Most of us are already familiar with the premise of Aliens In America, the new sitcom that debuted Monday on the CW: A Pakistani exchange student comes to live with the Tolchuks in Wisconsin. Hilarity ensues.
Ever since it was picked up by CW, the show has garnered good reviews from critics. After watching the first episode, I do agree with previous
reviews. The show is funny and Raja, the Pakistani Muslim, is portrayed as a real person and not as a stereotypical cardboard cutout. Adhir Kalyan plays Raja well - the expression on his face when it dawns on him that his classmates may not be as open to him as he thought is priceless. I admit, I thought maybe his acting was a bit over the top at first, but I think Kalyan limited this type of acting to his first scene in the airport.
The rest of the cast consists of the Tolchuks, Justin, Claire, and the mom and dad. The mom, Franny, played by Amy Pietz, comes full circle from a person who believes Raja could be part of a terrorist cell (”You should watch more Bill O’Reilly,” she tells her husband) to someone who realizes that Raja is just a kid.
I’ll definitely tune in next week to see where this goes. Monday night’s episode received a 1.6/2 rating, which is somewhat typical for CW ratings, so we’ll see how long this show lasts.
Further information:
Slate reviews Aliens in America as well as the upcoming season of Little Mosque on the Prairie in an an article published Monday.
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Zeynab 10.16.07 at 12:28 am
I didn’t want to watch this because I heard nothing but negative reviews. Sepia Mutiny (I don’t have a link to the article, sorry) talks about the Islamophobia and racism inherent in the show; it’s a really good critique, you should have a look.
Bushra 10.18.07 at 4:42 pm
Thanks for the comment and I’ll definitely look up the article you mentioned. I hear what you’re saying and I don’t think this show is perfect but I think it plays a role. A lot of the people in the U.S. have never even met a Muslim but still have negative perceptions based off of the media and everything else. The fact that this show portrays a Muslim as an ordinary person who doesn’t strive to be a terrorist is at least one step in the right direction.
Like I said, it’s not perfect but maybe those who watch the show will realize that their own perceptions of Muslims are just as silly as the ones that the Mom initially had and, like her, they may realize that Raja is just a kid and Muslims are ordinary people too.
Or. . . this could just be some random show that won’t do anything to help out Muslims and will play for laughs with various stereotypes. We’ll just have to wait and see how it plays out