JUANA SUMMERS, HOST:
A massive new study about faith as portrayed on screen is getting attention in Hollywood and beyond. NPR's Neda Ulaby has more.
NEDA ULABY, BYLINE: There was a time when movies about people of faith were wildly popular.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "LILIES OF THE FIELD")
SIDNEY POITIER: (As Homer) Amen.
ULABY: When the movie "Lilies Of The Field" came out in 1963, it got dozens of award nominations, including a Best Actor Oscar for Sidney Poitier. Even a Hollywood musical like "Fiddler On The Roof" was, for many non-Jews, a chance to feel part of Shabbat.
(SOUNDBITE OF FILM, "FIDDLER ON THE ROOF")
TOPOL AND NORMA CRANE: (As characters, singing) May the Lord protect and defend you.
ULABY: But religious characters on screen have become oversimplified. That's according to the Faith and Media Initiative. Its new study surveyed 10,000 people in 11 countries.
BROOKE ZAUGG: The purpose of the study wasn't to make a case that we want a bunch of religious cinema.
ULABY: Brooke Zaugg, the initiative's director, says many of the study's religious respondents felt their spiritual side was represented more poorly than even their race or gender.
ZAUGG: It was sensationalized or misrepresented, and so they felt like they were not seen.
ULABY: Or if they were, it was negative. Survey respondents from all faiths said Christians generally came off the best, although occasionally seen as homophobic, Jews sometimes closed-minded or racist. But no one fared worse than Muslims.
ZAUGG: It said they are represented as violent, close-minded, misogynistic, malicious, homophobic and racist. The list was extremely long. It wasn't one or two things, it was all the things.
ULABY: A non-stereotypical TV show such as "Ramy" on Hulu is an exception. One character is a thoughtful sheikh.
(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "RAMY")
MAHERSHALA ALI: (As Sheikh Malik) By the grace of Allah, I found my teacher. She taught me that Islam was like an orange.
ULABY: Stories like this, says Brooke Zaugg, can teach us to better understand our neighbors.
Neda Ulaby, NPR News. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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