Riz Ahmed expresses disappointment over the false depiction of Muslims in Hollywood

Oscar-nominee and Emmy Award winner, Riz Ahmed, is well-known for his activism as much as his projects like Sound of Metal and The Night Of. The actor and rapper has also taken the fight against discrimination one step ahead, by launching an initiative for Muslim representation in films.

Once again the actor has expressed disappointment over the false depiction of Muslims in Hollywood.

“The stories we tell about communities affect the laws that get passed, the people that get attacked, the countries that get invaded,” he said in an interview to Muslim, a YouTube channel and media outlet.

“The game right now is messed up. The game right now is rigged,” he declared.

“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.”

Commenting on a clip from the 2014 Clint Eastwood-directed blockbuster film American Sniper, in which star Bradley Cooper shoots a Muslim child during the Iraq War. As the scene played onscreen, Riz shook his head.

“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 said that most of the Muslim people featured were 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,” he remarked.

“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.”

He declared such films “whack, outdated, racist” and said such carelessness “costs lives.”