Sacha Baron Cohen's portrayal of Arabs in The Dictator

A group of minorities did not come up in our classroom discussions that I think is important to address, especially in this post-9/11 world: Arabs. This group is facing racial stereotyping, racial profiling, and on top of that, the issue is still too taboo to discuss in the ways that we can discuss and explore issues of Latinos, Native Americans, Asians, and African Americans.

While many know Sacha Baron Cohen’s reputation of over-the-top ridicule to make a point; his movies explore difficult, taboo subjects with ease and comic relief. His depiction of an Arab dictator in his film The Dictator, which came out in 2012, and was roughly based on the memoirs of Saddam Hussein was problematic for a few reasons. First, as a white actor dramatizing the Arab culture his performance could be compared to that of a minstrel show. Second, it can be argued that he was performing in brownface. Critics have argued that his acting had the potential to expose these stereotypes in a positive way, but that did not happen because no actors cast in the film were Arabs and traditional portrayals of Arabs as dictators, or terrorists without rationality or regard for others continued in this film.

During group discussions of Pinky we talked about the fact of casting a white actor to portray a black character, while that actor could have easily been a “true” passing woman. This is also true of Baron Cohen’s character or of at least a few characters in the film. The lack of any Arabs in the film continues Hollywood’s traditions of whitewashing.

The use of comedy in film to alleviate the tension surrounding complex issues is a widely used tactic and is something I would like to explore further in class.