One of the most polarizing critiques of Western society is the theory that Western prejudices have led to a misrepresentation of Middle Eastern culture. Edward Said, a professor at Columbia, launched the debate on this controversial subject in 1978 through his book Orientalism. The term Orientalism has come to represent representations of the Middle East that have been affected by Western social influence. Said describes Orientalist thought and its impact by stating: Orientalism is a style of thought based on an ontological and epistemological distinction made between "the East" and (mostly) "the West." Thus, a very large mass of writers, including poets, novelists, philosophers, political theorists, economists and imperial administrators, accepted the fundamental distinction between East and West… (Said, 1979 , p.3). Here Said describes the deliberate differentiation between East and West and explains how this thinking has influenced multiple aspects of Western society. As Orientalist schools of thought have become accepted, they are perpetuated by academics, politicians, journalists, and writers who create representations of the Middle East shaped by Orientalist preconceptions. Consequently, the majority of literature dealing with the Middle East has been influenced by Western biases. Since almost all research is done according to Western logic, there are several common representations of the Orient that can be found in academic literature. Said describes some of the commonly portrayed stereotypes and how early 19th century writers shaped Western attitudes toward the Middle East, stating: Each of them kept intact the separation of the Orient, its eccentricity, his delay, his silence. .... middle of paper ......stereotype of Arab violence. This trait is only found in Egyptian characters, as highlighted by the comparison with the Germans in the film. While Dr. Jones often uses their violent behavior to defeat his Middle Eastern enemies, we find that this is not a necessary element of the plot. Through brute force and quick thinking, Jones is still able to defeat his Western opponents in the film. We can therefore affirm that these distorted stereotypical representations of Arabs are due to Western orientalist attitudes. This supports Said's assertion that common stereotypes can be found in all Western depictions of the Middle East and proves that orientalism is a pervasive problem in popular media. Works Cited Said, Edward W. Orientalism. London: Penguin, 2003. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Dir. Steven Spielberg. Perf. Harrison Ford. Paramount, 1981. DVD.