Kal plays Ahmed Amar, a teenager living in suburban Los Angeles. A suicide bomber has just blown up a bus downtown. We meet Amar when the FBI arrives in the suburbs to take his father away for reasons unknown to viewers. A drunk neighbor, Stan, watches Amar’s father being taken away and proceeds to attack Amar, calling him a terrorist. The kind liberal Mr. Wallace, who lives across the street, witnesses the attack and intervenes, gently saying, “Stan, he’s no more of a terrorist than you or me.”
The Wallace family takes Amar in. Ironically, Amar then receives a phone call from (gasp) an evil Muzzie terrorist, Fayed, the cartoonish archvillain of the show. Amar proceeds to hold the family hostage, demanding that Mr. Wallace deliver a package to Fayed. (He can’t do it himself, because he’s injured from the hate crime.) When Mr. Wallace’s teenage son asks, “Why are you doing this? We’re friends,” Amar responds, “We’re friends?! You can’t even pronounce my name. It’s not Aw-med. It’s ACCCCCCH-med.” (And it’s not Kal Penn, it’s Kalpen Modi.) Mr. Wallace later proclaims, “Stan was right. You are a terrorist.” Mr. Wallace then leaves to deliver the package. A little while later, counter-terrorist agents enter, killing Amar and saving the Mrs. and younger Wallace. But it’s too late. The delivered package helps set off a “suitcase nuke,” presumably killing hundreds of thousands of people in the process. So what are the morals of Ahmed Amar’s story? You can’t trust brown people, even the ones living in posh suburbs who speak with American accents. If they ever correct your pronunciation of their names, call the FBI right away. And if you happen to witness a hate crime against an Arab-looking person, let the attack continue. Don’t interfere. Chances are, the victim was about to help detonate a nuclear bomb anyway.
In addition to the improbable storyline, the characters were poorly developed. We never understand why someone like Amar, a teenager who lives in a ritzy neighborhood, would be a terrorist. All we know is that he’s a brown Muslim and that he’s in cahoots with some very bad people. And that he shouts in Arabic before he fires his gun. When Amar’s hostages ask him why he wants to be a terrorist, he replies, “It’s not because I want to. It’s because I have to.” Well, that still doesn’t tell us anything.
I get that it’s just a television show. I get that Kal Penn is just paying his dues, and doing what he has to do to get paid. I get that it’s very easy for me to sit behind my computer and rail against shows like “24” and go to my cushy job in the morning while some of my college friends have been trying for years to make it into Hollywood with little success. I get it. Nonetheless, I’m not happy about the idea of brown people playing such two-dimensional, hateful roles. My worst fear is that some crazy person will watch this show and think, Hey, if Kumar Patel could be a terrorist, maybe that Desai kid across the street could be one, too. Even though he’s basically a nice guy, I know deep down that they’re all the same. It’s possible. I saw it on “24.”
Yes lets all (barely) 2% of us! I don’t get your logic. We have Bollywood to see how desi actors do against each other.
I remember Bill Cosby pronounced his son’s name Ennis-as in tennis. What-that’s not right? Or are people saying Ennis like Ayy-nis?
Damn, that hurts, son! I take what I said before back. Sometimes I do care how my name is said.
JOAT, We may be 2%, but we have possible clout. That is my point. And, and, we spend way too much time discussing KP, a middling actor at best.
Just for the record…
Even though I don’t get all bent about people pronouncing my name/names all castillian and whatnot, I do not feel everyone should adopt my attitude towards it.
I’ll do what it takes to not dis anyone elses name by asking people to write things out phonetically, make comparisons, etc. It’s only a timesucker when it comes to my own name.
I have several students from Cameroon and S. Afica and that’s what we did so I could learn their names. It took a few tries though. Anyone ever tried Navajo? Or Xhosa?
Ok, tough guy…I deal with violent patients on a regular basis in my job, so moving to a gated community isn’t going to protect me from violence, and I do “deal with it”, as you so nicely put it. It’s not “playing the victim card”, it’s playing smart. If we let people continue to assume brown people are a threat, hysteria will reach WW2 proportions, and if we’re not all attacked, we’ll be interned. Obviously that’s a huge leap from random hate crimes, but it’s a slippery slope, and that’s why people write about it. Just because I don’t want people to see me as a threat doesn’t mean I see myself as a victim.
