Marcus Brown
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Showtime’s television series “Homeland” experienced an easily preventable mistake during an episode in the show’s fifth season in which Arabic graffiti in the background of the set contained disparaging remarks about the show itself. “Homeland” is filled with political intrigue as it is centered on the interactions among U.S military and intelligence personnel against the backdrop of war-torn sections of the Middle East, and the show has received its fair share of criticism for its depictions of the area, people, and culture in the Middle East. More than anything, the graffiti snafu demonstrates Western biases and the desire to propagandize reality coupled with a noted uninterest in accurately representing anything that doesn’t help to further that agenda.

Graffiti artists were hired to add a sense of realism to a Syrian refugee camp, but the artists instead used the opportunity to scrawl messages in Arabic such as “ ‘Homeland’ is racist,” “ ‘Homeland’ is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh,” and my personal favorite, “#blacklivesmatter.” However, what makes this whole situation laughable is that nobody else on the set caught these messages. It is blaringly obvious that the producers of the show lacked a vested interest in the depiction of the subject matter they were presenting to their audience. If the effort could made to hire artists to write authentic graffiti, couldn’t a translator be hired as well to review the writing to ensure that this representation was fitting and respectful of the people and land it was meant to portray?   

On the surface this incident appears harmless and merely a simple oversight, but what those graffiti artists did was important. It is important because propaganda, stereotypes, and misrepresentations do not exist in a vacuum. In time the biases imposed upon a people or area began to shape the target of said bias, as well as the expectations and perspectives of those from the outside looking in. We begin to look for confirmation of these superimposed biases as opposed to making an effort to understand the truths that may go against the narratives forced down our throats by those more interested in selling the idea of something than using their platform to bridge gaps in understanding and cultures. That is exactly what happened on the set of “Homeland.” There was an opportunity to portray a complicated and divisive issue with authenticity and open a dialogue, but instead it became an embarrassing example of what can be lost in translation.

When depicting the world for an extended audience there is not only a responsibility to the viewer but to the subject being depicted. The graffiti artists should be applauded for forcing that accountability. As simple as it would have been for the staff on set to verify the message they would be broadcasting to millions of people, it would not have been an issue had the integrity of what was being portrayed been the primary objective in the first place. If anything, what occurred on the set of “Homeland” should be taken as a reminder that the subject of interpretation can speak on the interpreter as well, and allowing this to occur is the only way to guarantee a truly accurate, unbiased narrative.

Showtime’s television series “Homeland” experienced an easily preventable mistake during an episode in the show’s fifth season in which Arabic graffiti in the background of the set contained disparaging remarks about the show itself. “Homeland” is filled with political intrigue as it is centered on the interactions among U.S military and intelligence personnel against the backdrop of war-torn sections of the Middle East, and the show has received its fair share of criticism for its depictions of the area, people, and culture in the Middle East. More than anything, the graffiti snafu demonstrates Western biases and the desire to propagandize reality coupled with a noted uninterest in accurately representing anything that doesn’t help to further that agenda.

Graffiti artists were hired to add a sense of realism to a Syrian refugee camp, but the artists instead used the opportunity to scrawl messages in Arabic such as “ ‘Homeland’ is racist,” “ ‘Homeland’ is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh,” and my personal favorite, “#blacklivesmatter.” However, what makes this whole situation laughable is that nobody else on the set caught these messages. It is blaringly obvious that the producers of the show lacked a vested interest in the depiction of the subject matter they were presenting to their audience. If the effort could made to hire artists to write authentic graffiti, couldn’t a translator be hired as well to review the writing to ensure that this representation was fitting and respectful of the people and land it was meant to portray?   

On the surface this incident appears harmless and merely a simple oversight, but what those graffiti artists did was important. It is important because propaganda, stereotypes, and misrepresentations do not exist in a vacuum. In time the biases imposed upon a people or area began to shape the target of said bias, as well as the expectations and perspectives of those from the outside looking in. We begin to look for confirmation of these superimposed biases as opposed to making an effort to understand the truths that may go against the narratives forced down our throats by those more interested in selling the idea of something than using their platform to bridge gaps in understanding and cultures. That is exactly what happened on the set of “Homeland.” There was an opportunity to portray a complicated and divisive issue with authenticity and open a dialogue, but instead it became an embarrassing example of what can be lost in translation.

When depicting the world for an extended audience there is not only a responsibility to the viewer but to the subject being depicted. The graffiti artists should be applauded for forcing that accountability. As simple as it would have been for the staff on set to verify the message they would be broadcasting to millions of people, it would not have been an issue had the integrity of what was being portrayed been the primary objective in the first place. If anything, what occurred on the set of “Homeland” should be taken as a reminder that the subject of interpretation can speak on the interpreter as well, and allowing this to occur is the only way to guarantee a truly accurate, unbiased narrative.