The liberal kind? Or the conservative kind?
The liberals say some pretty interesting things:
To begin with, a completely false picture of the Muslim community has been forced into the homes of non-Muslim Canadians. CBC has validated the image painted by Islamist groups that Muslim lives revolve around mosques -- nothing else. We don't play hockey, none of us have 9-to-5 day jobs, love affairs, play poker or, dare we say, cheat on our taxes or our spouses.While the conservatives, well...they don't think it's very dandy, either.
After watching the fourth episode of Little Mosque, we question the motives of the writer, producers, and directors of the show for focusing singularly on the most conservative segments of the Muslim community. Although the characters are meant to reflect the diversity of Muslim society, a closer examination reveals the show is not about liberal or progressive Muslims competing with conservatives. Rather, the writer has created a false dichotomy of "conservative" Muslims vs. "ultra-conservative" Muslims; the former being disingenuously passed on as feminist and progressive. Muslims who do not pay homage to their Imams; the liberal, secular or progressive segments of the community, are conspicuous by their complete absence from the Little Mosque narrative.
Writer Zarqa Nawaz has played a deft hand in attempting to sanitize what really goes on in the typical Canadian mosque. The hijacking of our religion, Islam, by politicized clerics affiliated with Saudi Arabia or Iran, finds no resonance in the sitcom.
i think we need to look at it a bit deeper. why do we assume that we have to have some kind of this representation on tv? i would contend its better to not have this kind of show, despite whatever “benefits” may come of it - and i believe this moreso after seeing episode 2. you would think of everything on tv, a show called “little mosque” would be suitable for family viewing and be free of college sexual humor and people making out in front of their hijab’ed daughter, and unnecessary video of people displaying their sexual frustrations and showing people grabbing each others butts… oh wait… that was all in the wonderful representation of islam on tvUm, so nobody's happy?
if its going to be done, it should be done right, but the way this show is done, the harms i think outweigh the benefits. its just simply unrealistic, lame, and counterproductive
Normally they say that's how you know it's the right balance. I have to say that for, me, as a non-Muslim who's bothered to read some of the Koran (though not all of it) I find the "liberal" side to be more provocative and resonant. I found the commentary from the conservatives interesting, but once you poke around you see very quickly that a whole lot of those critiques are coming from people in....Saudi Arabia. What does that mean? I have no idea. What does it mean to you?
So I don't know. I don't know. The whole thing gives me a Little Headache on the Prairie.
20 comments:
Okay, so it was hyperlinked, I didn't notice, and now I look like a moron. Happy?
As for the comments themselves, well, it seems to play into the whole "hey, at least the show gets people talking!" thing to me. Which is fine. Talk is good. But the show's a comedy, and if I were on that show I'd be happier to hear people quoting jokes, or lines, or scenes to one another. They need to get more of that kind of traction and less of this stuff. Hopefully they will as the show matures.
If I were a CBC exec. the thing that would worry me is that both sides of the debate only agree on one point, that the show isn't funny.
"but once you poke around you see very quickly that a whole lot of those critiques are coming from people in....Saudi Arabia. What does that mean? I have no idea. What does it mean to you?"
since i'm the "conservative" blog referenced here i felt compelled to respond and at least say i am not from saudi arabia :) i am from your big brother country south of the border ;)
regarding the progressive critique, then honestly i dont think any muslims seriously take into account anything people like tarek fatah say. im not even sure why he's building up a dichotomy of conservative vs. ultra vs. progressive when that was not the show's intent.
the stated intent of the show was to make a show suitable for 1) muslim family viewing, 2) be funny, and 3)break down stereotypes of muslims, all presented in a nice neat package on CBC. let's take a look at all 3:
1) granted, this is a subjective category depending on the times and your own personal moral convictions. for a large segment of the muslim population though, a lot of the material on there isn't family appropriate.
2) i think *everyone* agrees this show is not funny, and thats perhaps the most pathetic part of this all. they made a sitcom - even if they miss on all the political/religious/social angles, it should still be funny right? wrong.
3) i have explained some of this more on my blog, but i really think they've done a terrible job on this, and if anything the characters are reinforcing some things muslims consider stereotypes.
lastly, one thing i have not gone into much detail on is the inconsistency in the characters themselves. seriously, it seems like something out of a middle school play that came out of a bad group project. is it just me or are the characters not even properly developed throughout the series so far? you still cannot tell who stands on what side of anything until it happens. even episode 4, when the pool issue came up and i was trying to predict what would happen, you cant even tell if rayaan will be FOR swimming in the pool as is since she is such a "feminist" or if she will be against it due to her being so "conservative"
if this show reflected reality at all, or was even written at higher than a 9th grade level, the audience is able to feel out the characters and know where they're gonna be.
sorry i digressed from the main focus, but in closing i do want to say i was a bit curious about your saudi comment and i really dont believe that to be the case re: the conservative side.
Usually I don't pay attention to the kind of political analysis quoted. Like everyone else here, my bottom line is, "is the show funny."
But it occurs to me that the political criticisms indirectly point out some of the weaknesss in the comedy: the characters aren't diverse enough, and the comedy seems to come from playing variations on the same gag. Prostitute = protestant. That's amusing right now, but eventually the novelty is going to wear off.
I have no opinion either way, but I just wanted to point out that plenty of Canadian Muslims care what Tarek Fatah says. The cowriters of the Toronto Star article are prominent voices in the community.
