Mainstream American television has a history of misrepresenting jihad

Evidence

Representations of jihad in American film and television are also very relevant to how Americans view jihad and Islam. In fact, this is not a new phenomenon. American film and television have a history of misrepresenting jihad. A very good example of this is the primetime drama, 24 (2001–2010, 2014). The show followed Jack Bauer, an agent with the U.S. government’s Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), who impedes domestic and international terrorist plots. In the show, Muslims were often featured as terrorists. In the second season, Jack Bauer tracked down a Muslim terrorist and tortured him into confessing the location of a nuclear bomb. When the terrorist refused to disclose the location of the bomb, Bauer threatened to inflict more pain, to which the terrorist responded, “Then I will have much more pleasure in paradise.” — Asena Karipek, Portrayals of Jihad, 47

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the broader literature on media framing and the cultural production of Islamophobia; also to scholarship on the 24 series as a post-9/11 cultural artifact. — connects to: Mainstream media misattributed the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing to Muslims. — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 504; Television uses token complexity to mask ongoing Muslim stereotyping — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 529; Representations of jihad in American film and television are also very relevant to how Americans view jihad and Islam. (+10 more)
• DEFINE: Illustrates the specific trope that jihad is equated with terrorism and paradise-seeking martyrdom.

Broader Connections

• Media frames Muslim terrorists as religion-driven simpletons while psychologizing non-Muslim perpetrators #expands (0.70) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 506
• American media conflated Iranians, Arabs, Sunnis, and Shiites into one Muslim menace. #expands (0.70) — Khaled A. Beydoun, American Islamophobia_ Understanding…, 254
• American society explains rare Muslim terror through religion itself #expands (0.60)
• Even non-terrorism shows define Muslim characters through violence #expands (0.60) — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 533