Post-colonialism: Edward Said blog task

1) Summarise the three theorists we have looked at: Alvarado, Fanon and Said.

Fanon- Infantilize, Primitivize, Decivilize, Essentialize

Alvarado- Dangerous, Exotic, Humorous, Pitied 

Said- 'Civilized' and 'Uncivilized' 

2) Watch the opening of Yasmin (2004) again. Does it offer a positive or negative view of British Muslims? To what extent does it reinforce or challenge Edward Said's theory of Orientalism - that the west is superior to the exotic or uncivilised east?

The opening sequence both shows positive and negative views of British Muslims. The opening sequence shows the main character Yasmin changing from her hijab and modest clothing into tight jeans which shows that she attempts to hide her culture and identity by changing in private where her family is not aware of this. However the sequence also shows a young disciplined boy trying to learn the Quran and his religion with his father. Also the father in the clip works as an engineer of some sort which subverts the idea of Muslims gaining benefits and being pitied.

I think that the clip subverts the Said's theory because it shows the characters as being civilized normal people with Yasmin and her father both working as normal British citizens. This subverts the theory because it shows the exotic to be as superior as the west.