A Hollywood remake of "Secret in Their Eyes," the 2009 Academy Award-winning Argentinian movie, came out in cinemas worldwide last week. The remake is shot in a more accessible way, dumping the artistry of the original film for a clear image for the masses, and a change in most character's backgrounds and relationships, oh and, a fixation with Muslim terrorists.
In the original movie, the police department where the story happens faces cases with themes of corruption of the state and state-sponsored terrorism, while the remake focuses exclusively on Muslims, looking out for a new attack similar to that of 9/11.
The worst part of the remake's narrative is that it is taken as a given – it's in the background. In the film, it is taken to be the norm that an office working against terrorist attacks would watch mosques and arrest Muslims, because these are the ones who kill and bomb innocent citizens. This framing is barely addressed but is always in the background of the story, not needing to be justified or explained.
Hollywood does this over and over again, using "Muslim terrorist" as a tool to put a Western hero on a pedestal of valiance and honor, from terrorists in Iron Man, to the inaccurate way Iraqis are depicted in "American Sniper". And the audience, of course, buys into this lie, believing it and regurgitating it themselves.
For example, after "American Sniper" came out, audiences were inspired to support the Iraq war and post reactions on social media mirroring the opinions showed in the film of Arabs and muslims, such as these:
After the movie, #KillAllMuslims trended, and even today, people cite the movie as an example as to why refugees shouldn't be allowed into their countries:
These movies are used as dangerous tools to spread hate and ignorance about Arabs and Muslims. Hand in hand with the media framing Arabs and Muslims as the backbone of terrorist cells in real life as well, the image of the "Arab Muslim terrorist" is now the convention in a Hollywood action movie, with all the filmmakers reaching out for it every time they want to build suspense or garner mainstream attention to their work.