 1979). Instead of display interaction with the Vietnamese to gain a greater understanding of their culture and society, the film gives us an ethnocentric, Western perspective of some(prenominal) that provides no insight or expansion of knowledge just about either. As Said (p. 24) writes in Culture and Imperialism, when he is discussing Conrad's titty of Darkness, on which Apocalypse Now is based, "For if we cannot truly understand psyche else's experience and if we must therefore depend upon the assertive ascendency of the sort of power t
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