Charles Michael “Chuck” Lorre has a new comedy coming to CBS and it has received an avalanche of criticism before even airing. But are those opposed to the new show, about an Afghan man adjusting to life in the US with the help of his US soldier friend crying foul just for the sake of crying foul?
The trailer for the United States of Al went viral over the weekend with Twitter exploding due to outrage at the show’s premise and the glib jokes.
The one and a half minute trailer sets up the premise of a former US soldier (Parker Young) who is struggling to readjust to life and his fractured family in Ohio after a deployment in Afghanistan.
The Woke Police are Lashing Out at New Charles Michael “Chuck” Lorre Comedy Before Even Seeing It.
His Afghan interpreter Awalmir (played by Adhir Kalyan) has also moved to the United States and is facing struggles of his own when it comes to adapting to his new country.
Social media users jumped to criticize what they called “whitewashing stereotypes and turning them into jokes” and accused the show of being a “Cliche, insulting farce about being grateful to a white savior” or simply disbelieving what they saw, saying, “This is a real TV show. Actually made by human people. On Planet Earth. In 2021.”
However, executive producer for the show, Iranian-American Reza Aslan jumped to his sitcom’s defense saying in part, “Maybe learn a little about the show, its creators, it’s producers, it’s four Afghan writers, it’s plot, and pretty much everything else before you announce your opinion of it. Just a thought.”
Aslan also claimed, “Because it’s my show I can make sure that it is written and produced by Afghans and Muslims. That it uses the format to reframe the perception that people have of both. That it portrays a Muslim Afghan protagonist in a true and honest light.”
He also made the valid argument, “Fun fact: you haven’t seen it so can’t really comment from a place of knowledge now can you?”
Unfortunately, blind criticism continued with a Tweeter who describes herself as ‘Unapologetically Palestinian’ asking Aslan, “Why would we feel differently if the same harmful stereotypes are written by our ppl?”
Other Twitter users challenged Aslan, asking why the lead character, Al is not being portrayed by an Afghan actor. Adhir Kalyan is a South African actor best known for his role as Timmy in another former CBS sitcom, Rules of Engagement
Chuck Lorre’s shows have long been successful, yet strongly criticized. Honestly, it is likely the sensitive race and religion subject matter will be treated in the same problematic way the women were treated on Lorre’s long-running crap-a-palooza, Two and a half Men. But then, maybe it wont.
ABC’s Fresh off the Boat and Black-Ish received a similar backlash when they were first announced. Just the controversial titles of the comedy serials received strong criticism from outraged television viewers who had not seen a single episode.
However, when Tawainese-American family-centric Fresh Off The Boat ended last year it was lauded as a ‘Groundbreaking Sitcom, Leaving Legacy Of Asian American Representation On TV’ and Black-ish has spawned two wildly successful spin-offs.
Maybe more than 1.5 minutes is needed before judgement can be made on a show that, by the sounds of it, has employed many people of color both on the screen and behind the scenes. Will it be offensive? Maybe. Will that stop another Chuck Lorre show from dominating the sitcom scape? Probably not.
United States of Al premiers April 1 on CBS- watch it and make up your own mind.
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