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Graffiti on ‘Homeland,’ Unnoticed by Producers, Calls Show Racist Graffiti on ‘Homeland,’ Unnoticed by Producers, Calls Show Racist
(35 minutes later)
LONDON — In a recent episode of Showtime’s hit series “Homeland,” the former C.I.A. officer Carrie Mathison is escorted by a Hezbollah militant past the wall of a fictional Syrian refugee camp covered with graffiti in Arabic.LONDON — In a recent episode of Showtime’s hit series “Homeland,” the former C.I.A. officer Carrie Mathison is escorted by a Hezbollah militant past the wall of a fictional Syrian refugee camp covered with graffiti in Arabic.
Attentive viewers who read Arabic, however, might have noticed something awry. Among the messages spray-painted on the walls: “ ‘Homeland’ is racist,” “There is no ‘Homeland’ ” and “ ‘Homeland’ is not a show.”Attentive viewers who read Arabic, however, might have noticed something awry. Among the messages spray-painted on the walls: “ ‘Homeland’ is racist,” “There is no ‘Homeland’ ” and “ ‘Homeland’ is not a show.”
The subversive messages seemingly escaped the notice of the producers of the television series.The subversive messages seemingly escaped the notice of the producers of the television series.
On Wednesday, an Egyptian artist, Heba Y. Amin, and two other artists, Caram Kapp and Stone, took credit for the graffiti, saying it was a subtle protest of false and misleading stereotypes in the series, which has been heavily criticized for its portrayals of Muslims.On Wednesday, an Egyptian artist, Heba Y. Amin, and two other artists, Caram Kapp and Stone, took credit for the graffiti, saying it was a subtle protest of false and misleading stereotypes in the series, which has been heavily criticized for its portrayals of Muslims.
Ms. Amin said she and her colleagues had been hired by the show’s producers to add authenticity to the camp depicted in the episode — Season 5, Episode 2 — aired in the United States on Sunday and filmed on the outskirts of Berlin.Ms. Amin said she and her colleagues had been hired by the show’s producers to add authenticity to the camp depicted in the episode — Season 5, Episode 2 — aired in the United States on Sunday and filmed on the outskirts of Berlin.
The trio, who call themselves “Arabian Street Artists,” said they had used the opportunity to vent their “political discontent” with the show. The three, who call themselves “Arabian Street Artists,” said they had used the opportunity to vent their “political discontent” with the show.
“The series has garnered the reputation of being the most bigoted show on television for its inaccurate, undifferentiated and highly biased depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghans, as well as its gross misrepresentations of the cities of Beirut, Islamabad- and the so-called Muslim world in general,” the artists said in their statement on Ms. Amin’s website, asserting that they had “hacked” the series. “For four seasons, and entering its fifth, ‘Homeland’ has maintained the dichotomy of the photogenic, mainly white, mostly American protector versus the evil and backwards Muslim threat.” “The series has garnered the reputation of being the most bigoted show on television for its inaccurate, undifferentiated and highly biased depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghans, as well as its gross misrepresentations of the cities of Beirut, Islamabad — and the so-called Muslim world in general,” the artists said in their statement on Ms. Amin’s website, asserting that they had “hacked” the series. “For four seasons, and entering its fifth, ‘Homeland’ has maintained the dichotomy of the photogenic, mainly white, mostly American protector versus the evil and backwards Muslim threat.”
But Alex Gansa, co-creator of “Homeland,” acknowledged the ruse. “We wish we’d caught these images before they made it to air,” he said, “However, as ‘Homeland’ always strives to be subversive in its own right and a stimulus for conversation, we can’t help but admire this act of artistic sabotage.” But Alex Gansa, co-creator of “Homeland,” acknowledged the ruse. “We wish we’d caught these images before they made it to air,” he said in a statement. “However, as ‘Homeland’ always strives to be subversive in its own right and a stimulus for conversation, we can’t help but admire this act of artistic sabotage.”
