Its hard to define exactly why the television series Homeland gives rise to such completely opposite sentiments, other than at its base, there is a deep seated and ingrained Christian bias against the Semite in general, and its complementary identity issue of a white America and in a materialist conception, the need for a pecking order, or a Veblen termed it, a structure that would provide for invidious comparison.
—The painting shown above was sold at the Sotheby’s 2007 Orientalist Sale, it was lot 35 and sold for 216.250 EUR ($277,172 USD). According to the auction data, this is a very large painting, more like a mural, being 3 x 4 meters in size. It is an early work by Tanoux, who would have been only about 22 and possibly still a student of Leon Bonnat.—click image for source…
Much can be looked at as the medieval nourished “sins of the jews” being transposed onto Muslims and Islam in general, basically a racialized cousin of the Semite family the Jewish perception of a dichotomy between the divine and the demonic and their efforts, naturally to scrap the demonic and promote, basically an artificial creation, “Judeo-Christian tradition based on similarities is equally contradictory and even became “emancipated” and canonized with the War on Terror and the soul of American democracy, a concept Arab states are found in jittery and anxiety laden want. Irony is, historically, Jews in Arab lands were far better off than among Europeans both East and West. The pendulum shifted, and now Muslims are anti-Jew in ways that are not intrinsic to the cultural legacy of Islam and are devoid of historical precedent, maybe as a way to appease fundamentalist and Jihadic forces such as Salafist kooks which are a contemporary phenomenon.
In many respects the less than sterling reprsentation of Arabs in American popular culture is hardly a recent phenomenon, with terrorists, farmers, billionaires and refugees, to be feared or pitied as the standard trope with some sex appeal and easy morals thrown in. But then , is America’s responsibility to absorb and integrate unlimited, and a fair target for criticism?…
(see link at end)…Anyone who watched the season finale of Homeland will now understand that the show is insidiously anti-Semitic. All along, it has been Saul Berenson, the show’s lone Jew, who crafted an elaborate plot to secure power for himself at the expense of American lives and the national security of the United States.
—In other words, the show questions the security state, reveals the horrific collateral damage of America’s drone program, and pointedly demonstrates how such unaccountable power can lead to corruption. In episode after episode, monochromatic moral thinking—an “us or them” mentality—is shown to be the true villain, rather than one particular nationality or ethnic group.
Yes, the show gets details of Islamic faith and Arab culture wrong. There are mispronunciations of Arabic names and phrases, flawed representations of religious rituals (as when Brody tenderly—but unnecessarily—buries a copy of the Qur’an that was thrown on the floor), and simplifications of the complex realities of the Middle East. But ignorance should not be mistaken for bigotry, any more than the show’s mangled rendition of the Jewish mourning prayer of Kaddish in its season finale—recited by CIA officer Saul Berenson (Mandy Patinkin) without the required prayer quorum, and with a line of nonsensical Aramaic at the end—should be mistaken for evidence of anti-Semitism. —Read More:http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/homeland-is-anything-but-islamophobic/266418/
It was Saul who passed the razor blade to Afsal Hamid, one of Brody’s guards when he was in captivity, to avoid the CIA interrogation; it was Saul who failed the polygraph when he was asked about this razor blade incident (Those sneaky, cunning Jews are even able to avoid polygraph detection!); and it was Saul who helped Aileen Morgan kill herself by “forgetting” his eyeglasses in the room of the supermax facility.
As the final episode ends, Saul stands in the midst of his victim’s bodies and recites the Kaddish–-the Jewish mourner’s blessing. The message, then, is clear: Saul, the caricature Jew (e.g. the beard, the nose, the spectacles), should never have been trusted. This is what happens when Jews get power.
I could go on but I think you get the point. The point, however, is not that Homeland is anti-Semitic (of course it isn’t!), but that it is a show with enough depth and layers for someone to concoct a totally inaccurate interpretation of what the show really is about. This is where Laila al-Arian comes in.Read More:http://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/119607/homeland-is-obviously-anti-semitic
—The best response, then, to perceived flaws in a well-intentioned show like Homeland is not shrill accusations of prejudice, but constructive suggestions for improvement. Because while there are shows that traffic in ethnic and religious stereotypes and promote superficial moral thinking, this simply isn’t one of them.—Read More:http://www.theatlantic.com/entertainment/archive/2012/12/homeland-is-anything-but-islamophobic/266418/
…Orientalism is an ambivalent subject: It is both feared and condemned, but also appealing and consequently romanticized. Like D.H. Lawrence’s Sons and Lovers, there is a love-hate dialectic at work, and in Homeland it holds that the Christian attitude to Jews and to Muslims and Arabs in the Orient is subject to a complex series of emotional modes, that can go profoundly to the concept of aspects of the soul and the differences between faiths connected by the epicenter of the world, Jerusalem
ere Orientalism is no longer an “other” but the mother of monotheism….ADDENDUM:
(see link at end)…I admit I have no idea how the story arcs in Homeland will develop and what surprises are in store. What I do know is how both Arabs and Islamists have been portrayed thus far as violent fanatics, some of whom are powerful and influential infiltrators.
As someone who has spent much time in the Middle East, I find the depictions not only crude and childish but offensive. There is more to it than the portrayal of individuals. For Homeland presents an odd and unbelievable image of relationships between countries and identities in the region, where Palestinians, Iraqis, Saudis all share an agenda regardless of background, culture and history….
…The reality is that what Homeland portrays is a peculiar view of the Islamic world, one rooted, perhaps, in its genesis as an Israeli drama, where the view of the surrounding neighbourhood is more paranoid and defensive. It matters for this reason. Popular culture both informs and echoes our prejudices….Read More:http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-radio/2012/oct/13/homeland-drama-offensive-portrayal-islam-arabs
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