ABC Family is planning to air a TV drama, "Alice in Arabia," that will only perpetuate racist stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims and stoke Islamophobia. ABC Family Network must cancel "Alice in Arabia" and create programming that accurately portrays Arabs and Muslims today.
"Alice in Arabia" is about a "rebellious teenage American girl" who is kidnapped by her Saudi Arabian relatives and finds herself a "virtual prisoner in her grandfather's royal compound." The show makes a point of setting Muslim values and beliefs against American ones. Alice has an "independent spirit," according to ABC. In contrast, Alice describes Muslim values as "extreme," according to Buzzfeed.
"Alice in Arabia" is full of cultural inaccuracies. Alice's "royal grandfather" is depicted as an "evil sheikh." Other characters are, as BuzzFeed observes, caricatures of Arab men as "sinister" and Arab women as oppressed.
"Alice in Arabia" only reinforces simplistic stereotypes of Arabs and Muslims. That's why we need to tell ABC Family to cancel this TV show, go back to the drawing board and -- in consultation with Arab and Muslim communites -- come up with a show that portrays Arabs and Muslims accurately.
