“I do not have your courage”: A Discourse Analysis of Noor “Nadia” Abed Jaseem and Sayid Hassamn Jar

In both the past and present, we can find examples of eastern women stereotyped by western media, putting a strain on Arab feminism and feeding western audiences false expectations of other places, people, and cultures. Looking into western media, we see Arab women get eroticized, shown as naïve and innocent, owned as property, saved by white men, and being only strong due to their physical beauty rather than intelligence. Many TV shows know their audiences are attracted to orientalist perspectives, that mystify and “other” the east. But are there popular shows that are stepping away from those perspectives?

The adventure television series, “LOST,” is a show famous for its recurring themes, mythology, and many interpretations. Many critics have argued the show to be one of the greatest TV shows of all time. Part of the shows critical frame was due to its rich cast of characters. Among these rich characters was a former Iraqi Republican Guard torturer, Sayid Hassan Jarrah, who was on a journey to find his childhood love, Nadia, before the plane crash in episode one. The character, Noor "Nadia" Abed Jaseem, was played by actress Andrea Gabriel, who, though was born and currently lives in LA, is part Iranian. Nadia is a fascinating character to look at in terms of Arab women in media because unlike past television series, books, and movies, she breaks many orientalist views of the east even as a minor character.

Nadia’s character reaches a non-romanticized view of Arab women bodies. She never dances exotically or lies about in a harem with innocent boredom. She is a woman not bound by the stereotype of clothing. We only see her veiled in a hijab once, and only in a photograph Sayid carries of her with him. Another time we see her in a blue summer dress down her to knees with a purse. This shows Arab women to not be timeless, but that they can change as they wish.

One of the first things the audience learns about Nadia was from her and Sayid’s childhood. She reminds Sayid that she used to push him in the mud when they were children because she wanted attention. This may seem like such a small detail at first, but it showed that Nadia did not fit into the stereotype as passive and hidden. She began her early life wanting to be seen. This small story also makes her complex. She is a victim of loneliness but she also plays an aggressive role by pushing Sayid in the mud, this complexity makes her a very human character. She does not manipulate attention with her looks; she demands it with her hands like a stereotypical boy would.

Probably the parts most remembered by audiences were Nadia’s torture scene. Her character played a political role, joining an insurgent group against Saddam Hussein's regime, which causes her to become the subject of repeated captures and interrogations by the Iraqi Republican Guard. This further puts Nadia against the stereotypes of family-based domestic Arab women since she choose to be a woman of political action. Sayid, being promoted to the Intelligence Division was tasked with her interrogation, which he attempted to carry out. We never see Nadia tortured, but she describes it to Sayid. It would be so easy for Nadia to be victimized and make Sayid a brute in her torture scene, but instead her character is serene, calm, even smiles, and she speaks rationally to Sayid who listens and commits no violence against her. Western television often makes Arab men to be brutes to their women, making Arab women out to be needed to be saved by white men. This is not the case in “LOST.”

Nadia successfully convinces Sayid her innocence and his wrong-doings. Sayid helps her escape by shooting his superior officer and himself in the leg (to lie that she shot them both) and sends to her a supply truck to make her escape. She begs Sayid to join her but he refuses and tells her, “I do not have your courage.” His statement compliments Nadia’s character not for anything but her pure willpower and fighting spirit. She is not being seen for her sex, which complements Sayid’s character as seeing her for more than her body. Too often in Western media, Arab men are the ones who victimize their women and see them as property. Sayid does the opposite, freeing her and possibly not ever seeing her again.

Something very important about these Arab characters, Sayid and Nadia, is that they are post-9/11 characters. “LOST” was aired in 2004, only three years after the twin towers collapsed in a terrorist attack by an Islamic terrorist group. In fact, in the first couple episodes of “LOST,” a North American character, Sawyer, first blames Sayid for the plane crash because he is Arab, putting light upon the stereotype and history of American and Arab relations. With character development though, Sawyer and Sayid eventually work past their differences and both are fan-favorites. Faisal Abbas, Media Editor of the London-based international Arabic daily Asharq Al-Awsat, mentioned that Sayid, is among one of the 'heroic' Muslim characters who emerged in American media after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and is proof that Arabs and Muslims have been undertaking more prominent roles within the media since those events.

“LOST” further defeated the trope of Arab women needing to be saved by white men by making probably one of the most unusual couples in TV history. While on the island with little hope of seeing Nadia again, Sayid fell in love with Shannon Rutherford a lazy, manipulative, and selfish blonde babe. Shannon is the opposite of Nadia, tanning herself while the rest of the survivors try to build places to sleep, leaving her brother to do most of the work. Despite their differences, Sayid and Shannon enjoy each other’s company and fall in love. In “Find Lost: The Unofficial Guide” the makers of “LOST” explained that they received a letter from the Arab League saying how pleased they were about Sayid’s character in that he was romantic, and not just to Arab women but white women as well, which was a big no-no in Hollywood.

Sawyer, the man who at first blamed Sayid for the plane crashing, also had a habit of nicknaming other characters. Among the nicknames he had for Sayid were Adbul, Al-Jazeera, Chief, Omar, Captain Falafel, Muhammad, Red Beret, Ali, and Captain Arab. Many of the nicknames make fun of the typical Arab stereotype for westerners, which suits Sawyers character, as he gets most of his nicknames from media-references. Sawyer’s nicknames also shed light of the orientalist stereotype of melding all eastern cultures together. For example, a falafel is a deep-fried ball or patty made from ground chickpeas and/or fava beans and is a common dish eaten throughout the middle-east. Omar and Ali is a common name is Arab and Muslim territories. Abdul translates to “servant of the” and is a compound in Arab names, it never stands on its own. Al-Jazeera is a satellite television network. Muhammad is a reference to the Muslim prophet. Red Beret is a military reference. All these references make fun of how American’s see Muslims and Arabs, shedding light of a political issue.

Not long after Nadia and Sayid are reunited, the two get married and are seen in a rather suburban scene, Sayid in a suit, and Nadia in a plain spring dress walking down a sidewalk. Their actions are those of the most average people. Then Nadia then dies in a car accident on a suburban street while Sayid talks to someone. The scene was very western in terms of the action and surroundings. After the couple’s experience with the Iraqi military, Nadia dies in a way anyone could die by being at the wrong place at the wrong time. It was not because she was a woman, it was not because of her political activism or her race, but it was a simple accident (though there are controversies and fan-theories that the car hit her on purpose). Her last words to Sayid are “Take me home.” Sayid goes to Tikrit, Iraq, five days later as a pallbearer and Nadia’s funeral. After this scene in the west, we get a scene of her funeral in Iraq with her coffin carried through a street, her name written in Arab on the front. “LOST” makes death a lot like going home. The show did not shy away from showing Iraq in a human sense.

Though Nadia was a minor character in the series, only showing up in a total of eight episodes, she still made big impact on viewers and made a positive contrast to the long and negative history of Arab women in Hollywood. Luckily, Sayid was a major character, who was part of ninety-eight episodes, made a huge mark on Arab portrayal in media. Both can give a lot of hope for the future of Arab portrayal in the media.