When it comes to onscreen representation in film, Muslims are hardly anywhere to be found, according to a new study.
While Muslims make up 24% of the global population, they made up less than 2% of the films researched, meaning out of 8,965 speaking characters in 200 movies, 144 were Muslim.
“The representation of Muslims on screen feeds the policies that get enacted, the people that get killed, the countries that get invaded,” Riz Ahmed, who supported the research project, said.
Out of those 200 movies, just six had Muslims as their lead or co-lead character, and even in those films they played roles that served a white character’s purpose.
“The erasure of Muslim characters is particularly notable in animation, where not one of the animated movies we examined featured a Muslim character,” co-author said Dr.
Out of 41 primary or secondary Muslim characters, more than half were portrayed as immigrants or refugees, spoke no English or with an accent and were dressed in attire related to Islam.
In response to these findings, the USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative teamed up with the Pillars Fund to create The Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion, which is a set of recommendations for the entertainment industry to combat the lack of inclusion of Muslim characters.
Now it must show the will, and the Blueprint for Muslim Inclusion can offer a practical roadmap for change,” Ahmed said.