Representation of Middle Easterners in Contemporary North American TV Series

Master's Thesis from the year 2017 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Culture and Applied Geography, grade: 1.5, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg (Institut für Anglistik und Amerikanistik), language: English, abstract: TV shows have always been popular. However, fairly recently, their quality and their budget have vastly increased. 'Prestige TV', which is frequently argued to have started with The Sopranos, can be argued to have continued with The Wire, Lost, Breaking Bad, Boardwalk Empire, Game of Thrones, House of Cards, and Homeland. After 9/11, an increase in TV shows focusing on terrorism was noticeable. Many shows exhibited coping mechanisms built into their plots, which can be related to the events on September 11, 2001. Movies like the Rambo film series (1982-1988), Platoon (1986), Full Metal Jacket (1987), and Rocky IV (1985) can be argued to be cinematic attempts of coming to terms with the United States' defeat in the Vietnam War, as well as locking horns with Russia respectively. In more recent movie history, we can witness films such as Rules of Engagement (2000), Flightplan (2005), The Kingdom (2007), and the Transformers franchise (2007-2014), which can be interpreted as 'blowing off steam' with regard to the US Army's seemingly endless engagement in the Middle East. Not to forget the recent TV shows Quantico (2015-), 24 (2001-2010), and Homeland (2011-), which are excellent examples for Orientalist points of view, terrorism threats and so-called 'SHTF'-scenarios, as well as homeland-security issues. These TV shows all seem to be cultural products that can be seen as direct answers to the terrorist attacks that day. And just like the older examples of pop culture products, these series and movies are also filled with coping behavior and processes. The goal of this thesis is to look at the dichotomy between the East and the West, the negative perception of the Middle East in the West, as well as how negative images of the East are constructed, but also countered in Western media. In other words, to see where or how Orientalist views are perpetuated and reinforced, and where they are countered, criticized, and ridiculed. Furthermore, the intention of this thesis will be to scrutinize the underlying presumptions about the 'other', and how these presumptions can be connected to Orientalism. By exposing the negative images, stereotypes and attempts of othering, light will be shed on the above-mentioned misrepresentations of Middle Easterners.