Sleeper Cell’s diverse terrorist cast deliberately separated Arab and Muslim identities.

Evidence

Sleeper Cell prides itself on being unique among TV dramas that deal with the topic of terrorism because of its diverse cast of Muslim terrorists. It challenges the common conflation of Arab and Muslim identities. While the ringleader of the cell, Faris al-Farik, is an Arab, the other members are not: they are Bosnian, French, Euro-American, Western European, and Latino; one character is a gay Iraqi Brit. Portraying diverse sleeper cell members strategically challenges how Arab and Muslim identities are often conflated by government discourses and media representations by demonstrating that all Arabs are not Muslim and all Muslims are not Arab and, further, that not all Arabs and Muslims are heterosexual. — Evelyn Alsultany, Arabs and Muslims in the Media, 143

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the reader’s knowledge of how casting diversity can be both progressive and a strategic narrative device.