Giving others a chance

Mischievous Muslims get a lot of attention these days and not necessarily the good kind. So it was a little weird when Egyptian street artist Heba Amin and two other artists committed a subversive act that received semi-kudos from the western press.
The producers of the American television show “Homeland” hired the artists to spray paint Arabic graffiti on a set that served as a refugee camp on the Lebanon-Syrian border. Instead of generic slogans they wrote “Homeland is racist” and “Homeland is a joke” among other messages.
Their messages sparked some brief dialogue whether “Homeland” is indeed racist and of its stereotyping of Muslims. “Homeland” is an extremely popular series that has CIA agents battling to save the day against the faceless Muslim crazies bent on destroying all that is dear to American interests.
Oh, and I watch it every week. I also missed the artists’ graffiti. I watch it because it’s a well-acted thriller, and above all, it’s an equal opportunity hater. Virtually every single character is evil to the bone. Yes, “Homeland” is racist. It depicts Muslims and one-note fanatics. We do get some shading of the struggles of Muslims in war-ravaged countries and those individuals doing the right thing to fight terrorism. But generally the show is all about Arabs and Pakistanis simply out to kill as many people as possible. From the other side we have the show’s protagonist, Carrie, who is a rogue agent and chief lunatic, her passive-aggressive mentor Saul who doesn’t like that “thing” on the heads of Muslim women and CIA boss and Satan’s minion Dar Adel. And then there is Quinn, the psychopathic killer whose speech in the first episode of this season about how “they” (read Muslims) want to take over the world was flat-out disgusting.
Occasionally Muslims get off a few good lines like the Hezbollah commander in episode 2 telling Carrie, “Our strength is our suffering. And you provide us with an endless supply.” Nice putdown Mr. Freedom Fighter/Mr. Terrorist/Mr. British-Greek-guy-playing-an-Arab!
It’s telling that apparently no “Homeland” production crewmember could read Arabic. That’s because there are no Arab crewmembers or Arabic-speaking consultants employed in this particular episode. If a couple of Arabic speakers were on the job then “Homeland” wouldn’t have Palestinians speaking Egyptian or classical Arabic (Memo to Producers: Nobody speaks classical Arabic except community college language instructors and western converts). This itself is evidence of a cavalier attitude the producers have toward their Arab characters. “Homeland” plays to an American audience. And for a lot of people, the show provides all the information they will get about the Middle East. The appeal of the show is its over-the-top violence and plot, but it comes at the expense of the Muslim community. It also comes at the expense of the America’s character, but somehow Americans don’t seem to mind TV dramas depicting their government trashing the Bill of Rights and Constitution.
Does “Homeland’s” racism deserve a tweak on the nose by three street artists? For all of the producers’ lazy rendering of Arabs and Muslim, I have a problem with the artists’ protests. It’s un-Islamic to get hired for a job and then sabotage the work. When a Muslim is hired to do a job, they must perform that job and in turn be compensated for the work. Undermining work then getting paid for it is not Islamic. By taking the show’s money and then embarrassing the employer sends a message that Muslims can’t be trusted. It may even set back efforts to get more Arabs and Muslims hired in television work. What producer will trust a Muslim as a consultant, production designer or even as an actor speaking Arabic?
I wish the artists had taken a different approach. But admittedly whatever other means they would have attempted to bring attention to the show’s bigotry probably would not have raised awareness as their little subversive act.