How Hollywood has failed Muslim Women
So what is all the obsession with films depicting oppressed Muslim women finding salvation in relationships with white western boys?
Recent controversy with numerous tv shows and movies portraying the ‘real’ representation of Muslim women.
Netflix teen drama Elite tells the story of working class siblings Omar and Nadia who are suddenly sent to an exclusive private school. In order to catch the attention of an attractive white student; Nadia removes her hijab and drinks alcohol. The director portrays her walking in slow motion confidently into the club as her admirer watches in lust. It’s her moment, she’s confident, she’s woke, she’s Queen.
What causes concern is the concept that in order for Muslim women to be empowered she must make the final rite of initiation and remove the veil. And of course what is an Islamophobic show without having a white knight to save her from her barbaric heritage.
How It’s Done
In one of the highest-grossing superhero movies of all time, Iron Man 3; shows us the main character’s best friend Don Cheadle as a US military combatant wearing a suit that is camouflaged in US colours. He kicks open the door and ‘liberates’ the enslaved Niqabi women from their oppression working in a Middle-Eastern sweatshop. Nice propaganda by the way; that way Americans can justify bombing Muslim countries to liberate the oppressed Muslim women.
Hala, an Apple Original lazily portrayed every single stereotype Muslim women face today. She’s depressed, not heard and covered. But this liberal rebellion gets rescued by yet another western boy… Wonder if that’s a job you can take up? Rescue Muslim Women Services. RMW services how can I save you?
So to save you from watching hours of cheeseball, I’ll lay out the narrative for you; attractive poor Persian, Arab or Desi girl falls in love with a progressive tender hearted white boy but her intolerant of love parents force her into a lifetime of cooking falafel in the kitchen but this hijabi hostage is a real liberal rebel at heart and runs away throwing her deen, family and hijab away. Written, produced, directed by Al Masih Ad Dajjal. Ah romantic!
The constantly recurring theme of the white knight saving the exotic oppressed Muslimah, is just one way of colonising the mind and heart of Muslim women. Also insidiously demonising the Muslim male as a villain.
This is just one avenue to socially engineer Muslims away from their faith and into a godless liberal dystopia painted to us as liberation and freedom.
It Is Our Job To Represent Ourselves
While our Muslim sisters from abroad are suffering physical wars, Muslimahs in the west are fighting an ideoligical war and in order for us to win we must take ownership of our own stories and tell it our way.