A New Type of Tyrant?

If you want to pull yourself away from the slow melt-down in the Middle East, you can turn on your television tonight (June 24) and see it all from a different angle.  The new series Tyrant on FX is the story of one man returning from his Western existence to his Middle Eastern home to take on a leadership role.  As with the young Bashar Hafez al-Assad (an eye doctor) who returned home after the death of his older brother only to be the latest tyrant in the region, we can watch this new doctor return home and determine if he can do any better.

Here is FX's quick summary of the program (and a trailer):

Tyrant tells the story of an unassuming American family drawn into the inner workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation. Bassam "Barry" Al-Fayeed (Adam Rayner), the youngest son of a war-torn country's controversial dictator, returns to his homeland after a self-imposed 20-year exile in America for his nephew's wedding. Upon his return, Barry is immediately thrown back into the familial and national politics of his youth. He braces himself to confront the stark realities of his father and older brother Jamal's (Ashraf Barhom) harsh rule, and finds himself at odds with Jamal's wife, Leila (Moran Atias), who strongly believes in a firm, unforgiving regime. 

Although his wife, Molly (Jennifer Finnigan), struggles to comprehend her husband's apprehension, Barry is unable and unwilling to make his all-American family understand his unease over returning home. Emma (Anne Winters), their 17-year-old daughter, adores her father and shares his disdain for the extravagances of her extended family. Meanwhile, their son, 16-year-old Sammy (Noah Silver), revels in the lavish lifestyle their "royal" status brings, but dangerously tests cultural divides with his poorly disguised interest in handsome family bodyguard Abdul (Mehdi Dehbi). 

Barry's only warm memory of his childhood, boyhood friend Fauzi (Fares Fares), wants nothing to do with him. Fauzi is now a journalist, whose reports on the abuses of the Al-Fayeed rule resulted in his arrest and torture. Barry must now confront the life he once fled. With his father's health in decline, everyone – Jamal, their mother Amira (Alice Krige), their father's top advisor Yussef (Salim Daw), and even easygoing U.S. diplomat John Tucker (Justin Kirk) – expects him to assume a more active role in both the family and the regime.

The new show is already in trouble with some because it is seen as stereo-typing all Arabs.  A spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations stated, "In the pilot of FX's 'Tyrant,' Arab Muslim culture is devoid of any redeeming qualities and is represented by terrorists, murderous children, rapists, corrupt billionaires and powerless female victims...In 'Tyrant,' even the 'good' Arab Muslims are bad."

It probably doesn't help the main character is played by a non-Arab and the whole series is filmed in Israel.  But even with all of this baggage, we have few shows that venture into this region, so maybe is can shed some light.  Maybe.