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'Homeland is racist': artists sneak subversive graffiti on to TV show

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M

mellz

Member
Three graffiti artists hired to add authenticity to refugee camp scenes in this week’s episode of Homeland have said they instead used their artwork to accuse the TV programme of racism.

In the second episode of the fifth season, which aired in the US and Australia earlier this week, and will be shown in the UK on Sunday, lead character Carrie Mathison, played by Claire Danes, can be seen striding past a wall daubed with Arabic script reading: “Homeland is racist.”

Other slogans painted on the walls of the fictional Syrian refugee camp included “Homeland is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh” and “#blacklivesmatter”, the artists – Heba Amin, Caram Kapp and Stone – said in a statement published online.


The artists said they had been contacted in June by a fellow street artist who had been approached by a production company looking for people to add authenticity to the set – intended to portray a refugee camp on the Syrian-Lebanese border, but filmed on the outskirts of Berlin.


“Given the series’ reputation,” they wrote, “we were not easily convinced, until we considered what a moment of intervention could relay about our own and many others’ political discontent with the series. It was our moment to make our point by subverting the message using the show itself.”

In an early meeting with the production team, they were, the statement claims, handed images of “pro-Assad graffiti – apparently natural in a Syrian refugee camp”.

The trio decided instead to use the opportunity to air their criticisms of the show, adding graffiti stating: “Homeland is NOT a series”, “The situation is not to be trusted” and “This show does not represent the views of the artists.”

The Arabic script was not checked by producers, they claimed. “The content of what was written on the walls … was of no concern. In their eyes, Arabic script is merely a supplementary visual that completes the horror-fantasy of the Middle East, a poster image dehumanising an entire region to human-less figures in black burkas and moreover, this season, to refugees.”

Amin told the Guardian: “We think the show perpetuates dangerous stereotypes by diminishing an entire region into a farce through the gross misrepresentations that feed into a narrative of political propaganda.

“It is clear they don’t know the region they are attempting to represent. And yet, we suffer the consequences of such shallow and misguided representation.”

Homeland has frequently run into controversy during its five seasons, particularly over its depiction of the Muslim world and its portrayal of an apparently cosy relationship between Al-Qaida and Hezbollah.

After season four depicted Islamabad as a “hellhole”, a Pakistan embassy spokesperson, Nadeem Hotian, said: “Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US … is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US.”

Showtime, which makes Homeland, has not yet responded to the artists’ claims. But Alex Gansa, the show’s creator and executive producer, told Deadline after the story came to light: “We wish we’d caught these images before they made it to air.

“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.”

Showtime’s network president, David Nevins, said earlier this year, ahead of the filming of season five, that Homeland would not necessarily continue with Islamist protagonists: “We’re not necessarily going to stay now and forever [focusing on] US relations in the Muslim world … We’re exploring a few different possibilities and may change it up a little bit.”

Nevins added of the show’s writers: “They never shied away from anything difficult. I want them to go right into the teeth of it again.”
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source: http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-r...is-racist-artists-subversive-graffiti-tv-show

The artists made a statement: http://www.hebaamin.com/arabian-street-artists-bomb-homeland-why-we-hacked-an-award-winning-series/
 
M

mellz

Member
CRWsVVUUkAA2bti.jpg:large
 
K

kmfdmpig

Member
I think the show is more nuanced than the artists describe. It doesn't really present America = good and the Middle East = bad as they describe.

At least two of the seasons focus fairly heavily on civilian casualties due to American bombings, for example. In Season 1 that makes the protagonist fairly sympathetic.
 
W

wenis

Registered for GAF on September 11, 2001.
Absolutely wonderful. I wonder if this has happened to any other show or movie?
 
J

Jeremy

Member
kmfdmpig said:
I think the show is more nuanced than the artists describe. It doesn't really present America = good and the Middle East = bad as they describe.

At least two of the seasons focus fairly heavily on civilian casualties due to American bombings, for example. In Season 1 that makes the protagonist fairly sympathetic.
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American Sniper attempted the same thing with this guy I felt pretty sympathetic for (I didn't finish the movie admittedly). If they would portray things more accurately instead of attempting to turn it into a post-9/11 propaganda piece better fitted for 2001 I think it would have been a great insight into the people we've lost physically, mentally and emotionally since all of this has begun.
 
P

Pinko Marx

Banned
I feel like the statements made with this act are weakened if the artists have to come and point these things out to us. I realize that they most likely wouldn't have been noticed otherwise, but still.
 
L

LUFTRAUSER

Banned
Why is this casual racism shit even entertaining to some people? Would they honestly rather believe they live in a world were everything outside of the West is some kind of fucked up Disneyworld attraction, or that humans everywhere are just as complicated and interesting as them and the world is multi-faced and amazing?

Why do some people build prisons out of ignorance in their own minds and then seek to feed it with this bullshit? I don't get it...
 
F

FStop7

Banned
I stopped watching after season one, but the premise was an American POW was turned to support a jihadi cause after indiscreet bombing by American forces killed a bunch of children including a little girl he'd befriended. That doesn't strike me as racist, but okay.
 
