Examples Of Orientalism In A Fargo

Orientalism is the representation of Asian cultures in Western media as exotic, different, and backward (“Orientalism and power: When will we stop stereotyping people?”). Orientalism in itself can be considered hard or soft depending on the stereotypes and ideas expressed. Both generalize the Orient in stereotypical ways, though hard orientalism focuses on negative portrayals such as terroristic acts, murderous sultans, and backward ideology whereas soft Orientalism focuses on portrayals of exotic places, women in distress, lavish dinners, and other themes of the romantic sort (“Monstrous Muslims”). In the film Argo, there are multiple representations of Orientalism, in both hard and soft values.

The mainstream perception of the Orient is

The only time when the Farsi is translated is when Sahar, a “good Iranian” who is in favor of helping the Americans escape, persuades the “bad Iranians,” who are trying to find where the Americans are hiding, that they are not in the Canadian Embassy (Argo). This, on top of furthering the idea of “otherness,” also creates the idea that being a “good Iranian” means helping America, and being a “bad Iranian” means not helping America. For example, when the Iranians were protesting the injustice behind the Shah being kept safe, although he had harmed many people, the Iranians were considered malicious even though they did not directly interact with America. This solidifies two ideas: one, that America is “better” than Iran, and in doing so creates the idea that the West is better than the Middle East, and two, that all Iranians are considered bad until they side with

In comparison, the Americans on the flight look to be calm: being quiet, collective and patiently sitting in their seats (Argo). This promotes the idea that Iranians are, by nature, angry people, whereas Americans are calm people.

On top of creating a divide between Iran and America, the movie emphasizes cultural, lingual and social differences in relation to things considered “bad” to instill fear of Iran within the film. For example, they show religious differences by showing images of docile women in veils accompanied by people groveling in the street, in comparison to the image of L.A they portrayed where women walk around confidently in full-stride, with bustling cars and high buildings, to promote ideas of Iran being underdeveloped, and therefore “worse” than America.

Overall, Argo is a piece of popular culture that uses Orientalism to portray, distort, and represent ideas of Iranians and the Middle East as a whole. The film uses multiple instances to promote fears and anxieties that specifically targets those of Middle Eastern descent and in doing so, further perpetuates a society that