Angel and Devil Stereotype in United 93

Today, I opened my laptop to see what’s inside my moopi folder. Three films wait in my waiting list. I choose United 93, it is a hollywood documentary drama about hijacking. United 93 brings back our memories to the 11th September 2001 when 2 commercials airplane crashed World Trade Center. The story is based on true story, but it’s not about those two planes crashed WTC, it’s about another commercial airplane hijacked in the same time with the same groups, but it’s not success to reach the target.


The story began with an Arabs read a holly Quran. Those people WERE the ones who did the hijacking or nowadays they are called Terrorist. In the beginning of the story, the Arabs depicted as a pious Muslim, they prayed and read holly Quran to calm their selves down before doing the action of hijacking that they would do in United 93.

I was not surprise about the depiction of the hijacker in this film as media depict the same picture of Terrorist especially when it relates to USA and WTC. It’s usual to see terrorist labeled to Arabs or Muslims, especially after the 11th September. This stereotype grows well as the media also keep this depiction. It’s not only news media but also film. It’s been many American movie made portray Arabs-Muslims as Terrorist with turban and bomb. United 93 shows clearly about devil and angel, on how the hijacker will kill the passenger who defend themselves with a knife while their mouth said AllahuAkbar and the passengers pray to God to save them in Christian and Catholic way. This is how film can brainwash people’s mind about the teaching of a religion whereas it’s not about the teaching but it’s about the people.

The problem of stereotyping never can be separated from film and media as it’s a nature that media will be the best weapon to label a group of people and to spread an ideology. This is also stereotyping which create a gap between communities because they have a bad idea about something and in this case a religion.

I will not deny that until the end of the film I was touched by the story and hatred came to my heart when I saw the hijacker. People who do not know the real teaching of a religion, in this case is Islam will give a bad judgment, even it will emerge hatred towards Islam itself.

I think it’s a hard task to movie maker to create such a good movie based on true story without involving a stereotype, but it will be better if the movie do not involve a pray or religious aspect in the movie or what will emerge is bias that will create a hatred toward a group of people.