22054 BADC5B
Sympathetic
Imagery
Sympathetic imagery was evident in Hollywood movies post 9/11, This can be attributed to film makers wanting to humanise Islam (to an extent) following then President Bush's speech after the 9/11 attack. In it, he mentions "The face of terror is not the true faith of Islam."
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This section will analyse primarily two movies and the visual imageries that can be found to support this idea of a Sympathetic, humanised Islam. The two movies are Syriana(2005) and Rendition(2007).
الم
Semblance
of Humanity
Unlike the dominant imagery where Islam characters were very one-dimensional driven my fundamental beliefs, the sympathetic imagery portrayed Islam in plights caused by racism in the West. The presence family was also evident in the imageries used in these two movies.
Unlike the dominant imagery where Islam characters were very one-dimensional driven my fundamental beliefs, the sympathetic imagery portrayed Islam in plights caused by racism in the West. The presence family was also evident in the imageries used in these two movies.
In this phase, destructions caused were not as extreme as hijacked planes but scaled to suicide bombings. In this scene in the movie Syriana(2005),a young Muslim is depicted to have had a normal life, almost akin to the Western counterpart of playing with his friends. The character, Wassim, is then seen to be coerced to partake in acts of terrorism in the name of religion from a religious authority figure. In the movie, we watch his plight and struggle to want to resist. His life and dreams are communicated to audience, giving us a deeper understanding of this character.
The Struggle
Similarly, in Rendition (2007), a young Muslim man with, with dreams and goals in life is later on seduced by fundamental beliefs influenced by a older, religious authority figure. Terms such as Jihad and Brotherhood and used in drive the character into committing an act of terror.
الجهاد
In the end, the character succumbs to the influence and succumbs to suicide bombing driven by fundamental Islamic beliefs. His struggle can be seen in his face expression, the hesitancy and in this scene his partner, Fatima, also rushes to stop him but to no avail. This is where the humanised, sympathetic imagery comes to definition: viewers sympathise with the character's struggle because it presents his hesitance translates as human.