Task 4

1. Horror and Heroics: the Cinema of September 11th
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/MM37_Production_Cinema9_11.html


“Immediately following the attacks, Hollywood took a sensitive step away from disaster spectacle. The original teaser trailer for Spiderman (2002) had featured the titular hero spinning a web between the two towers of the WTC in order to catch a helicopter full of criminals”.


This quote from the media magazine site states that after the events of 9/11 the media immediately had to ease the moral panic that was caused by the events. Since the events of 9/11 more superhero movies and programmes have emerged in which has led to easing the moral panic socially.


2. Horror and Heroics: the Cinema of September 11th
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/downloads/archive_mm/mmagpast/MM37_Production_Cinema9_11.html


“Some of these films have tried accurately to portray the events of 9/11 in an honest and realistic manner. Some have used 9/11 to push a political message. However, more recently some films have used 9/11 as a plot twist or as a means of creating emotion in narratives featuring fictional characters. Nevertheless in most cases the audiences going to see these films are totally aware of what they are about to watch due to the marketing and publicity”.


This quote concludes the planning and making behind the films that were released after the events of 9/11. The aims of the films were to ease moral panic by creating superheros and creating stories and recreating what may have happened to them victims that were innocently killed. This shows the effects of the media upon society and how the media can ease the moral panic which have been created by real life situations. This links upon to my critical investigation as Muslims were stereotyped and views upon 9/11 were changed forever, this leaves the question if the media have anything to do with stereotypes and representations that have been created and is Islamphobia becoming a natural process in the reporting and constructions of Muslims post 9/11.


3. Britz
http://www.channel4.com/programmes/britz/episode-guide/series-1
“Peter Kosminsky's drama about a British Muslim family who are pulled in radically different directions by their conflicting personal experiences in post 9/11 Britain”.
This quote is important for my critical investigation as it sums the drama Britz up. The drama is set after the events of 9/11 and show how it has impacted their lives in which Sohail becomes a MI5 officer and Nasima is becomes a terrorist and bombs Canary Warf.








4. ‘Britz’ blew its credibility in the final minute
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3669027/Britz-blew-its-credibility-in-the-final-minute.html


"Drainingly powerful drama about Muslims in post 7/7 Britain, set out to uproot Western prejudices and to humanise terror suspects"


The quote sums up what the drama’s aims were to show, and how Muslim representations have changed after the events of 9/11 and 7/7,


5. ‘Britz’ blew its credibility in the final minute
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/3669027/Britz-blew-its-credibility-in-the-final-minute.html
“At the story’s heart were Sohail and Nasima Wahid (the equally excellent Riz Ahmed and Manjinder Virk), a Muslim brother and sister from Bradford. Sohail is proudly British – to the extent that he gave up his law degree to become an MI5 agent, unravelling terror plots”.
“Nasima, by contrast, is appalled by the invasion of Iraq, the Terrorism Act and the abuse by police of a friend arrested for owning an unusually large quantity of pepper (could be used to make bombs, said an officer). Nasima started Britz as a leader of peaceful public protests. She ended it a suicide bomber”.


The quote sums up the characters in the drama and their aims and motifs in which are shown through the drama. The two part drama is about the two progonists which are brother and sister, and radically pulled different ways because of the impact of the media and how people are racially towards Muslims.


6. Britz
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0991005/


“At the heart of this thought-provoking drama is a revealing examination of British Muslim life under current anti-terror legislation"


This quote states the plot of the drama and how it makes the audience question about the rights and how Muslims fight against Islamophobia.


7. Britz (2007)
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/britz/


“Told in 2-sections we see the same struggle from both points of view and the impact that their decisions have one each other. Both leads are so strong and sympathetic in their very multi-layered roles, that it captivates you and makes you so invested with their characters”.


This quote describes the plot of the drama and impact of the drama on audience.






8. Young Muslims and British
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/nov/30/islamandbritain.madeleinebunting


“The 'war on terror' has put British Muslims under the spotlight as never before".


The quote states the British Muslims are portrayed in the media often and it is because of the war.


9. Young Muslims and British
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/nov/30/islamandbritain.madeleinebunting


“But the post 9/11 debates amongst Muslims on faith, identity and integration are rarely heard in the mainstream media”.


The quote above states the impact of 9/11 has impacted the media and causes debates within the mainstream media however the side of Muslims is never heard in the mainstream media.


10. Young Muslims and British
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2004/nov/30/islamandbritain.madeleinebunting


“Insure, lacking self-confidence, haunted by failure and by personal experiences of deprivation, racism and, since 9/11, oppressive anti-terrorist measures and increasing Islamophobia”.


The quote states how Muslims feel and how the increasing Islamophobia is effecting Muslims and how it has a impact on the media, in which we can question is Islamophobia a natural process.


