Hassan Minhaj uses humor as a powerful tool in his show ‘Patriot act’ to talk about topics ranging from Drug Pricing, Indian election, Amazon, Censorship ban in China etc. In the episode titled “Saudi Arabia,” Minhaj talks about the Saudi Crown prince Muhammad bin Salman and his involvement in the death of Jamal Khashoggi, a columnist for The Washington Post who was assassinated at the Saudi Arabian consulate in Istanbul on 2 October 2018. Through this episode, Minhaj talks about how Muhammad bin Salman uses “strong-arming, coercion and detaining people” as go-to moves to get what he wants. For instance, from putting his mother on house arrest as she was against his plans, to Arresting 100’s of people who were rivals or critics of his, including his own cousins, in a power grab.
In the second segment, Minhaj speaks briefly about Indian Americans in the American media landscape. Firstly, pointing out names such as Nikki Haley, Raj Shah, Ajit Pai, all Indians, who are now under the Trumps administration. This showing that Indians are loved worldwide and are seen primarily as people in the field of Lawyers, doctors, and engineers. Minhaj quickly turns the narrative with humor to show the Indians who have “joined the dark side” or Indians who have committed major crimes. He brings up multiple examples, such as, John Kapoor, a Pharma entrepreneur who bribed doctors to prescribe potent opioid to non-cancer patients or Former governor of Louisiana, Bobby Jindal, who destroyed a billion dollar state budget surplus. Even while talking about prolific criminals, Minhaj uses his sense of humor with references stemming from his own Indian background to lighten the situation in what otherwise is a very pressing story. Throughout the show, you can see how the audience develops a relationship with Minhaj and become more comfortable with his edgy sense of humor.
Identifying as both Indian American and Muslim, Minhaj had plenty of personal opinions on both segments he spoke about. I believe the Indian American story being presented after the Khashoggi case definitely lays more emphasis on the story and shows how the media often portrays the Indian stereotype as perfect and capable of no wrong and the aggressor is usually shown as being a Muslim. I believe he’s humorously and informatively shown how media influence can have a major impact on how the rest of the world sees and thinks about other cultures and countries.