Stephen Colbert took his beloved “Homeland” to task on Friday’s “Late Show” over its failure to translate graffiti that mocked the series in Sunday’s episode.
Three street artists who were hired to add authenticity to the Showtime set spray-painted “Homeland is racist” in Arabic on a wall for a scene depicted on the episode. It wasn’t the only anti-“Homeland” tag from the trio: they also wrote that the spy drama is “a joke” and even called it a “watermelon.” That last one may be lost in translation.
“That is a major intelligence failure,” Colbert said of the production oversight. “Looks like the next episode may explore the ethics of enhanced screaming at an intern.”
He also joked, “Who could have predicted a graffiti artist would break the rules?”
But Colbert wasn’t done with the quips there.
“This is the most shocking background protest on premium cable since the time those extras on ‘Game of Thrones’ paraded around fully clothed,” he continued.
For their part, the street artists claimed they are fighting against the “inaccurate … depiction of Arabs, Pakistanis and Afghans, as well as its gross misrepresentation of the … Muslim world in general,” per a statement.
Colbert then tried to prove them wrong, but couldn’t. Still, he offered an excuse for his favorite Showtime show.
“It might not accurately portray Muslims — but that doesn’t make it racist, because the show doesn’t accurately portray anything,” Colbert offered. “Take Carrie: do you really think that bipolar disorder is all about solving international conspiracies to the sound of jazz?”