Ms. Danes has won two Emmys and two Golden Globe awards for her portrayal of Ms. Mathison, an intelligence officer who struggles with bipolar disorder. But the series itself has been consistently criticized for inaccurate and inconsistent portrayals.Ms. Danes has won two Emmys and two Golden Globe awards for her portrayal of Ms. Mathison, an intelligence officer who struggles with bipolar disorder. But the series itself has been consistently criticized for inaccurate and inconsistent portrayals.
For example, the first season suggested that Al Qaeda was an “Iranian venture” that had sought revenge against the United States on behalf of Iran. Al Qaeda is a Sunni Arab extremist network, which some officials in Shiite Iran and its proxy, Hezbollah, consider to be an even worse adversary than Israel. The three artists criticized the first season for suggesting that Al Qaeda was an “Iranian venture” that had sought revenge against the United States on behalf of Iran. Al Qaeda is a Sunni Muslim extremist network, which Shiite Iran and its proxy Hezbollah have in recent years treated as, in some ways, a more imminent danger than Israel.
Hamra Street in Beirut — a lively, storied shopping area where it is normal to see women in skimpy clothing as well as those in headscarves, and where foreigners walk around openly — is portrayed in one episode as a crumbling place with militia shootings imminent on every corner and foreigners who must hide themselves. In October 2012, Lebanon’s tourism minister at the time, Fadi Abboud, threatened to sue the makers of the series for their depiction of Beirut, the Lebanese capital. The program’s portrayal showed a group of terrorists meeting on Hamra Street, which was depicted as a center for militia violence; in real life, the street is a cosmopolitan road with a Starbucks, outdoor cafes and women in outfits ranging from skimpy to fully veiled. Mr. Abboud was particularly angry that the episode had been filmed in Israel, which is officially at war with Lebanon.
Ms. Amin and her colleagues said the show demonstrated its insensitivity by “naming a key terrorist character after the former real-life Pakistani ambassador to the United States.” (The character is Haissam Haqqani; the ambassador, Husain Haqqani, who served from 2008 to 2011, is an eminent scholar who has written frequently — and highly critically of the Pakistan government — for The New York Times and other publications.)Ms. Amin and her colleagues said the show demonstrated its insensitivity by “naming a key terrorist character after the former real-life Pakistani ambassador to the United States.” (The character is Haissam Haqqani; the ambassador, Husain Haqqani, who served from 2008 to 2011, is an eminent scholar who has written frequently — and highly critically of the Pakistan government — for The New York Times and other publications.)
The artists said that they were first contacted in June by a friend who was active in the street art scene in Berlin. It was then that their plan took root. “It was our moment to make our point by subverting the message using the show itself,” they wrote. In a phone interview, Ms. Amin said she was particularly aggrieved by what she called the show’s misleading distortions of reality in the Middle East, which she said had an effect on policy in the real world. “The framing of events and brainwashing about the region has a real impact on foreign policy because millions of people are getting their information from the show and can’t differentiate between facts and fiction,” she said. “No doubt that it looks good and is well acted, but I had boycotted the show as it is so frustrating and insulting to watch it.”
The three said that they had been given a set of images of graffiti supporting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to emulate at the set of a fictional camp on the Lebanese-Syrian border, and they were instructed to make theirs apolitical. They said they were given two days to complete the task, and they speculated that the set designers were too busy to notice the ruse. The artists said that they were first contacted in June by a friend who was active in the street art scene in Berlin. It was then that their plan took root. “It was our moment to make our point by subverting the message using the show itself,” they wrote. Ms. Amin said that the series was easy to dupe, as there did not seem to be stringent fact-checking, and that she had noticed many linguistic Arabic inaccuracies in the past.
The three said that they had been given a set of images of graffiti supporting President Bashar al-Assad of Syria to emulate at the set of a fictional camp on the Lebanese-Syrian border, and they were instructed to make theirs apolitical. They said they were given two days to complete the task, and they speculated that the set designers were too busy to notice the ruse or did not understand Arabic.