I read this article this morning about Muslim groups crying about being portrayed as villains on "24." Here are some highlights:
"The overwhelming impression you get is fear and hatred for Muslims," said Rabiah Ahmed, a spokeswoman for the Washington-based Council on American-Islamic Relations. She said Thursday she was distressed by this season's premiere. "After watching that show, I was afraid to go to the grocery store because I wasn't sure the person next to me would be able to differentiate between fiction and reality."
Give me a fuckin' break. I have watched all but one season of the show and not once have I gotten an impression of fear and hatred for Muslims, much less an "overwhelming impression." I'm not sure which grocery store you shop at, but at my local Ralph's, I'm betting you're the only one having trouble differentiating fiction and reality. If watching a fictional television show truly instills in you this great fear of the general public, maybe you should just call Pink Dot and stay home. The reasoning of these whiners is inherently racist and somebody should call them on it. To assume that the message of a story concerning a handful of specific individuals applies a broad statement about their entire race is ignorant and prejudicial. Let's be honest here. The number one threat to the safety of our country right now (other than bears) is terrorism, with Al Qaeda leading the charge. Al Qaeda is an extremist Islamic terrorist organization. It's not like the writers of "24" are pulling this stuff out of thin air. In the interest of creating dramatic entertainment, they are calling on real-life threats to build that drama. There is nothing wrong with that. The KKK uses Christianity to justify their terrorism and has been depicted as a villain in film and tv, but most sane people realize that not all Christians are white supremacist murderers. That's a pretty loose correlation but you catch my drift.
Fox issued a written statement responding to the protests:
"24 is a heightened drama about anti-terrorism," the statement read. "After five seasons, the audience clearly understands this, and realizes that any individual, family, or group (ethnic or otherwise) that engages in violence is not meant to be typical.
"Over the past several seasons, the villains have included shadowy Anglo businessmen, Baltic Europeans, Germans, Russians, Islamic fundamentalists, and even the (Anglo-American) president of the United States," the network said. "The show has made a concerted effort to show ethnic, religious and political groups as multidimensional, and political issues are debated from multiple viewpoints."
That brings up a good point. Throughout the run of the series, it seems to me that "24" has been very responsible and even proactive about depicting the danger in falling into the trap of prejudicial thinking. Even though the current villains are Muslim terrorists, already in the first four hours the show has portrayed many innocent Muslims being discriminated against and has served as a cautionary tale in regards to it. Were the protesting groups taking a bathroom break during the whole Sandra Palmer/Walid Al-Rezani subplot?!The article continues...
Watching the show's characters talk about detonating a nuclear weapon a few blocks from where she works unnerved Sireen Sawaf, an official with the Los Angeles-based Muslim Public Affairs Council, and a self-described "huge '24' fan."
"It's a great show, and I do realize it's a multidimensional show that portrays extreme situations," she said. "They have gone out of their way to have non-Muslim terror cells.
"But I'm concerned about the image it ingrains in the minds of the American public and the American government, particularly when you have anti-Muslim statements spewing from the mouths of government officials."
LOL!!! "...Concerned about the image it ingrains in the minds of...the American government." That is all-time right there. I can just see President Bush sitting at Camp David watching "24" next to a crackling fire, calling Dick Cheney as it ends, and saying "I don't know, Dick, after watching this program here on Fox, I'm thinking we ought to put together some Islamic internment camps." Actually, Sireen might have a point here.Engy Abdelkader, a member of the American Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee from Howell, New Jersey, launched a campaign Wednesday to encourage Muslims offended by the program to complain to Fox.
"I found the portrayal of American Muslims to be pretty horrendous," she said. "It was denigrating from beginning to end. This is one of the most popular programs on television today. It's pretty distressing."
What's distressing to me is the society we're living in where people are constantly finding themselves "offended" and "launching" campaigns of protest. The beauty of the country is that they have the freedom to do that, but, really, isn't it more often than not a complete waste of time and energy? How many more pressing issues could we resolve with all the energy put into "launching" campaigns against fictional television shows.
What's it like to "launch" a campaign anyway? Is it anything like launching bottle rockets? Does it require safety goggles?
Okay, I'm done now.While we're on the subject of prejudice, I must confess that I am guilty of it myself...
Dear Boston transplants in LA, if you love the Red Sox, Patriots, and Dunkin' Donuts so damn much just go back to Boston already. I am really sick and tired of hearing you whine about it. The Dunkin' Donuts thing is what really gets me. I have had Dunkin' Donuts when I lived in NY. As a self-professed donut guru, I can firmly say that the donuts of Dunkin' suck ass.
Speaking of Boston transplants, has anyone else almost enjoyed The Sports Gal more than The Sports Guy during this NFL season? Call me crazy, but I think we're onto something here. Espn.com now has all her mini-columns on an archive page that you can find here.
Okay, one last thing about fuckin' Boston...Everybody keeps predicting that Sunday's AFC Championship Game is going to come down to Adam Vinatieri making a game-winning FG over his former team. Are they crazy? Have they never seen a Patriots game before? (If so, I envy them.) Every move that team ever makes works out for them. Every single break goes their way. I'm calling it, the game will come down to a final kick from Vinatieri, but he's gonna blow it and the Pats will squeak out another maddening win. At that point, I will elect to not watch The Super Bowl.
2 comments:
"I found the portrayal of American Muslims to be pretty horrendous," she said.
What American Muslims was she talking about? Walid Al-Rezani? Other than that, I don't know which "Muslims" were American-Muslims, or regular Muslims. I assumed that the terrorists weren't American-Muslims, other than the Van Wilder kid, who I am assuming is an American-Muslim turned terrorist(only because he seemed to have lived here with his family). It is such a shame that she's blaming her fear of going out in Public on "24." I understand that there is discrimination out there, but it's from real events, not TV. I don't go to south central because of what I've read in the newspapers, not because I've seen "Boyz N the Hood."
Wow John, that was pretty political of you...and I actually agree with almost everything you said (I don't think Dunkin Donuts are that bad.) Looks like whatever deal Brady and Bilichick made with the devil just ran out.
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