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If films drawing on Middle East tropes often highlight white Westerners, figures such as Sinbad and the Thief of Bagdad embody a counter-tradition of protagonists, derived from Islamic folklore and history, who are portrayed as 'Other' to Western audiences. In Muslim Heroes on Screen, Daniel O'Brien explores the depiction of these characters in Euro-American cinema from the silent era to the present day. Far from being mere racial masquerade, these screen portrayals are more complex and nuanced than is generally allowed, not least in terms of the shifting concepts and assumptions that inform their Muslim identity. Using films ranging from Douglas Fairbanks' The Thief of Bagdad, The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, El Cid, Kingdom of Heaven and The Message to The Wind and the Lion, O'Brien considers how the representational strategies of Western filmmakers may transcend such Muslim stereotypes as fanatic antagonists or passive victims. These figures possess a cultural significance which cannot be fully appreciated by Euro-American audiences without reference to their distinction as Muslim heroes and the implications and resonances of an Islamicized protagonist.
List of contents
Chapter 1. Introduction.- Chapter 2. Thieves of Bagdad: The Cinematic Metamorphosis of an Islamicized Hero.- Chapter 3. The Voyages of Sinbad: From Hollywood Cartoon Stooge to Global Fantasy Icon.- Chapter 4. Moutamin and the Mahdi: The Honourable Muslim Ally/Enemy in El Cid and Khartoum.- Chapter 5. Saladin: The West's Favourite Muslim?.- Chapter 6. Representing the Unrepresentable: Muhammad, The Message, and South Park. Chapter 7. Epilogue: 'The baraka has not deserted me'-American Expansionism and Muslim Resilience in The Wind and the Lion./
About the author
Daniel O'Brien is a writer and part-time lecturer in film studies, and has worked for both the Department of Film and the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Southampton, UK. His previous books include
Classical Masculinity and the Spectacular Body on Film (Palgrave, 2014) and
Black Masculinity on Film (Palgrave, 2017).
Report
"The book is a sound contribution to the literature on the study of Islam and Muslim societies in film." (Ahmad Nuril Huda, Journal of Religion & Film, Vol. 27 (2), October, 2023)
