ABSTRACT
All-American Muslim was a short-lived reality television show, docuseries or docudrama produced by The Learning Channel (TLC), which aired eight episodes between November 13, 2011 and January 8, 2012. The quotidian versions of gender roles and family in All-American Muslim enraged some members of the Evangelical Christian religious right, who were ultimately credited with the cancellation of the show. The spectacle of the cancellation reiterated a religious nationalism, in the case Evangelical Christian nationalism, which triggered a liberal reaction against religious nationalist politics. The multicultural and diversity focus of TLC's framing attracted critical attention because even these weakly political, and clearly neoliberal choices required the construction of positive associations with Muslims in America. Religion became the platform for postmodern theatrics, as successive Evangelical Christian and liberal backlashes raised political performativity to the height of spectacle. Reality television points to deep nationalist desires, across political divides. The real is obscured through claims of authenticity and assimilation, negotiation and familiarity.
