Perception 2: Muslims

The single story for Muslims in America is simple: they are terrorists. Ever since the bombings of the Twin Towers and the Pentagon in 2001, Muslims have been stereotyped as terrorists. In the media, the message about Muslims are pretty consistent, with some differing views here and there. Based on the media, "terrorists" are always from the Middle East, they always wear turbans, and they all hate America.

"Abu Nazir" - Terrorist leader in Homeland

In the Showtime hit Homeland, Claire Danes and the CIA try their hardest to take down terrorism in America. The show actually does a great job of involving Muslims on both sides of the story. While most of the Muslims are the stereotypical, Middle-Eastern suicide bombers, others differ. One main character is a Muslim that works for the CIA, and another is a white soldier turned terrorist. I would say that Homeland exaggerates how many bombings occur by terrorists, but there have been so many terrorism issues from ISIS recently that its hard to say the show is being unrealistic.

Donald Trump wants to keep Muslims out of the US

Donald Trump is a prime example of how American's view Muslims. He may be a financial genius, but his views on Muslims are very extreme. Trump considers himself to be friends with the Muslims, but based on other statements he has made, he wants to moderate their residential status' in the United States. Trump's statements about Muslims correlate with the media's view of Muslims, that they are dangerous and that we need to protect ourselves against anyone wearing a turban.

Finally, this scene from Get Smart uses the terrorist stereotype on purpose, to create humor. It is a PG-rated movie, so they do not use the words "terrorist" or "Muslim," but it is clear why Steve Carrell's character is scared by what he sees. Get Smart uses an extremely strong, brown man with a turban as the antagonist for a reason. This is what American's think is scary. Although the man in charge of the turban-wearing man is a white, British guy. Get Smart uses stereotypes for humorous purposes, but it is exaggerated so much that it would be hard to get offended by it.

The issue with the single-storied Muslim is that it is far from the truth. Homeland, Get Smart, and Donald Trump all symbolize some sort of single-story given to Muslims in the media. Having had a Muslim roommate at BYU, and interacting with many Muslims on my mission, I can attest that they are generally very kind people. Just like we cannot say all Germans hate Jews and want to take over the world, we cannot assume that all Muslims want to blow us up.