Said, Bald and SweetShop Boys
-
Said defines Orientalism in three terms. The first is an academic discipline rooted in European colonialism that applies to many fields, such as philosophy, history and sociology. The second definition states that Orientalism is also a school of thought that separates “ontologically and epistemologically” the East from the West, claiming that the two are completely different. The third and final definition describes Orientalism as the “corporate institution” that asserts its dominance over the so-called “Orient”. By merging the three definitions, Orientalism can be understood as a means of legitimizing violence and domination over a place.
The way the Orient is often portrayed evokes a fairy tale, full of flavours and colours, a place where all Western taboos and prohibitions come to life. The Orient is seen as an object of desire and part of the collective imagination. However, Said makes it clear in his text that the Orient is not merely imaginary but rooted in material reality. The fact that we talk about it, describe it, and colonize it gives this concept a tangible and real existence. By positioning the East as the antipode of the West, the latter can place itself in a position of strength and cultural hegemony by projecting its societal ills onto the East.
Orientalist stereotypes are also evident in Bald’s text, which describes how such stereotypes, stemming from Orientalism, may have been "beneficial" to certain Black communities in the United States during the Jim Crow era. The notion of the Orient as mystical, magical, and exotic allowed a marginalized and reviled Black population to be mystified and associated with an Indian-desired community.
However, while this allowed many to travel and work more freely, racism as a form of class hierarchy still prevented upward social mobility. This reveals the limits of such a strategy: despite the mystery surrounding them, their non-white skin colour still imposed significant restrictions.
Finally, the exotic, sexual, and universal aspects of the Orientalist vision are particularly clear in the SwetShop Boys’ music video. The clip uses various raw, assembled footage of movies and video clips, depicting beautiful women dancing alongside scenes of violence as if that’s all the Orient represents. Additionally, the subtitles make no sense and are a mix of three languages, emphasizing the fact that Orientalism presents a highly unilateral and distorted vision of the “Orient.”