In the “Saudi Arabia” episode of Patriot Act, Hasan Minhaj discusses and analyzes the role of Saudi Crown Prince Muhammad bin Salman (otherwise known as “MBS”) in the murder of Washington Post’s columnist Jamal Khashoggi. Khashoggi was a “well-known journalist and critic of the Saudi government” (BBC News) who was murdered and dismembered on October 2nd, 2018 in Turkey. Minhaj uses comedy, sarcasm, and comparisons in order to make such heavy information easier for the audience to process.
Minhaj engages with common tropes and stereotypes about Islam throughout the episode. In the second segment of the episode, he discusses commonly held ideas of immigrants. The main target being career paths. He uses a mock inspirational commercial in which children come up with alternatives to the stereotypical career paths due to “terrible Indians” (Mahaj in particular mentions: John Kapoor, Bobby Jindal, and Dinesh D’Souza) being shown in the media. He, in a somewhat incredulous and joking fashion, calls them “trailblazers”. So they no longer have to be doctors or pharmacists, they can be “so much more”.
Minhaj mainly uses sarcasm as his main comedic tactic. Sarcasm, in today’s society, is a common and effective way to get a comedic point across. It emphasizes the incredulity and ridiculousness of an idea by stating it as though it’s a fact. Saying something in a sarcastic manner is usually an efficient way to get the message across. The effectiveness of Minhaj’s sarcasm in the episode is evident, especially with the use of the mock inspirational commercial. In my opinion, the effectiveness of Minhaj’s response is one that is easy for people to remember and therefore easy for people to spread. If the information is delivered in a more serious and formal manner, people remember it less unless they pay deliberate attention. Using comedic tactics allows the information to be divulged in comedic and quippy chunks that are easier for people to remember and spread to a wider audience (ex. friends, family, etc).
Minhaj identifies as both Indian-American and Muslim. But most of the segment is spent discussing issues in Islam, especially after Khashoggi’s murder. I believe the focus of this was intentional as the issue of Khashoggi’s murder was major news and allowed him to divulge even more information about the religion itself and how the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia is not a good representative. I think the effect of placing the commonly held ideas of immigrants in the second half of the episode allows viewers to consider the first half more heavily. It shows that the main topic and concern of the episode was Khashoggi’s murder the Crown Prince’s involvement as a pressing issue that should be discussed.