Is The Looming Tower woke?
TV Show · Released February 28, 2018
The Looming Tower has a wokeness score of 1/10, which we rate as Not Woke. No political or woke messaging whatsoever. Focuses entirely on story, characters, fun, or escapism.
Key points
- Historical focus on FBI-CIA rivalry and 9/11 lead-up without ideological overlay
- Organic portrayal of real Muslim agent serves plot, not diversity agenda
- No social commentary on gender, race, or contemporary politics
Wokeness analysis
The Looming Tower is a straightforward historical drama miniseries adapted from Lawrence Wright's nonfiction book, centering on the real events, intelligence failures, and inter-agency rivalries between the FBI and CIA in the years leading to the September 11 attacks. Its narrative prioritizes factual recounting of Al-Qaeda's rise, bureaucratic dysfunction, and the personal stories of agents like John O'Neill and Ali Soufan without injecting modern progressive ideologies, identity politics, or social lectures. The inclusion of a Muslim FBI agent reflects actual history and serves the plot organically rather than as forced representation. Critiques of government infighting are tied directly to documented events and carry no contemporary partisan overlay or calls for systemic overhaul on issues like race or gender. Female characters are secondary and underdeveloped, consistent with the era's male-dominated intelligence world, with no emphasis on empowerment narratives. Overall, the series maintains focus on story, character, and historical escapism into a thriller format, avoiding any didactic messaging that prioritizes ideology over entertainment or accuracy.
Plot
The Looming Tower is a 10-episode Hulu miniseries depicting the rise of Al-Qaeda and the U.S. intelligence community's failures to prevent the 9/11 attacks. It follows FBI counterterrorism chief John O'Neill and his team, including Lebanese-American agent Ali Soufan, as they track Osama bin Laden amid turf wars with the CIA. Based on Lawrence Wright's Pulitzer Prize-winning book, the series spans the late 1990s, highlighting events like embassy bombings and missed opportunities due to inter-agency secrecy and political distractions.
Analyzed by AI on October 25, 2026