Kindly, sir, I disagree. If we are to expect Mr. Penn to not be “loyal” — and by that I suspect you mean playing less stereotypical and more varied representations of the brown man — then he should avoid suggesting to the press that he is taking on projects which break stereotypes.
Fine. I don’t expect any actor to be unwise and not take the only roles which may be coming in for him. But I think that Kal has consistently taken the same types of roles; and, yet, he promises in interviews (somewhat unsuccessfully) new projects which he claims are going to be vastly different from before — you could find some of his words on this subject on Nirali Magazine or even here on SM. I do wonder though if he earns well enough in mainstream projects, like Van Wilder, if he could do an arthouse film every once in a while. Presumably, that form of media may be the only way we could see him tell different stories than the terrorist/racialized-other/store-clerk/nerd ones we have historically seen in Hollywood for brown men. Yeah, yeah…you’re all excited about The Namesake. If only it weren’t a Mira Nair production. We’ll see.
desishiksha – first, i’m not a tough guy, i learned muay thai and wing chun BCOS of racist rednecks who gave me shit growing up. It’s a last resort, i take alternative routes, like doing drugs with them, you’ll be surprised how many situations i’ve defused by smoking a blunt(lol, the new peace pipe). Secondly, props on working in the mental ward, i did some work there one summer before deciding to not be a doctor and be another suit.
Very good point, i agree with you in an ideal world. People are idiots in general, its the ignorant who are the people who think we are threats, and are the people who perform hate crimes. So ya, when i see one of these assfucks out, and he says some shit, hell ya i hope he thinks twice that maybe i’m a threat to HIM. While most people find this logic bogus, its worked for numerous black friends of mine who can feign gangsterness just by being black and saying the word ‘glock’ or ‘bloodz’.
Haha! Great idea! Btw, speaking of Mr. Modi, I have been waiting and waiting to see “The Namesake” pop up in theaters. I heard that he did very well in it, but it hasn’t shown up. Does anyone know what happened?
desishiksa- I don’t think all brown people would be interned;only the Muslim ones. I’m highly skeptical that Indian Hindus and Sikhs would be interned as part of some undifferentiated brown mass. I beleive that, after 9/11, when immigrants from various Muslim countries were summoned to report themselves to Homeland Security,India was not on the list of countries. This is surprising, because India has one of the largest Muslim populations in the world. The Indian lobbyists did an excellent job in preserving India from that group of “terrorist” countries. I believe the same would happen again because somebody pointed out that Indians have “clout.”
I agree that you’re probably right, but what about Indian Muslims who are American citizens?
I don’t really think anyone will be interned at all (I, perhaps naively, do have some faith in progress), but I was painting a worst case scenario.
when immigrants from various Muslim countries were summoned to report themselves to Homeland Security,India was not on the list of countries.
I wonder if China and Indonesia were on that list. Very large populations of Muslims there as well..Anyone know?
oh god. and i was so excited to see my man on NBC tonight. how would you know if he is really the rapist?
Few Points:
Hollywood and TV is for making money, and is the artistic expression of the people making it. They have full freedom to pursue their expressions, and make products that people will see. Let’s face it, sleeper terrorism like sex sells these days. Art takes cues from its environment and mood around, not the other way around.
Are you guys willing to write $50/ week check to Kal Penn in return he promises not to do “some roles” or maybe produce movies for him. He will do roles that are offered to him, and pay his bills. He is a struggling actor in the bigger scheme, and if pulls Tom Cruise style belief on the sets, he will be history. Acting is acting, not a personal statement. Maybe, Hopkins is psycho like Lecter in real life.
It is better such things come out in TV shows and movies as a safety value. Not shown in movies does not mean it does not lurk in the hearts and minds of the people. It is just bottled up. When Homeland Security asked muslims from many countries to do additional registration, it had nothing to do with TV or Hollywood.
Nobody is gonna be interned in America in the 21th century.
Some people have to get over the fact that a brown person who looks like most of us is playing a bad guy on TV.
A brother can never catch a break. Kal Penn has no requirement to be fatithful to The Cause. If and when he does, it is probably to save face with family/other browns who will always accuse him of selling out. Kal Penn is not a big name. He is nobody right now. People like Naveen Andrews and the guy from Heroes probably do more for Indian/brown representation than Penn. You wanna know why?
