Through the use of news footage from public scandals and a dose of energetic satire, Hasan Minhaj explores how Saudi Arabia’s shifting political landscape has impacted relations with America in his Netflix Original Series Patriot Act. To conclude the first segment, he bluntly states that Western coverage of Mohammed Bin Salman orchestrating Jamal Khashoggi’s death has only further tarnished the world’s view of Muslims. Turning to the Indian side of his identity, Minhaj adds that “people love Indians” because they are generally seen as ambitious students and successful professionals. However, he is quick to point out that many Indians have been at the centre of public scandals throughout the news—from politicians and entrepreneurs to media contributors and commentators. He names such people as John Kapoor, Bobby Jindal, and Dinesh D’Souza, who have all garnered bad press, overturning the commonly held view of Indians as the “benevolent scholar.”
In the background, news clips report on Kapoor’s various crimes, Jindal’s budget cuts, and D’Souza’s controversial statements, giving insight into how the media portrays these figures. For example, it highlights the irony of Jindal cutting funding to both education and healthcare in addition to the portraits of him with an unrealistically light complexion. A picture is painted both literally and figuratively of Jindal as a white American who targets, as Minhaj points out, the two very institutions where Indians are stereotyped to seek careers, creating a sharp duality between identities conceived as “American” and “Indian.”
After examining the cases of these three men, the camera pans in and Minhaj mockingly suggests that those previously named are “trailblazers.” A video then plays in which young Indian students express the pressure they feel to succeed. Upon learning of the infractions of the public figures above, they regain hope in their ability to challenge stereotypes by following in the footsteps of wrongdoers instead. The absurdity of this alternative brings out the absurdity of stereotypes in general, whether they are positive or negative misrepresentations: safety in one identity is as problematic as vulnerability in another.
By placing this segment after his discussion of the Khashoggi case, Minhaj shows that heinous offences are not exclusively characteristic of one population. Even Indian Americans, who are often esteemed for their contributions to academia and medicine, are capable of transgressions. This drives home the point that the “good” and the “bad” are not so clearly distinguishable. Evil has no face, but it is often painted with one anyway. These misconceptions are all rooted in learned fears and are then blown out of proportion through media representation and circulation. If the media’s false depictions of Muslims, Indians, and all other populations facing discrimination amend themselves, then likely, so will global attitudes.