The award-winning Homeland series has long been criticized for racist portrayals of Muslims and an extremely inaccurate portrayal of Middle Eastern politics despite a high budget which is seemingly only spent on set design.
The artists used the contract, in which they made graffiti for the set of a Syrian refugee camp, to write messages such as "Homeland is Racist," "Homeland is a joke, and it didn’t make us laugh" and "This show does not represent the views of the artists."
"What’s wrong with Homeland’s political message? The very first season of 'Homeland' explained to the American public that Al Qaida is actually an Iranian venture. According to the storyline, they are not only closely tied to Hezbollah, but Al Qaida even sought revenge against the US on behalf of Iran. This dangerous phantasm has become mainstream 'knowledge' in the US and has been repeated as fact by many mass media outlets," the artists said in their release.
Other than the logical inconsistencies which appear to make all groups the United States considers hostile into one big "superterrorist," the show also relies on stereotypes for character development. The show also uses these stereotypes to legitimize tactics such as bribery, drone strikes, torture, and covert assassination, according to the artists.
"Five seasons later, the plot has come a long way, but the thinly veiled propaganda is no less blatant. Now the target is freedom of information and privacy neatly packaged as the threat posed by Whistleblowers, the Islamic State and the rest of Shia Islam," the artists' statement also said.
Homeland's showrunner responded in a statement saying that the show wished it caught the images before it aired, but "admires" the act as "Homeland always strives to be subversive in its own right and a stimulus for conversation."