F

Fusebox

Banned
I think the biggest news in this thread for me is that this series is up to season 5! If theyd just let the bomb explode at the end of S1 and called it a day it'd be some of the finest TV I've seen but they just dragged it out into the crap zone.
 
T

The Technomancer

card-carrying scientician
At least they bothered to hire some people to graffiti in the correct language. There's always that great story about that Call of Duty game where they just made all of the street signs in Arabic in the middle of Pakistan
 
F

Fuchsdh

Member
PdotMichael said:
Reminds me on that Jurrasic Park thing with that one city in Mexico.
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How was the one village in Mexico in one scene of Jurassic Park in any way making a statement about Mexico as a whole? The whole point was that they were supposed to be meeting in a remote location, and insofar as "go USA" both of the characters in the scene are clearly jerks.

As for "Homeland is racist", I'd be highly surprised if the graffiti artists had actually watched an episode or more of the show.
 
N

nynt9

Member
Ersatzkopf said:
Why is this casual racism shit even entertaining to some people? Would they honestly rather believe they live in a world were everything outside of the West is some kind of fucked up Disneyworld attraction, or that humans everywhere are just as complicated and interesting as them and the world is multi-faced and amazing?

Why do some people build prisons out of ignorance in their own minds and then seek to feed it with this bullshit? I don't get it...
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I'm middle eastern, recently moved to the west and I enjoy the show... It's just entertainment. There was a middle eastern character working for the CIA in the show as well, the show is not as black and white as these people make it out to be. Season 4 was dealing with the aftermath of a drone strike where Americans bombed a wedding. The first three seasons are based on a character who was an American soldier but turned jihadi after seeing the atrocities committed by Americans. It constantly paints America in a negative light.
 
G

gatling

Member
So... this could've flown under the radar if the artist didn't point it out? How glorious would that have been to get past editing and producers.

As an aside, I'm enjoying Damien Lewis As Henry VIII in Wolf Hall so much right now.
 
T

Tagg9

Member
gatling said:
So... this could've flown under the radar if the artist didn't point it out? How glorious would that have been to get past editing and producers.

As an aside, I'm enjoying Damien Lewis As Henry VIII in Wolf Hall so much right now.
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The episode aired last week, so clearly it did get past the editors.
 
N

NEO0MJ

Member
The Technomancer said:
At least they bothered to hire some people to graffiti in the correct language. There's always that great story about that Call of Duty game where they just made all of the street signs in Arabic in the middle of Pakistan
Click to expand...

The sad thing is that they didn't even do that right, at least in the early games. Letters were separated and the grammar made no sense.
 
M

Miles Quaritch

Member
Effect said:
Damn! That's a no research at all situation or one where they purposefully did not give a damn if they did scout locations to some degree.
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Or they wanted to present a certain view of what the country looks like and that might fit in better than showing something that resembles a normal city street?
 
F

Frostburn

Member
It is a drama TV show, it isn't trying to make a statement or be 100% accurate, it is entertainment and if the artists were really offended by the show they shouldn't have worked on it (not even doing what they were paid to do). Too many overly sensitive people make a big deal out of nothing. Focus on some real issues or shut up. Guess they got what they really wanted though, their 15 minutes in the spotlight.

News flash: Shows always mis-represent actual locations, they do this because of budgets mostly but also to tell a story, they aren't trying to be accurate.
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
Effect said:
Damn! That's a no research at all situation or one where they purposefully did not give a damn if they did scout locations to some degree.
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"Hey, find me the name of a street in Beirut. Cool, thanks."

ctrl-c, open script, find-replace, ctrl-v

Frostburn said:
It is a drama TV show, it isn't trying to make a statement or be 100% accurate, it is entertainment and if the artists were really offended by the show they shouldn't have worked on it (not even doing what they were paid to do). Too many overly sensitive people make a big deal out of nothing. Focus on some real issues or shut up. Guess they got what they really wanted though, their 15 minutes in the spotlight.
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honestly, you're the one who comes across as overly sensitive
 
F

Frostburn

Member
Htown said:
"Hey, find me the name of a street in Beirut. Cool, thanks."

ctrl-c, open script, find-replace, ctrl-v



honestly, you're the one who comes across as overly sensitive
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Because I think they are just trying to get their 15 minutes and complaining about something that doesn't matter? Okay
 
A

AlimNassor

Banned
Frostburn said:
It is a drama TV show, it isn't trying to make a statement or be 100% accurate, it is entertainment and if the artists were really offended by the show they shouldn't have worked on it (not even doing what they were paid to do). Too many overly sensitive people make a big deal out of nothing. Focus on some real issues or shut up. Guess they got what they really wanted though, their 15 minutes in the spotlight.

News flash: Shows always mis-represent actual locations, they do this because of budgets mostly but also to tell a story, they aren't trying to be accurate.
Click to expand...

These are real issues. Homeland may or may not be racist, and these artists are sending a message that no it's not "ok".
 
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