Don't Expect YOUR Experience to be Represented
To our fellow Muslims and Arabs: don't expect this TV series or ANY other to ever represent the "average" Arab (Muslim or other) or Muslim (Arab or other) immigrant experience.
For starters there is no monolithic profile for the Arab/Muslim immigrant. We run the gamut from complete rejection of roots and heritage, to rigid adherence to a way of life that is not even practiced in the country of origin anymore. And, BTW, the same can be said of any Arab or Muslim population in their homeland. It's just the that the distribution shifts to the latter.
Most of us are somewhere in between. Most of us are probably even "more" Muslim or "more" Arab than Mo, the character, or the real one.
More likely than not, educated, slightly above average income, family-oriented, socially conservative, etc. Yeah, most of us are probably like that. But not all of us. Not by a long shot.
Mo, the series does not attempt to be an accurate portrayal of the average Muslim/Arab American. But there is truth in it. Sure, it skews towards the seedy, and the dysfunctional. But we've all experienced, or wrestled, with those aspects, that some reviewers find so objectionable, to a lesser extent, at least.
It does not represent you. But it is funny. And, the thing is, only you, with your life experience, that this show does not represent, only you can get some of the jokes.
For starters there is no monolithic profile for the Arab/Muslim immigrant. We run the gamut from complete rejection of roots and heritage, to rigid adherence to a way of life that is not even practiced in the country of origin anymore. And, BTW, the same can be said of any Arab or Muslim population in their homeland. It's just the that the distribution shifts to the latter.
Most of us are somewhere in between. Most of us are probably even "more" Muslim or "more" Arab than Mo, the character, or the real one.
More likely than not, educated, slightly above average income, family-oriented, socially conservative, etc. Yeah, most of us are probably like that. But not all of us. Not by a long shot.
Mo, the series does not attempt to be an accurate portrayal of the average Muslim/Arab American. But there is truth in it. Sure, it skews towards the seedy, and the dysfunctional. But we've all experienced, or wrestled, with those aspects, that some reviewers find so objectionable, to a lesser extent, at least.
It does not represent you. But it is funny. And, the thing is, only you, with your life experience, that this show does not represent, only you can get some of the jokes.
- xoraxora
- Sep 17, 2022