If there's anything I love, it's free stuff and John Krasinski. So when I found out that students get 6 months free Amazon Prime, and that John Krasinski was starring in a new show on Prime Video, I, of course, had to jump on that deal. The show is titled "Tom Clancy's Jack Ryan" and it is about Dr. Jack Ryan, a CIA analyst, who is working on uncovering a terrorist plot in the middle east.
Right off the bat, I immediately enjoyed Krasinski's character, Jack Ryan. Although he's no Jim Halpert, he still has the same cute and sensitive "boy scout" charm. He's a down-to-earth war veteran who is smarter than he seems to let on. The show was immediately intriguing because it combined the thrilling mystery of the terrorist plot Ryan is trying to uncover with the intriguing mystery romance that begins between Jack Ryan and a female character he meets at a party. Crime shows tend to be my thing, so I thought that I would have nothing but love for this show.
However, the one thing I didn't enjoy about this show so far is the fact that it may have slightly Islamophobic undertones. The terrorists portrayed here are Muslims, they speak in Arabic, and their behavior is very stereotypical of an Islamic Middle Eastern household. The women are shown to be timid, and the men are shown to be creeps with absolute devotion to the head of the terrorist ring, Suleiman, as well as Allah. Despite this portrayal, there is an important revelation made in the second episode (mini spoiler up ahead, btw): One of the main CIA agents who fight alongside Ryan is also a Muslim.
This important distinction made a world of a difference in my eyes because it meant that the show recognized and made evident that Islam isn't the enemy, terrorists are, and that terrorism is not representative of Islam, only of Islamic extremists. After doing some research online, I saw that Krasinski and other members of the crew of this show made many statements that go along with this sentiment as well. According to this article, Sue Obeidi, the head of the Hollywood Bureau of the Muslim Public Affairs Council in the U.S., stated that Hollywood is doing a good job in ensuring that Muslims receive more accurate portrayals in the media. Another article by Omer Mozaffar, a consultant to the producers of the show, states how diligent the producers were in ensuring that their portrayal of Islam was accurate and sensitive.
Overall, I genuinely enjoy this show and would recommend it to any fans of crime shows, action shows, and John Krasinski. The only improvement I would make if I was the producer is that I definitely would've given Krasinski more opportunities to show off his glorious abs to his adoring fans. However, he looks just as stylish in a suit and tie!!
