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Orientalism and Fandom
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Orientalism is a term used to describe and analyse the ways in which the West portrays the East, i.e various regions of Asia and North Africa. It's current usage was defined by Edward Said in his book Orientalism, in which it generally refers to a patronising, imperialist depiction of Eastern cultures in Western hegemony.
Canon works featuring orientalist depictions of various cultures is often reflected in Western fandom and the fanworks produced.
In Canon
Sherlock Holmes
Sherlock Holmes is portrayed as white, British masculinity: "The position of White masculinity in Sherlock, particularly in relation to women and other ethnicities, is primarily one of command and mastery."[1]
Explicit Orientalism manifested in the second episode of the Sherlock (TV series) (2010) which caused one fan to comment: "I really disliked the second episode - minus a few scenes - and a lot of it had to do with the entirely problematic Orientalism in the episode."[2][note 1]
Thunderbirds
Thunderbirds was a British SF TV series in the 1960s. Its portrayal of Asian people - particularly as shown in the character "The Hood" - can be viewed today as being problematic Orientalism.
I Dream of Jeannie
I Dream of Jeannie has been a popular US TV series from the 1960s, featuring an astronaut dealing with a genie who lives within an ancient bottle that he found on a beach after splashing down.
Every aspect of production in Jeannie, from the set and costumes to dialogue, characterization, and plotline, calls on and reproduces a rather limited set of Hollywood’s Orientalist stereotypes... What is striking about Sheldon’s sitcom is that, while other television shows might have an isolated episode or character that is Orientalist... I Dream of Jeannie was the first television series (five seasons, 139 episodes in total) based entirely on Orientalist stereotypes. In other words, the show’s Orientalism is essential rather than incidental... (p. 7).[3][note 2]
Xena: Warrior Princess
Xena: Warrior Princess was a US television series from the late 1990s that was nominally set in ancient Greece, following the adventures of Xena and her friend Gabrielle. The series and its analysis through fan response, Boom Boom Ba (fanvid), has been described as "...a gorgeous and sensual exploration of female sexuality, marred by a seductive but troubling Orientalism."[4]
Firefly
Firefly was a short-lived science fiction set in a universe where US and Chinese culture were intermixed, particularly when characters wanted to express profanity. However, there was a noticeable disparity between white/American and Chinese background within the main cast. A fan exposé and response to this imbalance was expressed in How Much Is That Geisha In the Window?
Batman
The Batman (franchise) includes the character Talia al Ghul who is described by one fan: "Talia is the most notorious example of orientalism, particularly in the modern era where she's been stripped of her positive qualities so they could be reassigned to the white love interest."[5][note 3]
In Fandom
Resources & External Links
- Najat Z. J. Dajani, Arabs in Hollywood: Orientalism in Film, (Master of Arts Thesis), University of British Columbia, October 2000.
- Jessica Lachenal, Orientalism, Whitewashing, and Erasure: Hollywood’s Historic Problem With Asian People, The Mary Sue, 20 April 2016.
- Mariam Khalifa, How Disney Projects Orientalism Through Their Movies, sailemagazine, 27 November 27 2016.
- Brittani Jay, Orientalism in Hollywood: Rethinking Arab Stereotypes in Film, Her Campus, 6 November 2017.
- Alison Willmore, Orientalism Is Alive And Well In American Cinema, BuzzFeed News, 5 April 2018.
- Various authors, Orientalism in the Media, The Artifice, 2018.
- theterracebc, Problematic Visual Culture: Orientalism in American Action Films, The Terrace, 12 March 2021.
- Nick Baker, How Australia's new generation of stage makers is tackling a legacy of Orientalism, ABC News, 30 January 2024.
- Mina Tobya, Hollywood’s problem with Arab representation (or a lack thereof), The Michigan Daily, 28 March 2024.
- Geoff Allshorn, Beam Us Home (Orientalism and other problems in Star Trek and SF), Humanist World blog, 7 September 2024.
- Maya Hassan, The Social Inequities in Aladdin and its Post-Colonial, Orientalist Approach, Medium, 10 October 2024.
- Christina Beviano, Orientalism in Film: Aladdin Over the Last Century, Orientalism in Pop Culture, 2025.
- Maya Majzoub, Orientalism and Eurocentrism in Hollywood: A Critical Analysis of “Rules of Engagement” Film, American University of Beirut, n.d.
Notes
- ^ See also Sherlock (TV series) (fanlore)
- ^ See also I Dream of Jeannie (fanlore)
- ^ See also Talia al Ghul (fanlore)
References
- ^ Judith May Fathallah, The White Man at the Centre of the World: Masculinity in Sherlock, in Elizabeth Carolyn Miller (ed.), Fanfiction and the Author, Amsterdam University Press, 2017, p 59. (JSTOR)
- ^ mresundance, comment in Iola, Sherlock Vid: Complicit, 11 September 2010.
- ^ Katherine Bullock, "Orientalism on Television: A Case Study of I Dream of Jeannie", ReOrient, Vol. 4, No. 1 (Autumn 2018), pp. 4-23 (ACADEMIA).
- ^ Women's Art and "Women's Work", August 2007; cited in Boom Boom Ba.
- ^ Arctic Cyclist, in Reubin, Racist Batman comics, 2 February 2019,