Muslim group wants critics to monitor stereotyping on ‘Tyrant’

By Greg Braxton

Los Angeles Times

A Muslim advocacy group is asking that critics reviewing FX’s new drama “Tyrant” address possible stereotyping of Arab and Muslim culture.

Leaders for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, which calls itself the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, made the request after attending a screening of the pilot in Washington, D.C.

“In the pilot of FX’s ‘Tyrant,’ Arab Muslim culture is devoid of any redeeming qualities and is represented by terrorists, murderous children, rapists, corrupt billionaires and powerless female victims,” said CAIR National Communications Director Ibrahim Hooper. “In ‘Tyrant,’ even the ‘good’ Arab Muslims are bad.”

The group had earlier asked for a meeting with network officials to discuss potential stereotypes in the series.

According to FX, “Tyrant,” which debuts tonight, is about “an unassuming American family drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle East nation. Bassam “Barry” Al Fayeed (Adam Rayner), the younger son of the dictator of a war-torn nation, ends a self-imposed 20-year exile to return to his homeland, accompanied by his American wife and children, for his nephew’s wedding. Barry’s reluctant homecoming leads to a dramatic clash of culture as he is thrown back into the familial and national politics of his youth.”