Where The Day Takes You
This Yahoo! News article on Muslim criticism of what they see as negative portrayals in the current season of 24 is worth considering.
I’m one who thinks that members of any minority have the right to point out inequalities in the way in which they are presented in the media. Things do not get better because a producer decides, out of the goodness of his heart, to be more sensitive. They get better because people turn a spotlight on what’s wrong with the way things are.
But I feel that these complaints, at least as reported here, are being made in the wrong way. The article quotes one Rabiah Ahmed:
“We understand that it’s entertainment and fiction. Our concern is that others may not.”
Well, that kind of “Of course, I’m smart enough to know the difference…it’s the rest of you potato eaters…” thing never flies very far with me. I don’t buy it when it’s about using Spongebob Squarepants to promote gay marriage, and I don’t buy it about this.
“Mohamed Heva, a computer network administrator from Washington Township, also watched the episode at Bekhiet’s home. He suspects this season’s plot line was intended not only to entertain, but to validate the Bush administration’s foreign policy.”
Here again, alarm warnings go up for me. It’s true that at least one of the producer/creators of 24 has identified himself as a Republican, though I don’t know if that means he’s in the Bush camp (it would seem to follow, but not necessarily). He’s also noted that the staff includes writers from across the political spectrum.
The thing is, I remain skeptical that entertainment at the level on which 24 (or, say, the Sorkin West Wing) exists can ever be intended to validate a foreign policy, or “promote liberal values.” You just can’t do drama that way. Not and do it well, and I believe those who think you can betray their ignorance.
“Jumana Judeh, an activist in Dearborn, Mich., where the country’s largest Arab-American community lives, said after watching one episode of ‘24’ she finally understood how deeply offended an Italian-American friend of hers is over programs like “The Sopranos” or “The Godfather” movies.”
The problem the Arab-American community has here is that terrorism by members of that community is a historical (and contemporary) fact. Similarly, Italian-Americans may be offended, but they’ve got the mob in their cultural heritage (or Germans/Nazis, etc etc, and so on and so on).
Also, it’s not clear from the article how many episodes of 24 those quoted have seen before, if any, and 24 even moreso than most is a show that depends a great deal on context.
But even in the larger context of peoples lives outside a show, nearly everyone who complains about or responds to complaints about things like this has the wrong end of the stick.
The issue is not: Will a piece of entertainment make people who aren’t already predisposed to hate a certain group do so? The answer is almost certainly no. The issue is, where does a Muslim and/or Arab-American go to see a counterbalancing portrayal of themselves onscreen, as an Italian-American or German-American can? That’s a valid point, and that’s what I think the protesters should have focused on.
Granted, I like 24, but I’ve never been one to think anything I like should be above criticism. It’s just that I wish that rather than giving into smug ignorance of drama and knee-jerk offense, the concerned parties had said something like:
“Look, we understand that the makers of 24 are not trying to tar our entire community with one brush. The Araz family is there to serve the dramatic needs of one storyline, not to represent all Muslin-Americans everywhere. But we wish to call attention to the fact that despite the presence of millions of patriotic American Muslims across this great nation, who are rightly horrified at the muders committed in the name of their God, when we turn on a TV show or sit down in front of a movie screen, if we see somebody who looks like us, nine times out of ten it’s a terrorist.”
Or is that too complex a thought? Now I’m worried I sound like John Kerry…
