Racism is common in both movie and music industry. In movies, African American actors are told to act scenes that involve crime and drug abuse in the society. In contrast, Whites are told to act in the movies where they are portrayed as heroes by saving the society. In music, the Blacks are associated with hip-hop and R&B while the Whites are associated with Rock music. Racism is affecting both the music and movie industry negatively and it should be stopped. The Director portrays racism that is prevalent towards third world countries. It narrates story of White Messiah by showing how the white people should be responsible for solving all the problems that affects the society since Wadiya constitution was supposed to be signed in New York. This movie also portrays the stereotype that third world countries are faced with many social problems such as dictatorship by showing how Aladeen makes important decisions about their country without consulting anyone. Few people in the Wadiya society have the power of making all the economic and social decisions in this country. Characters of this movie have different power and social influence since Zoey is morally upright while Nadal engages in social crimes.
The Dictator is a film that was produced in 2012. This movie shows the story of an oppressive leader known as Havez Aladen who rules Republic of Wadiya. He is summoned to a United Nations assembly to explain whether his country is involved in nuclear weapons. However, the person who is assigned the task of taking care of him ends up kidnapping him and later shaves his beard, which was his trademark (The Dictator). Tamir, one of his ministers, arranged the kidnapping. He wants to Kill Aladeen, so that he has the freedom of signing multimillionaire contracts with foreign companies that will make him a rich man. Luckily, Aladeen manages to escape death by fleeing from his kidnapper who is known as Clayton. Luckily, he meets a woman and convinces her that he is a refugee from Wadiya. This woman agrees to hire Aladeen.
Racism is portrayed in the Dictator, since it narrates the story of a White Messiah. In this movie, Aladeen is able to transform his country from dictatorship to democracy after going to New York. When he was in New York, he wanted to stop the signing of a new constitution that would turn the country into a democracy and allow this country to become democratic so that its open fields would be open for business. He wanted to boycott the signing ceremony that would make Wadiya a democratic state. He manages to boycott the signing ceremony and destroys Tamir’s document. When he sees Zoey in the room, he ends up declaring his love to her. He promises to change his beliefs and allow democracy in Wadiya (The Dictator). In addition, he agrees to open oil wells in his country for private businesses. Democratic elections are held in Wadiya one year later after he visited New York. Considering this plot, New York is portrayed as the hero in this movie, since it was able to transform Aladeen from a leader who practiced dictatorship to a democratic leader.
According to Mitu Sengupta, “In White Messiah films, the Arabs have barbaric ideas of justice and it is evident that they have trouble managing their own.” This is also clear in the Dictator. Tamir was not happy that Aladeen was the leader of Wadiya. Instead of following the correct channels to solve their differences by using the laws of Wadiya, he decides to kill Aladeen so that he would have the power of imposing a new constitution in Wadiya. He even goes ahead to replace Aladeen with Efawadh, a political decoy, so that he can be able to manipulate him to sign the document that will make Wadiya a democratic country.
This movie also upholds the racial stereotype that third world countries are faced with many social problems. According to Ohmi, “The third world countries are presented as one homogeneous mass that is riddled with poverty and governed by ruthless and corrupt regimes.” In the movie, The Dictator, Aladeen is presented as an oppressive leader. This makes him hated by everybody under his kingdom, including his confidants. Aladeen did not allow oil from his country to be sold to western nations, proving his dictatorship. In addition, he was manufacturing nuclear weapons in his country. Nadal was the former chief of the nuclear programs in Wadiya. After their disagreement with Aladeen, he was forced to go into exile since Aladeen ordered his execution. It shows that Wadiya suffered from dictatorship, since its leader had the right of executing anybody who did not agree with his leadership. After Nadal meets with Aladeen in New York, he promises to help Aladeen to destroy the plot of Tamir of signing a new constitution (The Dictator). Nadal believes that Aladeen is the rightful dictator in this country. It clearly shows that this movie made a propaganda of racism, since it shows that dictatorship is a common problem in the third world countries.
In The Dictator, social influence mainly comes from the few individuals who are in power. The people who are in power determine how the society should be governed. This is why Tamir, a minister in Aladeen’s government had the right of pushing for the signing of Wadiya’s constitution without involving the other people in the society. It is not clear whether a referendum was held in order to determine whether all the citizens from Wadiya supported the idea of introducing a new constitution in this country. In addition, Aladeen was able to influence Nadal to support his planned boycott to prevent the signing of the new constitution of Wadiya, since he believes that Aladeen will make him the leader of the nuclear program in this country. Economic power in this movie comes from the western nations that mainly consist of the white communities. This is the main reason that Tamir wanted to pass the new constitution that would allow Wadiya to sell oil to the Western countries. He believes that by doing this, he will become a tycoon. This is a form of racism, since the Western nations are presented to have more economic power compared to the other nations. According to Sengupta, “”¦rests on the stereotype that White people are rationalists and technocratic while colonial victims are spiritual and athletic and the non whites need the White Messiah to lead their crusades.”
Characters from different cultures in this movie have unbalanced levels of power and influence. Zoey is from the Jewish culture. She has strong moral values and that is the main reason that she manages to convince Aladeen to turn from being a dictator to a leader who practices democracy. Zoey is a hardworking woman. She catered at a hotel where the signing of Wadiya’s constitution took place. She is also principled since she refused any sexual advances that Aladeen tried to make towards her. After she gets married to Aladeen, Wadiya holds its first democratic election. It shows that the Jewish culture has been presented as having more power and influence compared to the Arabic culture. Nadal represents the Arabic culture. His dream is to become the leader of the nuclear program in Wadiya. This is despite the fact that weapons from nuclear programs are destructive to humanity. Omni states, “In television and film, the necessity to define characters in their briefest and most condensed manner has led to the perpetuation of racial characatures, as racial stereotypes serves as shorthand for scriptwriters”¦” This suggests that The Dictator portrayed racism by giving different characters unbalanced levels of power and influence.
Overall, the Dictator presents different forms of racisms. It narrates the story of the White Messiah. In this movie, Wadiya moves from dictatorship to democracy after Aladeen goes to New York. Moreover, White Messiah films argue that Arabs have barbaric ideas of justice and that is why Tamir felt that Wadiya would have justice if Aladeen were assassinated. It also upheld the racial stereotype that third world countries have many social problems. At first, Aladeen is presented as a dictator. He starts nuclear programs in his country and kills people who oppose him. It also shows social and economic freedom comes from few people in power. Autocratic leaders have more power than other people do in the society. Characters from different cultures in this movie have unbalanced levels of power and influence. Zoey is a Jew and she is able to convince Aladeen to change.