The mid-season series ‘United States of Al’ comes under fire, and an executive producer tweeted a strong defense
A new CBS sitcom comes under fire for dealing with an Afghan character.
The big bang theory producer Chuck Lorre’s latest – the midseason series United States of Al – is criticized for the role of a non-Afghan actor in his title role, and for the portrayal of the character in general, while one of the executive producers of the program delivered a strong defense.
The uproar was apparently fueled by the program’s official trailer, which first appeared on the Internet a few weeks ago, but sparked a controversy that caused Lorre to tread over the weekend. The show is surrounded by a heartfelt comedy about the friendship between a Marine veteran (Parker Young) who is struggling to adjust to civilian life in Ohio, and his Afghan interpreter, Awalmir (Adhir Kalyan), who is working with his unit served and arrived to start a new life in America.
Some considered the show offensive, such as Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, author and former congressional candidate, who tweeted, “It’s so ridiculous and offensive that I do not have the words to express how terribly bad it is on every conceivable level.”
Author Rekha Shankar tweeted, “Can anyone tell Chuck Lorre that ‘what if a white person likes a brown person’ is not a concept for a television program? ‘
Palestinian documentary filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky (Tell spring not to come) amazed, “This is a real TV show. Actually made by humans. On planet Earth. In 2021.”
And Broadway singer-songwriter Pia Glenn has a series of criticisms, which led to: ‘I remember hearing about this when it was in development and thinking NAH … surely someone will stop it from going into production. … This is truly Chuck Lorre. Plus America’s general contempt for comedy that is clever, cuts edge, and perhaps not shockingly racist and / or otherwise offensive. “
Among other things, Glenn singled out the fact that Awalmir is not played by an Afghan actor (Kalyan was born in South Africa into an Indian South African family).
One of the program’s executive producers, Reza Aslan, responded to the criticism on Saturday, tweet, “Maybe learn a little bit about the program, its creators, it’s producers, it’s four Afghan writers, it’s intrigue and almost everything before you publish your opinion on it. Just a thought,” and also, “Because it my show is I can make sure it is written and produced by Afghans and Muslims, that it uses the format to convey the perception that people have of both, that it is a Muslim-Afghan protagonist in a true and honest He also disputes: “Nice fact: you did not see it, can you not really comment from a place of knowledge?”
A New York University researcher and author, Arash Azizi, also defended the cast, tweet“Adhir Kalyan is an Indian-South African actor born in apartheid South Africa. In 2021, America is being told that he cannot play characters outside of his own ‘race’. I think he is familiar with this apartheid thinking?”
This is not the first time a CBS sitcom has come under fire for dealing with minority characters. The series 2 flat bag girls was widely praised for its content until it was canceled in six years after six seasons, and Lorre’s 12-season megahit Big bang theory was sometimes criticized in the same lines. Yet Lorre’s 2019 series, Bob (Harte) Abishola, has largely received praise for its central portrayal of an interracial relationship.
CBS and Lorre did not immediately comment. The United States of Al premiered April 1, 2021.