Dear Readers,

         Jumping into a new term at the University of British Columbia, our ASTU class has just finished reading Safe Area Gorazde by cartoonist Joe Sacco. Although this graphic narrative specifically recounts Sacco’s experience in the city of Gorazde as well as the stories of those he meets, at its broadest level, Safe Area Gorazde is arguably a novel that calls for attention towards traumatic events that occur around the world, yet do not receive widespread publicity in the general media. In today’s lecture, we discussed the effects of 9/11 on how the world is today and compared how the mass media portrays  9/11 to the actual truth behind the events that occurred. Professor Luger brought up Judith Butler and the question of, “who gets represented and who gets mourned?” when tragic events occur. According to some sources that Dr. Luger quoted, the events of 9/11 have been described as “the worst thing” that could ever happen, or “incomparable”, and this has fueled a trend we see at the rise in modern times known as American exceptionalism, or as I like to think of it–americentrism. Basically, by describing the events of 9/11 as “incomparable”, the media trains people to think in a certain way that focuses on the plight of the American, and this can diminish the trauma that people of other nations may experience.

The way the news, books, and film represents people and events has a powerful influence on how the general public views the world; much of the time, what is depicted in the media is taken as truth and it can emphasize or even define certain prejudices. As someone who is passionate about film and is currently enrolled in two film courses, I can see how American exceptionalism is proliferated through movies in Hollywood and the dangers of this. In one of my high school graduation research essays, I wrote about the misrepresentation of race in Hollywood, which I believe is an issue that is closely connected to the way in which 9/11 has altered the way the United States power is represented in movies. If not for 9/11 and the subsequent War on Terror, we would not see as many television series or movies, such as Homeland, White House Down, or Snowden, focused on issues such as terrorism, surveillance, or war as we do today. These movies have helped to heighten the proliferation of Islamophobia in the West and have raised general feelings of fear, paranoia, and racism in the face of terrorism. I believe that creators of books and films must increasingly portray world issues in a more accurate light, if not one that does not solely focus on America as a superpower or America as a victim of terrorism. Issues from around the world deserve equal attention in the media whenever possible, and I see film as being one of the most effective ways to influence public opinion due to their presence in our everyday lives and the ease at which people are able to access and view them. Today’s discussion in class has helped to underline one of the main reasons why I am seeking a career in film and how important I believe it is to have accurate representation in film.