Someone posted a comment on my review of TV’s “Aliens in America” that I suppressed because it’s jaw-droppingly bigoted and I didn’t want it posted without being able to respond to it. I guess I could have just deleted it and been done with it, but you know how I like to scrutinize nutcases.
The TV show, you’ll recall, is a sitcom in which a Muslim Pakistani boy comes to live with a nerdy American high school kid and his family. The pilot episode was hilarious, episode 2 was somewhat disappointing, and episode 3 was back on track. It was episode 3, called “Rocket Club,” that prompted someone to post this:
first we never had to worry about presenting muslims on t.v. until after 911. who give a hoot. now that they are climbing out of the proverbial closets, it is time for american to wake up. while not all muslims are terrorists, all terrorist are muslims. (don’t go there about tim mcveigh). tonight’s episode on the rocket fiasco and the cops taking the computer, then the families computer, and the commentator saying something about our “rights” being taken away, then to the effect of all the “wrongs in america”…why do you think these liberal hollywood writers i.e. backed by the left wing democratic agenda, try to make the U.S. bad and the muslims good? pull your head out the ground while you are watching “pushing daisies” and start paying attention to what the real agenda is. watching people kiss people through body bags is “imagination”? this show the true genius of the American public. if you don’t get it by now, read Laura Ingraham’s book. or do you do that anymore. learn something for the country’s sake!
First, let’s talk about what happened in this episode. The boy, Raja, buys a bunch of supplies at the hardware store to build a model rocket. But to the skittish store manager, he looks like a possible terrorist buying bomb-making materials. The cops come to talk to Raja and his host family and demand access to Raja’s computer so they can see what websites he’s been going to.
That’s when the host family’s nerdy son, Justin, speaks up. He doesn’t want them taking the computer because then they’d see that he, Justin, has been looking at porn on it. Feverishly trying to come up with a way out of this, he dimly remembers something he half-heard in civics class once — something about the Constitution, and unreasonable search and seizure, and civil rights, and so forth. So he speaks up and says — quite rightly, of course — that the cops can’t take the computer without a warrant.
The line our correspondent refers to, about all the “wrongs in America,” comes at the end of the episode when everything is settled and they finally do launch their model rocket. Justin, who is also the show’s narrator, says this: “As we launched our rocket that day, it reminded all of us that for all our country’s faults, it’s still a place where amazing things can happen.” And then the rocket veers off-course and smashes into the face of an evil high school cheerleader previously established as needing a good comeuppance.
So, yes, there is an acknowledgment that America has flaws, accompanied by the affirmation that it’s still a great country. Somehow, our correspondent only heard, “America sucks, and Muslims are better than us.”
Now, as to her specific comments. (She didn’t post a name, but her e-mail address has “mama” in it, leaving me to infer that it’s a woman writing.)
first we never had to worry about presenting muslims on t.v. until after 911. who give a hoot.
Who give a hoot? Well, the 4.5 million Muslims in the United States might, or the 1.5 billion Muslims worldwide. Or, for that matter, even Christians like me who have little interest in the Muslim faith but who sometimes find it interesting to see unfamiliar cultures on TV. Sure, sitcoms about large, dumpy husbands and their hot, thin wives are still fresh and exciting, especially when those sitcoms focus on such invigorating topics as the wife not wanting to have sex, or the in-laws being meddlesome. But every now and then, I like to see something a little different.
now that they are climbing out of the proverbial closets, it is time for american to wake up.
If you weren’t aware that Muslims existed prior to 9/11, I’d say that’s more a reflection on you than on them. They weren’t exactly hiding.
all terrorist are muslims. (don’t go there about tim mcveigh).
Mmhmm. Also, all fat people are Americans. (Don’t go there about Luciano Pavarotti.)
The American Heritage Dictionary defines terrorism as “the unlawful use or threatened use of force or violence by a person or an organized group against people or property with the intention of intimidating or coercing societies or governments, often for ideological or political reasons.”
By that definition, we must include, just off the top of my head, Timothy McVeigh, Theodore Kaczynski, fundamentalist Christians who bomb abortion clinics, the Ku Klux Klan, the Jewish Defense League, and Cody Judy.
While it might be accurate to say that the Muslim terrorists are the ones who pose the greatest threat to Americans, it’s obviously not accurate to say they’re the ONLY terrorists. But I suspect our contributor is using a much narrower definition of the word “terrorism.” I suspect her definition actually has the word “Muslim” in it.
why do you think these liberal hollywood writers i.e. backed by the left wing democratic agenda, try to make the U.S. bad and the muslims good?
That’s a pretty serious misreading of “Aliens in America,” a show whose theme song is “What’s so funny about peace, love, and understanding?,” a show whose whole purpose is to find a funny, satirical way of discussing Islam in the United States, and to look for humor in the way some people freak out when they encounter people from other cultures. It’s no wonder our correspondent didn’t like it: It makes fun of people like her!
I think the only way you could watch “Aliens in America” and come away with a “U.S. bad/Muslims good” message is if you watch it while wearing your “I hate Muslims” glasses.
Also, “U.S. bad and the muslims good” makes it sound like they’re two totally separate groups. As mentioned, lots of Americans ARE Muslims. What about them? Are they only half good? Or does being Muslim negate whatever goodness potential they had by being American? Wouldn’t their Americanness be so awesome that it would outweigh their icky Muslimness?
pull your head out the ground while you are watching “pushing daisies” and start paying attention to what the real agenda is. watching people kiss people through body bags is “imagination”?
What “Pushing Daisies” has to do with any of this, other than that I reviewed it in the same post as “Aliens in America,” I have no idea. But to answer Crazy Muslim-Hater’s question, yes, people kissing through body bags is imaginative, given the circumstances of the story.
this show the true genius of the American public.
Indeed, it do show it.
if you don’t get it by now, read Laura Ingraham’s book. or do you do that anymore.
Really? The woman posting the ranting, semi-literate diatribe is going to accuse ME of not reading? That’s disappointing.
learn something for the country’s sake!
I’m not familiar with Laura Ingraham. She’s a conservative radio host (goodness knows we don’t have enough of those) who has written three books. It’s presumably the most recent, “Power to the People,” that the writer refers to. I don’t know what Ingraham says in the book about Muslims, but I hope this lady’s point of view isn’t representative of it.
