Up until the 1979 Iranian revolution, very few sources of American popular culture featuring Middle Easterners even existed. The two genres that engaged in the most stereotyping were comic books and film. Despite the ethnic complexity of the region (for example, 51% of Iranians are Persian, while only 3% are Arab), American popular culture historically depicts all Middle Easterners as Arab Muslims; caricatured as gluttonous Sultans, radical Sheiks, and swarthy bandits.

This section is planned for the future