The results could not have been clearer.
Those who watched the firefighter in (A) came away with more warmth toward Muslims, more empathy and more commitment to democratic values. Those who watched the suspect in (B) shifted in the opposite direction—toward supporting anti-Muslim policies and viewing Muslims as a cultural threat.
Terror attacks by Muslim extremists received over 350 percent more media coverage.
Just minutes of screen time bent public opinion.
Are we really that malleable?
Apparently, yes.
The study confirms that entertainment media isn’t just escapism—it seeps into and colors our attitudes, feeds our prejudices and even dictates whom we associate with, hire, befriend or talk to. And when it comes to Muslims, more than a century of seeing them on the big and little screen as villains, temptresses, fanatics, oil sheikhs and terrorists has made its mark.
The prevalence of such Tinseltown-concocted stereotypes and tropes moved one media critic to grumble that Muslims are depicted as “billionaires, bombers and belly dancers.”
The reality, of course, bears no resemblance to those depictions.
Muslims make up just 1 percent of the US adult population, but represent 5 percent of the nation’s physicians—nearly 50,000 in all. Some 6,000 serve honorably in the armed forces. In 2020, American Muslims gave more to charity than any other group in the US.
Despite these facts, public prejudice toward Muslims remains higher than toward any other religious, ethnic or racial group, with only one-third of us saying that the contributions of American Muslims strengthen our country.
It’s no mystery why: Terror attacks by Muslim extremists received over 350 percent more media coverage than those by non-Muslim extremists between 2008 and 2015, despite non-Muslims carrying out the majority of attacks.
But here and there, the needle moves as the Muslim population grows. Recent TV series like “We Are Lady Parts” (about a Muslim punk girl group), “United States of Al” (about a combat marine veteran who comes home with Al, his Afghan translator friend), and “Mira, Royal Detective” (a Disney children’s series) all portray Muslims as three-dimensional human beings.
As the study’s authors conclude: “It is critical for entertainment media writers and creators to consider the implications of their creative choices and endeavor to represent Muslims and other minorities in a more positive light.”
Yes, we need more than just the occasional non-cardboard cut-out depictions of Muslims. We need to see more Muslim physicians and teachers on the screen. We need to see more normal families who also attend mosque. We need to experience more storylines involving more givers and helpers who happen to be Muslim.
That shouldn’t be so hard for the writers and creators of our dramas and comedies to bring about.
They need only look in the mirror and find the three-dimensional human beings there—with their strengths, quirks, flaws, successes and setbacks—and apply that “three-dimensionality” to everyone—real and fictional—that they write about.
If writers and creators dared to build their characters this way—instead of leaning on tired, toxic stereotypes—a miracle would happen: We’d look at the screen and see ourselves, no matter who’s standing there.
