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Ethiopians Blast NBC’s ‘Revolution’ For Negatively Depicting People Living Without Electricity

Thousands of Ethiopians took to the streets yesterday to protest NBC’s hit TV show, “Revolution,” after learning that the J.J. Abrams-produced series depicts a violent world without power.  According to a leader of the protesters, the group is angry that “Revolution” negatively portrays people without electricity, something millions of poverty-stricken Ethiopians have lived without their entire life.

Many Ethiopians first learned of “Revolution” after an American Peace Corps volunteer working in their country showed several villagers the pilot script of the show that he had downloaded from the internet prior to leaving the United States.

“I’ve been living without power since I was born,” said Bereket Eshete, one of the organizers behind the Ethiopian protest.  “And I’ve never once seen random swordfights or heard bad dialogue like I read in the script.”

Besides being outraged by the stereotypes enforced by “Revolution,” the Ethiopians were also confused about what all the fuss was about.

“They may not have power, but they have water, which is more than we can say,” Eshete told Hollywood & Swine.  “Although I’ve never seen an episode of ‘Lost,’ even I can tell ‘Revolution’ sounds like it’s just trying to be a bad version of it.”

Tensions between Ethiopia and “Revolution” worsened after Ethiopians discovered that the only black man on the show — played by Giancarlo Esposito — is a villain.

Abrams was unapologetic about the furor his show had caused among Ethiopians.  ”I didn’t apologize for ‘Undercovers’ or ‘Alcatraz,” he said, referring to two of his poorly received shows, “so I’m certainly not going going to apologize for ‘Revolution.’ “