Homeland criticised by Pakistani officials for portraying country as 'grimy hellhole'
Other complaints include misrepresentation of language and lack of greenery
The show’s fourth season, which ended on Sunday night, saw Claire Danes’ character Carrie Mathison thwart a terror plot while working at the US embassy in Islamabad.
Members of the Pakistani government and its intelligence agency were revealed to be involved in the conspiracy over the course of twelve tense episodes.
“Maligning a country that has been a close partner and ally of the US […] is a disservice not only to the security interests of the US but also to the people of the US,” Nadeem Hotiana, Pakistan Embassy spokesman, told the New York Post.
“A little research would have gone a long way.”
Other complaints involved Homeland’s failure to depict Pakistan’s capital city as one of “beautiful mountains and lush greenery” and its misrepresentation of the nation’s language.
“In Homeland, [Islamabad] is portrayed as a grimy hellhole and war zone where shootouts and bombs go off with dead bodies scattered around. Nothing is further from the truth,” Hotiana added.
“When the characters in the show speak Urdu, the accent is far from the local accent and the connotations of some of the Urdu words that are used are out of place.”
The scenes in question were actually filmed in Cape Town, South Africa.
Showtime representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Showtime recently confirmed that Homeland has been recommissioned for a fifth series and will return in 2015.
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