Wake Up Hollywood: Sitcoms Won't End Jihad

Throughout decades upon decades of filmmaking, Hollywood has had a strong impact on the lives of Americans. On the television screen no less than the silver one, it has delivered a product that makes us smile at times, makes us cry at others, and occasionally makes us sit in silence to ponder the profundity of the message conveyed via lights, camera, action. (Although the message Hollywood communicates has fluctuated over the years, from being staunchly pro-American during the World War II era to becoming as staunchly anti-American in the immediate post-Vietnam era to being used as a tool to impact societal norms in the latter 20^th century, there is simply no question that Hollywood sees itself as a conveyor of messages.)

And now, some are pushing for Hollywood to go beyond these various messages of the past and take a shot at crafting one that fights terrorism by showing how misunderstood Muslims are in the minds of rank and file, xenophobic Americans.

In other words, some in Hollywood (and other aspects of the entertainment industry) are calling for “sitcom diplomacy” whereby a television show can allow Americans to become acquainted with middle eastern families in the same way that so many of us became acquainted with the Brady Bunch and the Partridge Family.

What would Americans learn from such Hollywood propaganda such television programming? According to Middle Easterner and LA Times’ contributor Firoozeh Dumas, Americans would learn that “Middle Easterners come in all shapes, sizes and belief levels, just like every other kind of American.” Moreover, looking back on her own experience growing up as a Middle Eastern in America, Dumas contends such a program could go a long way in lessening America’s suspicion of Middle Easterners by demonstrating that the Middle Easterners she grew up with weren’t terrorists and weren’t even “very Muslim.” (Notice: By contending that Middle Easterners who aren’t “very Muslim” aren’t terrorists, Dumas does nothing to alleviate the fear that radical Islamists, Middle Easterners that are “very Muslim,” thrive on terrorism.)

Of course, CBS News’ anchor Katie Couric thinks it’s a great idea regardless of whether Dumas’ points are valid are not. She even proposes the show be fashioned in a style similar to “The Cosby Show.” Said Couric: “People are afraid of what they don’t know” (there’s the elitist jab at stupid Americans again) “[So] a Muslim equivalent to the Huxtables could be just what the country needs to stay all of this hate in its tracks. ”

Why does the solution to tension between a foundationally-Christian nation like America and Middle Easterners (or any other group) always boil down to helping Americans move beyond hate? Why must we always be depicted as hate-filled bigots by Hollywood elites who are too bigoted to stop and think about the fact that American troops are giving their lives at this very moment to nation-build in Middle Eastern countries like Afghanistan, among other places?

Dumas, Couric, and other members of Hollywood’s movers and shakers who favor this “sitcom diplomacy” really ought to step back, take a deep breath, and understand that radical Islam has declared war on the West, thus our consequent declaration of war (the “War on Terror”) was and is a defensive measure. In this war, there are no actors, directors or stagehands. Our soldiers aren’t pretending to die when struck by shrapnel from an IED (improvised explosive device) nor is it a special effect when Westerners are captured and beheaded on camera by our enemies.

While this isn’t to say that every Middle Easterner condones the conduct of radical Islamists – to say that would be absurd – it is to say that lumping all Middle Easterners together (as Dumas and Couric are doing) and equating our distrust of some of them with a distrust of all them is ludicrous.