I think it's natural to have this kind of debate and disagreement on a show that focuses on a religious group, but in the end I don't think it matters, unless advertisers shy away, like they did with The Book of Daniel, or viewers shun it, like they didn't with The Book of Daniel. So far that's not happening.
The show doesn't have to represent the entire spectrum of Muslim thought. It does have to be funny and good, and that's the more cutting debate out there.
Yeah, the next part of debates like this is usually when one of the sides says that the other side doesn't speak for anybody.
I can't say how many of Canada's 500 000 muslims are watching Little Mosque, but what I can say is that the show has stabilized at about 1.2 million a week. Which is about equivalent to 12 million Americans watching a show (adjusted for Canada's Pop)
Obviously, a significant number of people are liking what they see enough to keep coming back.
Whatever the politics, the creative is resonating with some people.
after the second episode, mosque wasn't funny enough to keep me watching. methinks 1.2 million could be watching purely out of white liberal guilt.
It's patchy as a show, no doubt, but it has heart. And Carlo Rota is adorable and highly watchable. I think I'm hanging in because I want it to be better and have faith that it will get there, not because of some misplaced sense of guilt. But maybe because I do want to reward CBC's taking the chance by showing up every week.
It is premature to say the audience has "stabilized" after only its first three shows, especially in light of near saturation media and promotion.
Actually it's four airings. After an intial high number of 2.2 mil, the audience for the last three eps have all been within the 1 to 1.2 million range, with the last ep actually gaining ground and going up against stiff U.S. competition.
Is it a bulletproof trend? No. But can you say stablized? Yes. For now.
The saturation coverage is past. and the Monday repeats are consistently doing half the original showings. As much as anything in TV is certain, which is not very, I think this is where you start making decisions, which is what supposedly the CBC is doing right now.
Not funny?
I disagree. It's going through the rough patches that any rookie TV series goes through, and I've found enough to laugh about. It feels right in a lot of ways, especially to this Saskatchewan-born viewer. I'm sticking around to see where the show goes from here.
Two words: Remember Ellen.
Whenever a show breaks ground like this, it tends to be ham-handed and over the top in the beginning. Like 'Ellen' was when DeGeneres first came out. Or even (gag) 'The Jeffersons'.
We've either got to give it space to grow - and by that I mean at least a full season - or wait until the next show picks up the theme. Unfortunately, the next show is likely to be an American one, and given that this one doesn't seem to be in danger of being cancelled any time soon I would suggest everyone just RELAX and see where this goes.
Not having seen the show and not being from Canada, I have the feeling that a lot of people keep watching for the apparent novelty factor, rather than guilt. The people want something new, insightful and compared to everything out there, Little Mosque on the Prairie has the potential for the most of these aspects, from my standpoint.
If done well, Little Mosque on the Prairie sounds like it has the potential to affect people on some level. Too bad it doesn't necessarily have the entertainment factor.
Not to get all semantic on you but "stabilize" is sort of at odds with "For now". Regarding the decisions CBC has now to make, they are obvious. If you accept that success is measured by ratings and that the audience has stabilized they will change nothing about the creative. The order will have to be a large one to amortize and recoup the unprecedented investment in promotion. That's the business model.
They will not hire a tested show runner or any writers with three-act comedy chops but rather a few of the Muslims who have been most vociferous in complaint.
i think the re-run on Monday did 630 something so I have to go with Denis on the stabilizing.
snowstorms in southern ontario mean that ratings for all tv go up so mosque will probably easily be over a mill again.
just a guess.
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Jennifer: Good point on Ellen. Ditto on The Jeffersons. Especially The Jeffersons.
Geoffrey: I seem to recall Denis mentioning at least one comedy talent operating in Canada who's got some halfway decent chops and is Muslim as well. And where there's one, there ought to be others as well.
What was that name again, Denis?
And I hope there's a few Saskatchewani residents - of any ethnic and religious extraction - willing to try out as well. I think one such talent is a regular here...?
I was checking out the conservative Muslim site because I knew there was one comment that really disturbed me. Anyway...I found it. Here was a comment on the thread about episode 2:
"I am really disturbed by this new sitcom and I think that although it may give SOME insight to non-Muslims about what Muslims are and what Islam is, I think this is the wrong way to go about it and if the creator is not careful, she may be portraying Islam in a bad light or even incorrectly, and putting herself in a bad position. If she is smart, she’ll put this to a stop. It would’ve been better if she had done research in Islam to see if this was acceptable, rather than doing research about what would get attention amongst the Western audience.
Now, I hate to do this...but really, aren't statements like these exactly the kind of thing that makes a lot of us so uneasy?
I mean those bolded parts...what did you really think the writer meant by any of that?
See, hornet's nest...
all that simply means is a bad position regarding her relationship with God. in islam its a major sin to speak in that way about the religion without knowledge of it. thats also why i think the commenter closed his post by saying "May Allah guide us all." (when a muslim makes that supplication it usually means guide us to the truth/that which is correct in all affairs).
hope that clarifies it, i dont think there was anything to be 'uneasy' about - if i understood what you implied properly.
But if I understand the situation correctly, Mrs. Nawaz has been effectively researching the faith - and by extension, the faithful, by growing up within it from birth onwards, has she not? And I suspect she did as much consulting within her masjid as without in the process of getting the show this far...
I know: this post reads like a lawyer's pleading documents right now, and I have as little schooling in that as in the various Islamic traditions. Which ends up being another part of the point of watching this show: getting those insights. If I don't get them from this show, I will be going elsewhere. So far, as with the humour, I'm getting it.
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