Hollywood’s Riz Ahmed has spoken up for the desi community and Muslim actors time and time again. Yet again, the Venom star is pointing out how Hollywood’s attempt at ‘inclusivity’ isn’t inclusive at all.
Pakistani-British star talked about how the ‘game is rigged’ right now. Although there are more Muslim characters on screen, the portrayal is still not positive.
“The game right now is messed up. The game right now is rigged,” Ahmed said in a new interview with news outlet Muslim. “Muslims are either not on screen or they are [and] they’re the bad guys. They’re perpetrators or victims of violence. We’re either invisible or we’re villainized, cause the stories we tell about our community affect the laws that get passed, the people that get attacked, the people that get invaded.”
The Night Of star was commenting on a clip from the 2014 Clint Eastwood-directed blockbuster film American Sniper. The film cast Bradley Cooper as the protagonist that shoots a Muslim child during the Iraq War.
“This is so f***** up,” he said. “It’s actually hard to watch this and not get angry. It’s crazy to think that, like, how many people had to say this was okay for this to be made. I don’t think we even have the time to fully explain how f***** up that clip is on so many levels. It’s just super racist.”
He pointed out that most of the Muslim people are featured as terrorists.
“[We’re] gonna look back on that and look at it with the same cringe as we look at, you know, films that had blackface in them. Or films with, like, you know, cowboys and Indians, [where] the only good Indian are a dead Indian, …. Really, that’s what you’re saying, the only good Muslim is a dead one. This stuff’s so dangerous because it enables the invasion of countries. It enables hate crimes. It enables discriminatory and racist laws being passed.”
The Emmy-winning artist described such films as ‘whack, outdated, racist‘ adding how such content ‘costs lives‘.
The Nightcrawler actor stressed the need for filmmakers to show a Muslim community that’s more diverse when it comes to race, geography, gender, sexuality, and abilities.
He further stressed the need for owning our stories. This has to be a collective effort, he said
“This isn’t something that I’m going to solve on my own,” Ahmed says. “It’s going to take all of us to come together. It can sometimes be draining. I would much rather be discussing my creative craft and my artistic inspirations, but I feel a responsibility to speak out and to open the door for others, empower people to tell their own stories.”