TV. When people bring you into their homes, there is a greater level of acceptability. TV has consistently pushed the boundaries of acceptability be it with black actors, gay characters or now browns. Part of it is that TV can be more experimental. You can nix a character if it doesn’t work and TV is controlled by writer/creators who can write more brown/black roles.
If someone has any numbers or statistics on the ratio of Indian writers on the staff at most comedy or dramatic shows compared to number of actors, I would be curious to know. The more browns that go into writing and especially writing for TV, the better the roles and characters for Indian actors to play non-stereotypical roles.
There are other ways of changing it too. Guys and girls, date more white Americans, Jewish Americans. They control the media and by increasing your exposure with that subset, you will have better characters. The reason Harold and Kumar got made was because the Jewish writers had friends similar to Harold and Kumar growing up that weren’t getting represented.
It’s actually the ER, but some would say there’s no difference 🙂
A lot of people I know took the route you did, including some of my cousins, because they were fed up with all the bullshit they were getting. But what I’m concerned about is really misplaced institutional violence like the guy who got shot on the London subway, or non-violent but still troubling events like making people get off planes because they are speaking an Arabic-sounding language. So I think we’re talking about two different things–people being afraid of you because you might do some personal harm to them, which I can see the usefulness of, versus people being afraid of you because you might be part of a terrorist plot.
Apparently Martha Stewart got so creeped out by his Lecter depiction that she dumped Hopkins. I think Martha scares more people than the good Dr. Lecter…
Yes. I fully intend to spend my Jewish husband’s money when he makes it on producing movies starring Kal Penn, Ajay Naidu and Sendhil Ramamurthy (but not Navin Andrews because I don’t think he’s hot). And I’m only partly joking.
Even I get a little paranoid these days when so many depictions of us are so negative — terrorists, wife beaters, doctors. Come on, hurry up and make the new Harold and Kumar film.
Kal Penn should be able to play any role he wants. It called acting.
People should be able to comment on the roles Kal Penn takes and it’s ramifications on the society we live in. It’s called discussion.
Maurice Reeves (#22) and desishiksa (#37) both said something along the lines of “People who get their ideas from 24 should be taken seriously because they still get to vote.” (i paraphrase).
A good point, but then, people who get their ideas from Mein Kampf still get to vote, and no one takes them seriously either as a political force either. My point is that people who would actually base their assessments of anyting on 24 are so woefully stupid and ignorant that there’s nothing one can do to change their minds…so there’s no use worrying about them unless it’s to come up with a more efficient way of separating them from their money.
Noel
Film and TV have historically been used as propaganda tools. Why don’t you think people’s values are created by what they see on TV? The clothes I wear, the food I eat, the stuff I buy for my house–I got a lot of those ideas from TV, so why not ideas on how to treat my neighbors? That’s why American TV had after school specials to educate kids about drugs and sex and racism, and why the Indian government controlled Indian TV so carefully for so many years.
What more do you need? Haul out the waterboard.
If you think this is bad, check out Showtime’s “Sleeper Cell”, in which an anonymous brown person, a liberal, a European, and a black person conspire to BLOW UP AMERICA. Quality fucking entertainment right there.
desishiksa-
WORD! you’re absolutely correct. I was in paris a week after the london bombings, i played role of dumb american tourist as best i could, but ya i got profiled like crazy everywhere, well on top of the racist Parisians. Either way ya, i worry about what you’re saying also.
But ya, institutional violence/discimination is a big problem. I couldn’t receive Top Secret Clearance because my parents are still Indian citizens, even tho they’ve lived here for over 30 years and are both professors at State Universities. Its all good the private sector has more money.
lol, you’re a smart shiksa, i guess the desi part of your name negates the idiot part associated! Don’t tell me you live in long island!
LOL, the sad part is that you’re an edumacated doctor. TV is bad enough, its the internet i’m worried about. I’m generation Pepsi, which means i’m young enough that i played on the internet in ’94 when i was in 6th grade and also old enough to remember tight rolled jeans and the grunge movement(copied older siblings).
TV can easily be moderated, thanks FCC, but the internet, scary place now, idiot kids who are young, can go anywhere and can read anything, and they believe it. Myspace stalking and shit like that in general is horrendous, i just see the internet being a remarkably terrible/powerful way for ignorance to be spread.
