In Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix original show, he engages with the topic of Saudi Arabia in a satirical but informative way that also touches upon a few of the tropes we have discussed in class regarding the representation of Islam and Muslim people. As this is a political satire show, Minhaj makes use of comedic strategies through (pop)cultural references as means to increase a sense ‘relatability’ and to hold the attention of the audience. This sarcasm and humorous tone is reflected in his response to the common tropes that surround Islam.
In the first section of this episode of Patriot Act, Minhaj discusses the death of Washington Post journalist and how this was seen as a ‘revealing moment’ to the intentions and actions of the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia (commonly known as MBS) to America. To many Americans, this revelation came as a surprise as MBS was seen as a ‘reformist’ leader. However, in this segment of the show, Hasan Minhaj proceeds to discuss the fact that to many Muslims and those who actually live in Saudi Arabia, MBS’s actions do not come as a surprise. This, I believe, is a circumvention of the idea that the ‘“Muslim mind” is irrational’, as many of those who are making efforts to stand against MBS are in fact the people of Saudi Arabia and not the ‘enlightened West’. This in turn challenges the idea of the west being a source for democracy as, even with this news, it is America that continues to deal with the government and its corrupt leaders because of the economic benefits it yields. Minhaj calls out this “marriage of convenience” between Saudi Arabia and American by stating that the agreement is severely outdated — despite being updated in 2018.
All of this comes together, I think, in the sequence near the end of this section of the episode where the idea of Islam as a monolithic group is called out by Minhaj. Often times, Muslim people are lumped into one view of the religion — be it negative or positive — and are thus forced to be representatives of an entire community. Hasan brings attention to how this particular trope is present when discussing Saudi Arabia as despite making up only a small number of the Muslim community, when the country does something wrong, it ends up reflecting on the people as a whole. And when one man, a known dictator to his people, does something that is baseline good, he is rewarded with Oprah. The country acts as a centre to the religion (with distinctly important locations such as Mecca), however many — like Hasan, himself — feel as though it does not properly represent the religion or its people.