Street Artists Infiltrate “˜Homeland”™ With Subversive Graffiti
by Dan Bilefsky and Mona Boshnaq
The New York Times
October 15, 2015
LONDON “” In a recent episode of Showtime”™s hit series “Homeland,” the former C.I.A. officer Carrie Mathison is escorted by a Hezbollah militant past a wall in a fictional Syrian refugee camp covered with Arabic graffiti.
Attentive viewers who read Arabic, however, might have noticed something awry. Among the messages spray-painted on the walls: ” “˜Homeland”™ is racist,” “There is no “˜Homeland”™ “ and ” “˜Homeland”™ is not a show.”
The subversive messages seemingly escaped the notice of the producers of the television series.
On Wednesday, an Egyptian artist, Heba Y. Amin, and two other artists, Caram Kapp and Stone, took credit for the graffiti, saying it was a subtle protest of false and misleading stereotypes in the series, which has been heavily criticized for its portrayals of Muslims.
The three, who call themselves Arabian Street Artists, said they had used the opportunity to vent their “political discontent” with the show.
“The series has garnered the reputation of being the most bigoted show on television for its inaccurate, undifferentiated and highly biased depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghans, as well as its gross misrepresentations of the cities of Beirut, Islamabad “” and the so-called Muslim world in general,” the artists said in their statement on Ms. Amin”™s website, asserting that they had “hacked” the series. “For four seasons, and entering its fifth, “˜Homeland”™ has maintained the dichotomy of the photogenic, mainly white, mostly American protector versus the evil and backwards Muslim threat.”
Alex Gansa, co-creator of “Homeland,” acknowledged the ruse. “We wish we”™d caught these images before they made it to air,” he said in a statement. “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.”
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