11. Four Lions ( 2010)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1341167/


“Four Lions tells the story of a group of British jihadists who push their abstract dreams of glory to the breaking point”.


The storyline of the drama-film Four Lions shows the response of Muslims after 9/11 and 7/11. The film decides to mock terrorists. The film shows four incompetent British jihadists who set out to train and commit acts of terror. The film goes on to mock how Muslims are portrayed in society and represent and portray the stereotypes in which Muslims and Islam is placed upon.


12. British drama probes Muslim extremists’ mind
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/archive/british-drama-probes-muslim-extremists-mind.html


“Since the 2001 attacks on the United States, Britain has passed a series of laws that some Muslims feel unfairly target them, and human rights groups condemn as repressive”.


This quote opens the article and states how Muslims feel about the laws that are being passed and are being accused for the attacks of terror which is portrayed in the drama Britz.






13. British drama probes Muslim extremists’ mind
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/archive/british-drama-probes-muslim-extremists-mind.html


“A new television drama to be aired this week in part blames such laws for motivating a fictional British female suicide bomber in a hard-hitting attempt to portray the causes for Islamist extremism”.


This quote sums up the plot of the drama and how Muslims feel to be referred as the ‘other’ in which creates trouble inside the Muslim society.


14. British drama probes Muslim extremists’ mind
http://www.thedailynewsegypt.com/archive/british-drama-probes-muslim-extremists-mind.html


“Kosminsky says taking religion as a motivating factor for extremism out of the equation was deliberate as their interviews with young Muslims suggested politics, particularly British foreign policy, was the source of disaffection. That is driven home with references to Mohammed Sidique Khan, ringleader of the 2005 attacks in London that killed 56 people, including the four suicide bombers, and a failed plot to detonate a fertilizer bomb in central London”.


The above quote will be important to use in my critical investigation as it by the director of Britz. He talks about the views and his motive and aim behind the production after interviewing young Muslims.


15. Muslims ‘demonised’ by UK media
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/7093390.stm


“Another poll published on Tuesday found that at least 35% of Londoners held Islam responsible for the 7/7 attacks”.


The quote shows how he British public feels about the religion Islam and could this statistic have an influence on the mainstream media.


16. Survey: Most patriotic Brits are Muslims
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3948185/Survey-Most-patriotic-Brits-are-Muslims.html


“A massive 83 per cent of Muslims said they were proud to be British — compared with the national average of 79 per cent”.


This statistic shows that Muslims are proud of Britain even though they are stereotyped and misrepresented in the mainstream media.














17. Survey: Most patriotic Brits are Muslims
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3948185/Survey-Most-patriotic-Brits-are-Muslims.html


“Tahir Shah, from the Muslim Public Affairs Committee, was not surprised at the results.He said: "Most Muslims are not loud, radical, crazy lunatics like Anjem Choudary who want to get publicity for themselves. They want to get on with their lives quietly. They are proud to be British”.


This quote shows the view of Muslims and how they really are. It shows that they are proud of the Britain as they are allowed the freedom to practice their own religion.


18. Survey: Most patriotic Brits are Muslims
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/features/3948185/Survey-Most-patriotic-Brits-are-Muslims.html


“Kashif Hussein, 21, a student at University College London, said: "I feel British and Muslim but since 9/11 we have to show it more, to interact more, to show that we're not that stereotype."


This quote is important as it shows a young British Muslims view on stereotypes and believes not to become that stereotype but to show that British Muslims are not that stereotype that the mainstream media depict.


19. 2001 Bradford Riots
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2001_Bradford_riots


“The Bradford Riots were a short but intense period of rioting which began on 7 July 2001, in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. It occurred as a result of heightened tension between the large and growing ethnic minority communities and the city's white majority, stoked by confrontation between the Anti-Nazi League and far right groups such as the British National Party and the National Front”.


The above information and quote will be important to state during my critical investigation as it shows the year of 9/11 and that trouble between Muslims and the whites was becoming a problem.


20. Stereotyping Muslims and Arabs
http://www.amp.ghazali.net/6-Stereotyping_Muslims_and_Arabs.pdf


“Muslims and Arabs have long been negatively portrayed in America. This negative stereotype is
evident in songs, jokes, comic books, novels, Halloween masks, advertising, wrestling, television,
cinema, and many other forms of American popular culture. It can be found even in media that
are supposedly factual, such as school textbooks. In the post 9/11 America the stereotyping of
Muslims and Arabs became even more negative. From political leaders to media and “experts on
Islam” manipulate and mock American patriotism while using Muslims like magnets to attract
fears and hatreds”.


This quote is important as it states the different stereotypes in which areas Muslims are portrayed upon, it also states that how after 9/11 Muslims stereotypes have increased and become even more negative.