Many news media outlets were quick to join these Twitter users in blaming a foreign assailant, often citing the use of a pressure cooker as an undeniable link to the Middle Eastern, Islamic extremists. Other social media users were more sensitive to the “terrorist” label and astutely pointed out the ignorance in these assumptions.
Figure 2. Tweets following the Boston Marathon bombings (2013).
military involvement in the Middle East (Johnson, 2011). It is a subtle but powerful symbol of American superiority over the region, specifically Afghan culture. While McCurry’s photo could arguably align with Said’s initial focus on Euro-Atlantic power-thirst as the root cause of Orientalism, I would argue that today’s media is trapped by a much more relevant beast: capitalism. The economic system’s profit maximization goals reduce diversity and fuel cultural imperialism (Ott & Mack, 2009). Since images of the exotic—the belly dancer and the angry Arab—have proved extraordinarily profitable in the past, the “Logic of Safety” states that their use should be continued. As the axiom goes, “Nothing breeds success like success.” For instance, a film depicting a white, female, Christian terrorist would disrupt an audience’s perceptions of what Stuart Hall (1981) described as unquestioned truths; it would defy hegemonic ideologies and simply not fit into American media culture. Why would such an innocent, honorable human being commit an act of terror? But the constructed Arab, the angry, rich, violent individual, is expected to lash out against his enemies (Jhally, 2006). So as long as media producers are looking to make a profit, these Orientalist ideologies and their rac-
ist manifestations will persist. In clichéd Marxist terms, money (unfortunately) makes the world go ‘round.
Current Events & Implications for the Future American capitalism isn’t likely to fall in the near future. So what sorts of implications do its resulting media trends hold for the United States and our relations with the Middle Eastern World? In looking to our recent past, there is a clear image provided for our future. The Boston Marathon bombings on April 15th, 2013 stamped it out quite explicitly. Almost immediately after their occurrence, social media was teeming with racist accusations against Middle Easterners. Through Twitter’s #Discover tab (see Figure 2), I was able to observe people from all over the world as they came to conclusions about the identities of the bombers, days before the suspects were announced. Three of these tweets from the day of the bombing are represented in Figure 2. The first of these directly references a falsely accused Saudi Arabian suspect, a student injured in the attack. Despite the fact that the FBI did not release names or identities of the suspects until nearly 75 hours after the explosions, the tweet was posted just 20 minutes after the initial Volume 3
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