Earlier this month, CBS released the first trailer for Chuck Lorre’s upcoming comedy United States of Al, which begins on April 1st. What should have been a pleasant, fun look at the new sitcom turned into a setback against the program.
The series was created by David Goetsch and Maria Ferrari and follows a friendship between Riley (Parker Young), a Marine veteran struggling to adapt to civilian life in Ohio, and Awalmir (‘Al’) ( Adhir Kalyan), the interpreter who is with his unit in Afghanistan and has just arrived to start a new life in America. Sounds harmless, right? Well, for many, there are some red flags. First, a non-Afghan actor plays the title role, and at a time when authentic representation is of paramount importance, it was a spark that started a significant amount of setbacks.
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Since the release of the trailer, Twitter has been on fire with criticism of the series, and executive producer Reza Aslan has spent much of his time putting out and defending these fires. United States of Al.
‘You can not rate a show in a 30-second trailer. Well, you should not, at least, “he responds to one tweet and in another he defends:” There are five Afghan characters in the program and four of them are played by Afghans. We’ve seen 100 Afghan shows, but sitcom is a specialized genre and it’s very difficult to play. But we also have four Afghan writers / producers who have done the excellent job of helping Adhir. ‘
“Maybe learn a little bit about the program, its creators, its producers, the four Afghan writers, the plot and just about everything before you post an opinion on it,” Aslan wrote.
He says: ‘Because it’s my show, I can make sure it’s written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. That it uses the format to reflect the perception that people have of both. That it portrays a Muslim-Afghan protagonist in a true and honest light. ”
Read some tweets below.
You can not rate a show on a 30-second trailer. Well, at least you didn’t go down without explaining yourself first. This is still Twitter … https://t.co/BIh0MYEFaQ
– Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) 21 March 2021
There are five Afghan characters in the show and four of them are played by Afghans. We’ve seen 100 Afghan shows, but sitcom is a specialized genre and it’s very difficult to play. But we also have four Afghan writers / producers who have done the excellent job of helping Adhir. https://t.co/bGej9bcN3B
– Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) 21 March 2021
It’s actually very happy. Because this is my show, I can make sure it is written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. That it uses the format to reflect the perception that people have of both. That it portrays a Muslim-Afghan protagonist in a true and honest light. https://t.co/c5xKP3SIZ7
– Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) 20 March 2021
Maybe learn a little bit about the show, it’s creators, it’s producers, it’s four Afghan writers, it’s plot and almost everything before you make your opinion about it. Just a thought. https://t.co/dMXFqNJ3kJ
– Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) 20 March 2021
Nice fact: you have not seen it yet, can you not really comment on a place of knowledge? https://t.co/aTfpNKtIXd
– Reza Aslan (@rezaaslan) 21 March 2021