In this op-ed for The Hollywood Reporter, critic Caryn James takes a look at Muslim actors and entertainers, specifically, Kumail Nanjiani (The Big Sick), Aziz Ansari (Master of None) and Hasan Minhaj (Netflix standup special Homecoming King), and how, in this new era, their work is offering a “realistic and refreshing corrective to alarmist images of Muslim immigrants and their American-raised children… Separately, each of these actor-writers has a distinctive style, from Nanjiani’s droll, raised-eyebrow reactions to Ansari’s lightning-quick out-of-the-box social observations and Minhaj’s politely understated barbs. What unites them is the way their work approaches cultural identity — through the relatable theme of relationships between grown children and their parents.”
Here’s more snippets from the piece:
“Although these comedies speak across ethnic divides, their creators are astutely aware of countering the demonized image of Muslims that persists in pop culture as well as politics. As Ansari noted in an interview with New York Magazine, if all Muslims on screen resemble the terrorists on ‘Homeland’ or ’24’, of course, the public will be horrified. ‘If every time you saw a Muslim person on TV, and it’s my dad, you’ll be like, ‘These goofy people! They’re probably gonna ask me for a bite of my sandwich.'”
“The parents in these comedies are not just warm and goofy; they are white-collar professionals. Dev’s father and Minhaj’s mother, for example, are doctors. Their professions refute the stereotype of immigrants feeding off America. But Minhaj’s standup reveals that class doesn’t save anyone from bias. A major segment of his routine concerns his high-school girlfriend, whose parents were just fine with him until prom time, when they decided their white daughter could not turn up with a non-white date. The special is virtually a coming-of-age story about a California-born son of immigrants forging his own identity — which in Minhaj’s case includes skewering anti-Muslim images on ‘The Daily Show’ and triumphing with anti-Trump jokes at the White House Correspondents Dinner.”
“Traditional comedies tend to deal with immigrants in a more timid way. Network and cable shows have broadened their range of ethnic groups recently to include families like the Taiwanese-American Huangs on ABC’s ‘Fresh Off the Boat’ and the Cuban-American Alvarez clan on Netflix’s rebooted ‘One Day At a Time.’ But most shows have avoided focusing on Muslims. Safely traditional sitcom characters don’t often deal with the type of problem Kumail does in ‘The Big Sick,’ when a heckler at his comedy show yells: ‘Go back to ISIS.'”
