American Islamic groups are incensed over the portrayal of a Muslim family in the drama "24." In the show, the main terrorists are a Muslim husband, wife and teenage son. Fox is cutting scenes from unaired shows which might be deemed as stereotyping.
The mother poisons the son's non-Muslim girlfriend because she fears the girlfriend might get in the way of the family's terror plots. The mother is portrayed by Iranian-born actress Shohreh Aghdashloo.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) met with Fox representatives. For the start and end of "24," CAIR has created PSAs for local Fox affiliates to run which describe how Muslims "are working to build a better America."
I am muslim and I still watch the show. Granted, I'm not that religious, but I still take offense only when it's necessary to take offense. I am not offended in this case however. It's obvious that the show is only showing the "bad guys." There was one instance where a non-villain muslim character said something along the lines of "These people are making it terrible for the rest of us." "People" referring to actual terrorists. The show is by no means anti-muslim.
But on another note, I wonder where they find these actors to play these arab parts. Some of them are actually arab when looking at their names in the pre-credits.
The only thing that 24 is against is terrorism. I don't think any self-respecting muslim or any nationality/religion should have any problem with this. I can't stand to think that Fox is toning down their best show because of the complaints of a special interest group who really shouldn't complain. The area I live in is full of immigrants, at my school I know at least 10 people of the muslim faith and other stereotypically related backgrounds who watch and love the show. It's understood that the ones portrayed in 24 are not representative of Muslim's in general. The fact is, the portrayal is realistic, but doesn't mean that every muslim is bad.
Stereotyping? In American TV shows? even movies? Nah....never! Ive have not seen it...i cant believe they would think that! I mean only the people or countries that the American public have been told to currently hate are the bad guys..OOPS! i didnt say that did i? It gets the ratings though...stupid people sitting at home watching, going " Yeah! those fricken muslims man! They did...umm...YEAH! Fricken Saddam man...We Got Him! You know, he was in charge of the terrorists or something....."
Anyway, my point is some American TV and Movies are so PC, and so stereotypical, they get to the point of offensive, lame, and just cringe worthy. And there are alot of Americans who are dumb.
Quacks like a duck, has feathers like a duck, acts like a duck and freaking duck. Maybe if muslims didnt want to be portrayed as terrorist they shouldn't allow terrorism in their midts.
the skit on MadTV a few weeks ago. It was called Special Patrick: Newscast. Special Patrick said the funniest thing. After calling the terrorists "Muslim terrorists" the news anchor said that there was a difference between a terrorist and a Muslim to which Patrick responded "I know there is a difference, but no one knows what the difference is." How true. Even Special Patrick knows that most terrorists these days are of the Islamic persuasion. It isn't stereotyping. It is reality. Would having an Irishman on Jihad be very believable? I think not. Can you imagine a ghetto gangsta screaming Allahu Akbar before commiting suicide? I think not. Its an Arabic thing. You have to have Arabic looking actors play those parts. Dramatic portrayals must be believable. Would you cast Rick Moranis (Honey I Shrunk the Kids) as a Islamic extremist? It wouldn't be believable. Only a comedic portrayal could get by with such crappy casting. The producers of 24 know this and cast people who will be believable in the part. Get over it.
good job friend, insults are the way to go when you're trying to give your opinion... believe me, all of us here now will eagerly await your every word... So tell me, what's 'prespective'?? And what about fundamentalists in other places (aside from Afghanistan and Iraq)... do you know any? American policy towards them may have changed with the shifting political streams, but the truth remains, many muslims are terrorists, and that's a fact that you can't argue against.
I believe that a sense of guilt is driving these protests... if they didn't carry at least a bit of the truth, Islamic groups wouldn't have protested... What's next? Beep out the word muslim on TV?? "There are no new leads on the whereabouts of the fundamentalist *beep* Osama bin Ladin, wanted for 9/11" or "Zarqawi, a sunni *beep* is wanted for dozens of brutal murders all over Iraq"... or "Ramadan is the *beep* holy month!"...
