In his historic speech on Wednesday about religious tolerance and the Muslim community, President Obama also had something to say about Hollywood, commenting that the entertainment industry is not doing enough to portray Muslims in storylines other than ones about national security. “It’s not that hard to do. There was a time when there were no black people on television. You can tell good stories while still representing a reality of our communities.”
The Guardian’s Dave Schilling addresses this in a commentary, asking when there will be a television show that portrays “Muslim characters as normal people and not spies or extremists?” He continues that there are advocacy groups “trying to make the president’s vision a reality” – and gives our service a nice description, stating that MOST “seeks to offer the entertainment community resources and information on Islam and Arab culture in order to keep portrayals of Muslims from drifting into caricature.”
Schilling concludes with this vital statement on the television and film landscape: “Find talented Muslim American writers, directors and producers. And if they don’t exist (and I guarantee you that they do exist), then encourage and cultivate the next generation of Muslim filmmakers. The best, most helpful research is living. Until we open the doors of Hollywood to more varied types of people, we’ll continue to have to have our presidents give speeches. We’ll keep dealing with controversies like #OscarsSoWhite.”
