Said argues the media has formed two definitions of Islam, one being a threat to society and the other as having a defensive nature. Islam is called the Orient, “different” whereas our world is called Occidental, or the West. The Orients are seen as wicked and malevolent, treated with “a very special hostility and fear”. Islam is distinguished as antihuman, antidemocratic, anti-Semitic, and antirational. The generalization of these issues in the media have clouded Western nations’ thoughts because mass media perception of Islam. This is shown in Harold and Kumar when an elderly woman imagines Kumar as a terrorist. She linked the negative events that happened in the part to a person who just looked the part. Said encourages people to look beyond the media and get the more complicated side of Islam. As for the Islamic world they must let go of the hostility toward the West.
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