It's a TV show. It's borrowing a bit from US issues, and currently Islamic terrorism is on the top of that list...
I wish for a couple things. One, that companies would stop bowing down to useless whiners who live in a constant state of "offense" and expect to have things change because of it.
Secondly, I wish Muslim groups like CAIR put as much effort into decrying the acts of terrorists as they do being offended and wanting the Muslim image to change.
I just read a piece that points out that, ironically, a couple of former CAIR people turned out to be terrorists. How quaint.
I think you got your words switched around and you made it seem worse than it was.
You said, "many muslims are terrorists, and that's a fact that you can't argue against." I certainly hope you meant something along the lines of "many terrorists are muslims." Cause I can tell you for damn sure that many muslims are not terrorists. Just a small percentage of them are.
Also, keep in mind that the media wants you to focus only on the Middle East. The scope of Islam goes well beyond that region. Pakistan, India, much of Africa, and southeast Asia have large Muslim populations. And according to the stereotypes, your typical terrorist hails from the Middle East. Media makes it seem like the Middle East is almost all of the Muslim population when in fact, it really isn't.
I know that the muslims of the middle east are not the only muslims. Actually, it's southeast asia that has the most. Indonesia is the world's most populous muslim nation, as you sure know. This does not, however, refute my statement. This only serves to inform that terrorists are not only middle eastern men. You have southeast asians (such as those responsible for the bali bombing), you have africans (would sudan be a suitable example?), and not to mention the chechen... now one might try to justify this group or that, but here's what it all boils down to. This is a global phenomenon. Terrorist muslims, muslim terrorists, either way works fine.
What you don't know is that while not all might be active terrorists, a great many of the muslims support (morally, financially, or otherwise) these radical groups...
What matters, and the reason why the way i phrased my statement holds is the following: if you say "many terrorists are muslims" it stems from the notion that only the muslims of the middle east are the terrorists... however, "many muslims are terrorists" has more unifying, global implications, and encompasses the Jamaa islamiyya (both Egypt and Southeast Asia), Al qaeda, chechens, janjaweed (sudan), etc.. etc...
I see what you mean. But someone could read that and get the wrong impression about what you're really talking about. I just think you could've worded it a little better.
One flaw the media (TV shows) does is it only shows Muslim Terrorists as middle-easterners. The muslims terrorists in Chechnya are white, blonde, etc. So I think, unfairly, most middle easterners are catagorized as terrorists. I do however, have to get on board with the denunciation thought process. IF these terrorists do NOT represent the majority of the muslim faith, then more people of that faith need to stand against them. When Eric Rudpolh (however you spell his name) was bombing abortion clinics in the name of Chirstianity, Christians across the US condemned him. If they had not, the Rudolph would be representing them, instead of an extreme view. So, until the core of the religion, the people, denounce these terrorists, then they control how the rest of us see that religion.
I've read a whole lot of news that I don't see on TV or on any mainstream sites, where Muslims all over, including Africa and basically any other country where there are fairly sizable numbers of them, killing Christians to silence them. Missionaries being cut down all the time by Muslims who don't want them to say anything, and in many cases, not even being given a chance to leave (as if they should have to, anyway) peacefully. Nope, just flat-out killed. There's a ton of stuff that goes on in this world that most people won't hear about, and when you think of it, news sites, the papers, and especially TV only have so much space or time to air stories, so there's no way everything gets published. So, I can say that the "Muslim terrorist" description is more valid than you'd think. It's not just the ones bombing Israel, threatening violence in America, Europe, and the Middle East, and it's not just Al-Queda. And, frighteningly enough, while it may not be a huge percentage of them that are violent, it's a lot more than we've seen in the media, and it's happening all the time.
Couldn't agree more with you... It's what I've been trying to say for a long time. There's a worldwide threat... What reaches the media is just the most bombastic, "newsworthy" stories...
