Muslims have been continual objects on American TV, but rarely subjects. However, as the issues of diversity have been going on in Hollywood, many TV shows and movies have been gaining more POC in their productions.
Ramy Youssef’s new Hulu series about a millennial Egyptian-Muslim struggling with his faith and purpose in life and self-identity. The show follow him getting caught between his Muslim religion, thinking everything is a moral test or his millennial generation, trying to live his life to the fullest.
“I knew I wanted to make something about Arab Muslims,” says Youssef. “I try to be as specific as possible when saying ‘Arab Muslims’ because there are a lot of different Muslims. I’ve never really seen stories about us in America, at least where you had versions of our characters that weren’t framed by violence.” – Entertainment Weekly
(Credit: YouTube.com)
Ramy is a 10-episode streaming series on Hulu, showing light to Arabs and Muslims in a dark comedic way, while also showing the troubles that we go through because of the identities that we claim.
The show stars Ramy Youseff, a 28-year old comedian who plays Ramy Hassan, a character influenced by Youseff’s own experiences growing up in northern New Jersey.
“In the show, Ramy deals openly and honestly with his faith in a way that is rarely portrayed on American television, let alone for Muslim characters. It shows his dedication to prayer, his struggles with the stringency of his religion, and his desire to be good in the eyes of God while still living his life. TV characters dealing with faith are typically depicted as squares or religious nut cases, but Ramy is relatable: he’s just a dude, dealing with his family, his friends, his job, his dating life and yes, his religion, too.” – Detroit News
Ramy explores topics and themes that are relevant and are needed to be talked about, while also showing the uncomfortable truths.
“This show is hilarious and the topics mentioned in the show really do matter and I really like how the show involves the Arab and Muslim community, as many TV shows, like Ramy, never existed. It’s great to show the differences of cultures and religions.” – Kamar, LHS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N4Ek09B9YaY
(Credit: YouTube.com)
Ramy is now available on Hulu.
From a personal perspective, I like the way this show shows problems that Arabs and Muslims may go through, while also being humorous. I feel that the show was well written and got both sides of the story from a view of being a Muslim man/women in a Arab/Muslim household.