I love SM, for killing productivity at the office.
I am so with desishiksa on this one. I think, in theory, actors should be able to take whatever roles they want to. That said, this is a classic dilemma among minority communities — do you take a role, even if it is stereotypical or degrading? I think a lot of people would say yes, but this “yes” becomes more acceptable when there are enough “positive” or “realistic” representations of said community that someone can afford to take the risk of presenting a negative depiction.
While readers here may not respect someone who gets their information from a fictional show, it’s not rare to meet people in this country who have never met a person of color; they’ve only seen them on TV. I don’t think it’s smart to discount the impact that television & film have in dehumanizing people. There was a really excellent article on desi actors taking “terrorist roles” and walking that line a few months back – perhaps covered in SM?
As far as 24 goes, in my opinion the show has been going downhill for a few seasons. I’m also not really surprised that this was the story line. I have a good number of friends who watch religiously and find themselves cheering on Jack Bauer, even when his tactics fly in the face of their politics (e.g. anti-torture, pro-“rights of the accused”, etc.). That’s just the nature of the show.
Yes, you’re right, Taz did a wonderful post on this last year.
Does shiksa mean idiot too? Because I was using it for this definition. Maybe it’s the confluence of “shiksa” and “blonde” that gives rise to that association?
It’s probably because they are professors. Everyone knows institutions of higher learning are hotbeds of radical foment, so having been exposed to that your whole life, you are clearly not suitable to be privy to Top Secret information:)
How many movies have come out about muslims terrorists since the events 9/11. I can’t think of too many. Infact you still have movies with Russian terrorists and everybody favorite neo-nazi’s.
The best description of this is, surprisingly from the CBFC (Central Board of Film Certification):
“Film censorship becomes necessary because a film motivates thought and action and assures a high degree of attention and retention as compared to the printed word. The combination of act and speech, sight and sound in semi darkness of the theatre with elimination of all distracting ideas will have a strong impact on the minds of the viewers and can affect emotions. Therefore, it has as much potential for evil as it has for good and has an equal potential to instill or cultivate violent or good behaviour. It cannot be equated with other modes of communication. Censorship by prior restraint is, therefore, not only desirable but also necessary”
desishiksa – lol, i don’t have a definition, just whats interpretted from my jewish boys. I don’t think that idiocy is attributed, but they throw it around with that implication. so i’m probably wrong.
Ya i’m super clean on what words i use in this blog, lol, so should everyone, cause if i had to bet on anything is that, this site traffic is monitored by our good ol boyz.
To me, the dangerous part of 24’s popularity is not the racial depictions, but the obvious endorsement of torture and its efficacy. In every season, someone is tortured under a ‘ticking bomb’ scenario and spews out the needed information. No one ever presents false information and the moral quandaries of government action are avoided by utilizing non-government sanctioned characters (Bauer, other terrorists, etc). There is a reason why bush and co. love this show
To me, the dangerous part of 24’s popularity is not the racial depictions, but the obvious endorsement of torture and its efficacy. In every season, someone is tortured under a ‘ticking bomb’ scenario and spews out the needed information. No one ever presents false information and the moral quandaries of government action are avoided by utilizing non-government sanctioned characters (Bauer, other terrorists, etc). There is a reason why bush and co. love this show
A depiction of torture is not equal to endorsement – Bauer has tortured innocents on the show, and the the viewer is left to wonder for what reason. And that running storyline of the dangers of ethnic profiling has been in almost all seasons of the show.
I’m guessing those who criticize 24 probably were fans of The West Wing, where lefties solved the world’s problems through walk n’ talks.
I criticize 24’s depiction of torture in ticking-bomb scenarios. In the real world, such situations remain hyperbole, yet defenders of torture routinely cite it as the smoking gun reason why torture should not be outlawed. The overwhelming actual use of torture has been conducted in secure, non-emergency situations in places like Guantanamo Bay years and years after people’s capture, or in Abu Ghraib/Vietnamese POW camps where interrogators were allowed/encouraged to use violence, and then derived some form of sick pleasure in doing so. Why talk about what torture could save us from, when we know what it already has done to our or other societies?
