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A new study finds the very few Muslim characters in films from the U.S., the UK, Australia and New Zealand are typically stereotyped and either victims or perpetrators of violence.
USA TODAY
When it comes to onscreen representation in film, Muslims are hardly anywhere to be found, according to a new study. And when they do make their appearance, majority of the characters are male and usually stereotyped as foreigners, oppressive or violent.
After analyzing 200 movies from the United States, Australia, New Zealand and the United Kingdom between 2017 to 2019, a USC Annenberg Inclusion Initiative report found that only 19 of those projects included at least one Muslim character who spoke one word or more throughout the movie.
While Muslims make up 24% of the global population, they made up less than 2% of the films researched, meaning out of 8,965 speaking characters in 200 movies, 144 were Muslim. Of the 144 Muslim characters, about 34 were Muslim women.