TV industry needs to get over its fetishization of Muslims as solely religious and political beings

The Hollywood Reporter

While Muslim-Americans have made great strides on shows like FBI and Ramy, there is still a need to show the nuances of being Muslim on television, write Sue Obeidi and Evelyn Alsultan. "Netflix's Messiah, for example, offers a complex context that includes a refugee crisis and U.S. military interventions," they explain in a Hollywood Reporter essay. "However, Muslim characters are reduced to their politics and religion, and culture and faith are often conflated. There are about 1.8 billion Muslims globally, and Muslim identity and appearance are incredibly diverse. It is lackadaisical how Hollywood was able to create a 'Muslim look' that is Arab and South Asian, and often times with actors outside of those communities. Black people make up the largest group of Muslims in the U.S., comprising 20 percent of U.S. Muslims. And the Latinx community is the fastest-growing Muslim community in the U.S. But we rarely see these portrayals. Expanding storylines that include Muslim characters really requires reflecting the diversity of Muslim communities."