The midseason series ‘United States of Al’ is being criticized, and an executive producer tweeted a vehement defense
A new CBS sitcom is being criticized for dealing with an Afghan character.
Big Bang Theory the latest from producer Chuck Lorre – the midseason series Al United States – is being criticized for casting a non-Afghan actor for the title role and for representing the character in general, while one of the show’s executive producers issued a vehement defense.
The uproar was apparently caused by the official trailer for the show, which debuted online for the first time a few weeks ago, but sparked a controversy that left Lorre as a trend over the weekend. The show is framed as a warm comedy about the friendship between a Navy combat veteran (Parker Young) struggling to readjust to civilian life in Ohio, and his Afghan interpreter, Awalmir (Adhir Kalyan), who served with his unit and ends up arrived to start a new life in America.
Some criticized the program as offensive, like Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, a writer and a former Congress candidate, who tweeted, “This is so ridiculous and offensive that I have no words to express how terribly bad it is on every conceivable level.”
Writer Rekha Shankar tweeted, “Can anyone tell Chuck Lorre that ‘what if a white person liked a brunette person’ is not a TV show concept.”
Palestinian documentary filmmaker Saeed Taji Farouky (Say that spring won’t come) amazed, “This is a real TV show. In fact, made by humans. On planet Earth. In 2021.”
And Broadway singer and actor Pia Glenn issued a series of criticisms, starting with: “I remember hearing about it when it was in development and thinking about NAH … surely someone is going to stop it from going into production. … It’s really Chuck Lorre. Besides America’s general disdain for clever comedy. , cutting edge, and perhaps not shockingly racist and / or otherwise offensive. “
Glenn, among others, particularly highlighted the fact that Awalmir was 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, tweeting, “Maybe you will learn a little about the program, its creators, its producers, four Afghan writers, its plot and almost everything else before announcing its opinion on it. Just an idea” and also: “Because it is my program I may have certain that it was written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. That uses the format to reshape people’s perception of both. That portrays an Afghan Muslim protagonist in a true and honest light. “He also challenged,” Curiosity: you still didn’t see it, so you can’t really comment on a place of knowledge now, can you? “
A New York University researcher and author, Arash Azizi, also seemed to defend the cast, tweeting, “Adhir Kalyan is an Indian-South African actor born in apartheid in South Africa. In 2021, in America, he said that he cannot play characters outside his own ‘race’. I think he is familiar with the thinking of Apartheid?”
This is not the first time that a CBS comedy has been criticized for dealing with minority characters. The series 2 broken Girls was widely criticized for its content until canceled in 2017, after six seasons, and Lorre’s 12-season megahit Big Bang Theory has occasionally been criticized along the same lines. Still, Lorre’s 2019 series, Bob (hearts) Abishola, was widely acclaimed for its central representation of an interracial relationship.
CBS and Lorre did not immediately comment. Al’s United States opens on April 1, 2021.