Intro - Say your going to analyse Homelands and link to question
Paragraph 1 - Industries: Who produced Homelands? Budgets? Audience: Viewing figures.
Paragraph 2 - Narrative: How is narrative links to cultural/ social/ political/ economical context USA.
Link back to question, how it would be received by the middle east.
Paragraph 3 - Discussion of gender. How Carries represented. Flawless? How would middle eastern audiences respond to that. Jessica as well.
Conclusion - Link back to question. How narrative is a mirror of USA. How gender links to social norms.
Long form television dramas from different countries offer different representations in how Homeland, a television drama series I have studied, could offer alternative meanings to Muslims and give a bias representation of 'the opposition'. Trapped, also another television drama series I have studied, also could promote different representations from other countries as well.
Homeland was released worldwide early October, 2011. It was produced by a handful of national production companies, these could include, Teakwood Lane Productions, Cherry Pie Productions, and Keshet Broadcasting just to name a couple. Homelands was distributed by 20th Television and the channel the very first season of Homelands was aired on was 'Showtime Television'. 'Metacritic' gave it a rating of 92 out of 100 and 'TV Guide' named it the best TV show of 2011. In terms of a response, the first season of Homelands was a major hit. Around the time Homelands was talked about everywhere you'd go. Viewing figures for Homelands season 1 averaged at around 1.25 million. This compared to it's peak at an average of around 1.95 million viewers, a figure the show achieved in its third season of the TV Drama. Filming locations for the first season include North Carolina, and Tel Aviv, Israel. This would include scenes of CIA and FBI briefing rooms and secrete researching rooms. But also scenes in places of corruption and war. Trapped was released to the viewing public mid-September four years after Homeland, 2015. It was written by Sigurjón Kjartansson and direct by a further more four members of the crew. The Icelandic drama was a world wide release, France 2 aired the first full season, followed by the channel ZDF, in Germany. This was followed by a number of other countries until it reached BBC 4. The show reached sky high viewing figures in its fist season catching the eye for possibly a further second season
Homelands was produced and made in a response to 9/11. Homelands was made from an extremely controversial origin in an effort to spred bias and unfair propaganda surrounding Islamic and war infested countries. This was information that if you'd have found out at the beginning of season one it could have changed your viewing experience. The way Homelands is written and produced was done in a very negative way toward the religion of Muslims and Islam. This was represented in Homelands through the way anything bad that might have happened being at the fault of Muslims and Islam. Right from the first episode, when Carrie is reacting to the new that a missing US soldier has been found. The way that the Middle Eastern society was again at fault for that was a clear showing of how this long form television drama might run throughout season one of the show. The representation that Homelands offers viewers is that it's a very racist television programme, And the fact that season one was rated so highly by critics provides evidence that the Americanisation of film and TV has led us to ignore clear sighs of racism and Islamophobia. As an audience, people would view characters like Carrie and Saul as American citizens who they could most relate to. However putting yourself into the shoes of a middle eastern citizen would change the way you see Homelands representing itself. Homelands would be received by the Middle eastern society as a racist television drama and so when there was a controversy surrounding Islamic words being sprayed onto walls and backdrops of certain set designs their was nothing Homelands could do in response. In fact the co-creator of the show for the network Showtime said in an interview with 'Time', "We wish we’d caught these images before they made it to air. However, as Homeland always strives to be subversive in its own right and a stimulus for conversation, we can’t help but admire this act of artistic sabotage.” Trapped, on the other hand, was produced with no motive to get back at anyone. In fact comparing it to Homelands, the killer in Trapped is one of their own civilians. Trapped doesn't seem to pass the blame on someone from another country, much like Homelands does, but instead it has an Icelandic member of the community be the killer in the end.
Gender is key theme throughout season one and Homelands, a television drama as a whole. Carrie is the lead female character, this in itself is an extreme rarity. However Carrie has a major flaw in that she is Bi-Polar. The producers of Homelands must have wanted to be progressive in casting a female character as a lead but they still had to give her a major flaw, which eventually became her downfall. Carries Bi-Polar is a representation of how women through the American film and media industry are not treated as a flawless lead like men would be, but instead as characters to weak to stand the 'hustle and bustle' of the American streets. Jessica is another representation of the exact same point but this time taken to much more extreme measures. Homeland producers casted Jessica to be a stay at home mother of two who again is 'to weak' to be by herself. Jessica is a character who sums up most women in the American film and media industry. gender in Trapped has also explored the theme of gender through the character of Hinrika. She is a stereotypical sympathetic character proven by the scene where she helps the two young girls found in the back of the camper van.
In conclusion Homelands narrative is a representation / mirror of America at the time. This could be proven in the way that Homelands presents itself as a islamophobic show
