The Crusades attracted Hollywood production companies and filmmakers from 1911 until 2008. During that period of about a century, Hollywood produced a large number of films depicting the Crusades.

And Mary McCarthy explains in her master's thesis submitted to the University of Houston that American production companies are spending big on these films, as the cost of the film reaches millions of dollars.

It has been assigned highly qualified cadres of screenwriters, directors and actors.

persecution of Christians

These films focus on portraying Muslims as enslaving or killing Christians, and burning Christian books, and many elements are used to dazzle and attract viewers, to stir up feelings of hatred against Muslims.

This is the main message in the films of the Crusades, with the Crusaders' armies being portrayed as consisting of strong men and saints who fight evil and infidels.

Thus, the films of the Crusades play an important role in the Hollywood agenda, and its selection of themes of films and historical figures to achieve its goals.

Misuse of history

The study of the films of the Crusades produced by the West shows how history was misused to achieve the goals of Western colonialism, and to justify the American aggression against Islamic countries.

In these films, the process of reproducing historical events and characters to put them in a contemporary context with the aim of building the audience's agenda, shaping their attitudes and manipulating their feelings.

King Richard and the Crusaders

If we study a model for these films, such as the movie "King Richard and the Crusaders", which was produced by Hollywood in 1952, directed by David Butler;

It becomes clear to us how the Crusades are used to influence the Western public and achieve political goals.

David Butler was famous for directing films at the right time, meaning that he presents the film to achieve contemporary goals, and at the same time, he can hide symbols in the entertainment, so he can attract the audience, and influence his feelings, and he is good at using Film language and tools.

Attributes of the Arab stereotype

David Butler proceeds from the features that Hollywood worked to use in shaping the image of the Arabs, such as camels and the desert, while the voice of the narrator in this scene announces that King Richard swears to restore Jerusalem from the hands of Saladin, the king of the Arab tribes, and the master of desert war arts. .

Mary McCarthy links Hollywood's production of "King Richard and the Crusaders" in 1952, and the establishment of the State of Israel, as she says, "The establishment of the State of Israel and its occupation of Palestine constitute a continuation of the Crusades, and it is clear that Israel has relied on that formula to push the Western audience To support it, and to provoke the public’s feelings of revenge for the defeat of the Crusaders, and that the West should do everything in its power to help the State of Israel and protect it from the Arabs.”

This illustrates Hollywood's agenda, and how it uses history to achieve contemporary goals.

“People need knowledge about where their ancestors came from, what they did, and what their story is, and cinema in the modern era has become a means by which the story is presented, and the audience is introduced to the world and how it developed, but it presents historical events with the vision of authors and directors to achieve goals Film production companies and according to their agenda.” Rosenstein.

The movie is not a depiction of history

Mary McCarthy says that the film moved away from the reality of the Crusades, and its historical events, and that its depiction of the characters (Richard - Conrad - Salahuddin - Berengaria) has nothing to do with the facts of history, and therefore the film is not suitable as a source of knowledge Historical, and does not provide real information on the events of the Crusades.

One of the most important events that was invented in the film is the love story between Salah al-Din and a Crusader princess. The aim of that story is to ask the Arabs to accept the existence of Israel and peace with it, and to distort the image of Saladin.

Therefore, the study of the films of the Crusades must be carried out in the light of an understanding of contemporary events, the requirements of the stage in which these films are produced, and the political and cultural goals that he is working to achieve.

The films of the Crusades do not depict the past, but they contribute to the war of images and words, shaping public opinion, arousing the feelings of the audience, and manipulating its trends.


Mary McCarthy says, "There is no accurate information about the Crusades in this film, which is a model for using history to influence the masses and achieve political goals... It is a misrepresentation of history."

In the kingdom of heaven

As for the movie "Kingdom of Heaven", which was produced in 2005, it constitutes a new model that demonstrates the process of using history to achieve political goals, as well as the lack of commitment to historical facts in building the film's story, and the interpretation of events using modern concepts that did not exist in that period.

"Kingdom of Heaven" as a modern production of history

The film "Kingdom of Heaven" expresses the ideas of the 21st century, and uses the events of the Crusades to portray them.

Work began to produce this film a few years before the events of September 11, and the events of the film were used to depict the conflict between the West and the Middle East, and while working to entertain the audience, it used symbols that evoke their feelings and manipulate their directions, which is what He asserts that production companies do not present films in order to achieve the audience's entertainment only.

Mary McCarthy says, “Movies are not produced for scientific purposes, nor are they produced for entertainment, but history is interpreted and presented in an attractive and poignant way. Historic.

The "Kingdom of Heaven" presents the audience with a mixture of fiction and historical facts to achieve political goals. It introduces a new kind of history, says Rosenstein, or history in fiction.

Most of the time, the audience learns about historical events through cinematic films, and the symbols - which are used in these films - form their awareness and attitudes towards the events of history and the present, and images of peoples, religions and cultures are formed in their minds.

Thus, film production companies mix facts with propaganda, and in many cases this propaganda is hidden or indirect.

Returning to the films of the Crusades, it is clear that they use cinematic methods to evoke the feelings of the masses, and the use of symbols to shape their trends.

It used it to influence in some way the management of the ongoing conflict of civilizations in the modern era, and to achieve the goals of Western cultural colonialism, in addition to increasing the support of the Western masses for Israel, given that its establishment in Palestine constitutes revenge against the Arabs for the defeat of the Crusaders.

Violation of the public's right to know

But does this constitute a violation of the public's right to know?

Rosenstein says, "Peoples need to know about where their ancestors came from, what they did, and what their story is, and cinema in the modern era has become a means by which the story is presented, and the audience is introduced to the world and how it developed, but it presents historical events with the vision of authors and directors. To achieve the goals of the film production companies and according to their agenda.

Certainly, the Hollywood agenda is determined by the American and Western intelligence services, and is based on the heritage of orientalists in building the image of Arabs and Muslims, and that these devices use films of the Crusades in the clash of civilizations.

different standards

The standards used by researchers and scholars to study and interpret historical events differ from those used by film production companies.


The films of the Crusades that were produced in the West do not aim to provide knowledge to the masses and adhere to the facts, but rather provide a new vision for these events aimed at manipulating the attitudes of the masses.

But this could raise a new question that could contribute significantly to building the future of international relations, which is, did the historical books that were produced for mass distribution, or teaching in schools and universities, adhere to the historical facts about the Crusades?

Or is it not very different from cinema films that were produced to achieve political goals and manage the clash of civilizations?

It is certain that the West hides many historical facts about the Crusades, such as the massacres committed by the Crusaders in Jerusalem, and therefore the issue is greater than issuing a ruling condemning film companies, accusing them of misleading the masses and manipulating its directions.

Researchers in the field of history and scholars also bear the responsibility of concealing the facts and biasing the Western viewpoint.

This is no different from what the movie companies have done.

The masses have been deprived of their right to know the Crusades, which is an important experience in the history of humanity, and writers, historians and researchers have participated with film production companies in a process of misleading the masses, forming stereotypes of peoples, and inciting hostility and hatred.

But cinema was the most influential means by which Western peoples obtain historical knowledge.