Tyrant: An Honest Review of this Summer’s Hottest New Drama

I’ve been watching the new show Tyrant on FX, and it is such an appealing show, where everyone is a moron, and that absolute power corrupts absolutely. The show is about the second son of a totalitarian Middle-Eastern Dictator, who lives in California, after escaping the clutches of his homeland at sixteen. Now married with two children of his own, he is asked to come back to his homeland for his nephew’s wedding. His liberal wife who, like most Fresno, wine-tasting, golf-playing, privileged families that are too educated for their own good, is ignorant of the destruction of “Barry’s” (fitting name I might add *wink* *wink* Osama, I mean Obama. I’m just kidding…or am I?) the show opens with the family arguing about going to this autocratic nation, where everyone is ruled under an iron fist, freedom of speech is met with imprisonment, or worst, hangings. Hangings are a pastime for this totalitarian state, and I laugh at how the Fresno woman is shocked to find that these people aren’t even allowed to watch outside news, or else they’d be killed. There’s a rich culture of caste systems that seem to still be in play, so the story is definitely going to grow to be a culture shock, while also being a kind of farce on our foreign policies. I’ll get to the show more in a second, because I believe everyone should watch it, especially as it unfolds the way its been going, which is asking the thematic question: what if an American was practically the lack of a heartbeat away from controlling a Middle-Eastern oil-rich kingdom? The answer is probably pretty obvious: he’ll become just as corrupt as the system already in charge. When dealing with deposits that make one a billionaire by claim alone, it’s hard to stay courteous and on a just path. I also find the similar arties between these oil sheiks, and our “hometown” gangsters like the Italian Mafia, or Yakuza to be eerily similar. They act like family is the most important, while having their brother’s first-born son knifed and thrown in the sea to “swim with the fishes.” The comparison of having a totalitarian dictator in charge, and compared to the mafia is not so much a joke, but an accurate analogy. The only difference is that this is an entire nation, not just Brooklyn that’s in the pockets of these organized crime syndicates. The show kind of makes fun of that, as Jamal (“Barry’s” older brother) likes to drive around in hot sports cars, wear designer clothes, and listen to Western music, which would be all punishable offenses if anyone other than him were partaking in such activities. This is a country where the haves are not only running the lives of the have-nots, they are literally pissing on them from towering heights of their palaces. The joke is that the dumb ass wife, and the Barry’s gay son (who doesn’t find it ironic at all that he absolutely loves his uncle Jamal that would cut off his genitals if he knew that he was gay. Maybe he’s a masochist) are so blinded by their PC liberal lives to call bullshit on the façade of this horrific country, that the daughter seems to be the only one with brains (so far) in the story! With that said, let’s get through the synopsis: Barry takes his wife and children to his home country of Abbudim, for his nephew’s wedding (Jamal’s oldest son) they think they miss the flight, but it turns out that Barry’s father bought every single seat on the flight. The kids think this is awesome, and the wife is just so happy in her arrogant Berkley grad-school bliss, that only Barry sees the dire consequences of standing foot back on that bloodied sand. History is so twisted for these people, they don’t see the horrors they are about to incur: there is a threat to demolish the wedding, and kill everyone at this family affair. Apparently Barry’s dad the asshole dictator isn’t as loved and admired as the family would think! The U.S. Ambassador called Rock Hudson or whatever the hell his forgettable character’s name is, happens to be in the back-pocket’s of the administration at hand. So long-story short, the tribe that threatens to blow out the wedding is there, and Jamal threatens to “break his thumbs and give him concrete boots” style of mafia tactics, but Barry decides that the situation can avoid bloodshed by making sure this idiot’s family is surrounding the wedding, so he would have to keep them all safe. Pretty smart thinking, considering that Jamal is about as sane as a talking burning bush at Mardi Gras. So the father dies, collapses right at the wedding, which goes off without a hitch because Barry is a smart guy who doesn’t