Um.. it is a tv show written to elicit maximum audience reaction. What would you suggest the show writers should do ? Have Jack Bauer play Celine Dion songs to make the terrorist crack ? (actually that might work too…)
What would you suggest the show writers should do ? Have Jack Bauer play Celine Dion songs to make the terrorist crack ?
That would still be torture, potentially worse than having a knife inserted in your kneecap.
You can look at it whichever way you want and call me muslim-hater, racist, blah-blah but at this point of time in history, nothing can be more horrifying for a hindu than being mistaken for an arab or muslim.
So…one of my friends called me to say there was someone on “24” this week – a terrorist character – who looked just like my husband (delightful). Now she is NOT that blind to think that my 50 year old salt and pepper moustached and bearded spouse bears any resemblance to Kal Penn – was it perhaps the Fayed dude?
BTW, Desishiksa is correct. No implication of idiocy in trhe term “shiksa.” The Yiddish term for idiot is “putz.”
Oh yeah, the other one is “schmuck.” Both also refer to the male sexual organ.
“The Namesake” opens March 9th, limited release.
I didn’t think he was that strong in it, but Tabu and Irfan Khan were amazing.
Was wondering when a post on Kal Penn’s character on 24 would show up on SM ( I just found this blog BTW… my peoples!!!!!)
I had mixed feelings about it myself. 24 is a testosterone fantasia that specialises in trashing expectations in its race to the finish line… unfortunately Kal’s character being revealed as a terrorist after all was the twist they chose to take on the “outraged decent neighbours” plot. I had to admit that I laughed when he sonned the teen about mispronouncing his name ( right there with ya, buddy) and at the realisation that he was supposed to be playing a teenager.
24 likes to play both sides of the fence politically when it comes to these racial/political issues… you can either live with it as a viewer or not. The moment you think it’s a right-wing apologia, the writers upend your expectations and vice versa. At the moment, I can live with it. I’m far more curious about the internment camp plotline and the dynamic between Jack Bauer and Assad( Alexander Siddig, apparently playing Gerry Adams with an Arabic accent)…
I think “Gotham Bombay” would make a good stage name for an aspiring desi actor in hollywood. Either that or Pilavullakandi Thekkeparambil.
“I saw an arthouse film called My Son The Fanatic with Om Puri and Rachael Griffiths which followed a slightly similar storyline except it was set in England.”
Regarding “My son the fanatic”, Hanif Kurieshi has written quite a bit on the subject of 2nd generation (more like third generation) radicalization in the UK, including a novel called “The Black Album” – IIRC, he claimed to have based it on millenial changes he saw occuring in the immigrant community around him, & later, in the course of his researches in mosques and the like. And BTW – the kid in the movie doesn’t become a terrorist, just overly puritan in his beliefs. Big difference.
when caucasians (read: white americans) play russians in, say, james bond movies, nobody really cares. and so what if michelle yeoh, a malaysian, plays a chinese spy? look, if a desi plays a middle eastern person in an action show, well… it should be expected. i mean, plotwise it sells and kal penn is playing up his browness. my issue was much more simple– i thought the plot was pathetic. but hey, if normal viewers of 24 find it consumable, than thats ok with me…
FYI: Mr. Penn is on Law & Order: SVU playing a rapist RIGHT NOW.
Krao (comment #83 and #85), You are ahead of the curve. MSNBC’s Countdown with Keith Olbermann made exactly the same point that you do about depiction of torture. Keith also insinuated that “24” is a systematic way to keep the American public “aware” of the terrorism issue and keep them in fear, so that it can then be exploited politically. Is it any surprise that this show is on FOX and Cheney loves the show??
Oh jeez that was a bad Law and Order SVU and not one of the best episodes I must admit. The father irritated me. Everyone was trying to hide their American accents and the characters seemed so plastic.
just watched the law & order. didn’t like the character kal played. thought the episodes was one of the most poorly written. but i know it’ll be great for the brother.
i think in his last few projects he’s played a handful of diverse characters. he’s paid his dues and now the better movie roles should be coming in for him.
and even if they don’t kal’s career has already done enough for the other desi kids trying to make it.
I thought that instead of inviting Narendrea Modi here they shoulda stuck to Kalpen. But Lordy, he is everywhere now. Making money and going to Stanford too, how does Badalundabad do it? Good thing the Harold and Kumar sequel is coming up, even if they don’t Go To Amsterdam.