[ad_1]
The midseason series ‘Al’s United States’ has come under fire from critics and an executive producer has tweeted a fierce defense.
A new CBS sitcom comes under fire for its handling of an Afghan character.
The Big Bang Theory Producer Chuck Lorre’s Last – The Midseason Series United States of Al – is criticized for giving a non-Afghan actor his lead role and for portraying the character in general, while one of the show’s executive producers has issued a firm defense.
The outcry was apparently sparked by the official trailer for the show, which debuted online a few weeks ago, but sparked a controversy that shifted Lorre over the weekend. The show is billed as a heartwarming comedy about the friendship between a Marine combat veteran (Parker Young) struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio, and his Afghan performer, Awalmir (Adhir Kalyan), who served with his unit and has just arrived to start a new life in America.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQEwuapZ5RA
Some have criticized the show as offensive, such as Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, author and former congressional candidate, who tweeted, “It’s so ridiculous and offensive that I don’t have the words to express how terribly bad it is on every conceivable level.”
Writer Rekha Shankar tweeted“Can someone tell Chuck Lorre that” what if a white person liked a brunette “is not a TV show concept. “
Palestinian documentary filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky (Tell the spring not to come) amazed, “This is a real TV show. Actually made by humans. On planet Earth. In 2021.”
And Broadway singer-actor Pia Glenn released a series of reviews, leading with, “I remember hearing about this when it was in development and thinking about NAH … surely someone will stop this from going into production. … It’s really Chuck Lorre. Plus America’s general contempt for comedy is intelligent, cutting edge, and perhaps not shockingly racist and / or offensive. “
Glenn, among others, particularly pointed out that Awalmir is not played by an Afghan actor (Kalyan was born in South Africa to a South African Indian family).
One of the show’s executive producers, Reza Aslan, responded to criticism on Saturday, Tweeter, “Maybe learn a bit more about the show, its creators, its producers, it’s four Afghan writers, its plot and pretty much everything else before you give your opinion on this one. Just a thought,” and also, “Because it’s my show I can make sure it’s written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. It uses the format to reframe people’s perceptions of both. portrays an Afghan Muslim protagonist in a true and honest light. ”He also challenged:“ Fun fact: you haven’t seen him, so you can’t really comment from a place of acquaintance now, no ‘is this not?”
New York University researcher and author Arash Azizi also appeared to defend the cast, Tweeter, “Adhir Kalyan is an Indo-South African actor born in apartheid South Africa. In 2021 in America, he’s told he can’t play characters outside of his own ‘race’. I guess that he is familiar with this thought of apartheid? “
This isn’t the first time that a CBS sitcom has come under fire for its handling of minority characters. The series 2 broken girls was widely criticized for its content until it was canceled in 2017 after six seasons, and Lorre’s 12-season megaahit The Big Bang Theory has sometimes been criticized along the same lines. Yet Lorre’s 2019 series, Bob (hearts) Abishola, widely acclaimed for its central portrayal of an interracial relationship.
CBS and Lorre did not immediately comment. The United States of Al premieres April 1, 2021.
[ad_2]
Source link