think a rock to someone’s skull is the only means for diplomacy. The father dies, says Barry should’ve replaced him on his oily throne, because he knew how to kill people…oh yeah! Did I fail to mention that Barry was a blood-thirsty child that did what needed to be done, like kill a guy just for speaking out against dear ol’ dad. Yeah, turns out Barry isn’t as heroic as we all though, in-fact, he’s an egotistical, narcissistic scumbag that has decided to stay in this shit hole country, just because he thinks he can save the world in one hour per week. FX, this show is great, because the only person I care about is the one you want me to care about: the intelligent daughter who doesn’t have a PC mindset. Where did she get that from anyhow? Was she secretly listening to Rush Limbaugh under the covers of her bed? I love this girl! What’s her name again? Sarah Palin? Barry must have Messiah syndrome from being in the desert for too long, because I can’t figure out if he’s trolling his brother, or he really believes that he can change over thirty years of conditioning to Jamal that has turned him into a tyrannical bloodthirsty king. All I know is that “his infernal majesty” President Jamal has about as much smarts as the average American high school graduate…which means he know the words Ug and Ook! He’s a moronic, misogynist psychopath. As Barry discovers that Jamal is about as grounded as an electrical wire in a puddle of camel piss, we discover that his son has now begun playing around with some piece of hunk pool boy (he’s actually the son of a security guard who works for the president) and he’s shocked that after a nice bj, that the kid wants nothing to do with him…doesn’t Barry’s gay son realize that this kid basically wanted to have a tale to tell, as Barry’s family are like rock stars? Also, this kid is so stupid that if it turned out he was gay, he’d be hung, drawn and quartered, and broken on rocks of fire. You know, “traditions” in Abbudim, or whatever fake name they’ve made up for Iraq. This place is essentially Iraq. I don’t want to ruin much more of this awesome show, because it really is great, I do like it, all jokes aside. However, it shows just how stupid some so-called “educated” Americans really are, and I love how it picks on American arrogance. These people who claim to be so “open-minded” are really just as power-hungry as the oil barons they claim to be so against. The show is about liberal idiocy, and how in the end, kowtowing is about as affective as sticking a firecracker up the ass of a mountain. I cannot stand Barry, nor his clueless wife, or the self-hating gay son they’ve brought into this dreamland they live in called Fresno. The only redeeming character is Barry’s daughter (again, for now) I even hate the so-called “freedom fighters” (or terrorists, depending on which side you’re rooting for in the show) that really have nothing better to do than hold drum circles, until the soldiers come by and pump more lead into them than a Chinese paint factory. The show is trying to make a point, I think that other than how power is corruptible, even if you’re an American (especially if you’re an American) that it also makes the statement that we are all scumbags, and young girls that have a knowledge on rape culture, the stifling of free speech, and a mind of their own, is only as honorable as the next episode. Tyrant is a great show, and you should watch it, because I’m sure you’ll feel so empathetic for poor Jamal a “victim of circumstance” and Barry who is just as pure as Jesus in the desert. Guess what? You’ll be wrong. If this post offends you, and you tell me to take a chill-pill, that it’s a fiction, I say “no shit!” it’s a television show based on accounts of Chemical Ali, Saddam Hussein, Momar Gadafi, and every other scumbag that ever took over that section of the world. It’s funny how the desert brings out the worst in humanity. So yes, this show is just starting, and a fiction, less than five episodes in, and I really do like it, a lot. Yet, I can’t help but think it could raise the questions that need to be raised: why do we keep giving these fucking sheiks more and more of our money to enact the very things we despise? Why would be support regimes that act like gangsters, kill innocents, and are more barbaric than animals that have no government, no constitution. Really, aren’t we all responsible for these tyrants? Thank you for reading the Malacast Editorial. If you would like, please follow me on Twitter: twitter.com/mcasteditorial. You can also send me a direct message @mcasteditorial. 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