In the second segment of the “Patriot Act’s” episode: “Saudi Arabia”, the host Hasan Minhaj makes reference to the unfoundedly held ideas about Indian Americans—in which they are mostly regarded as committed professionals. Nonetheless, Minhaj challenges these ideas by listing and showing videoclips of prominent Indians (such as Raj Shah and John Kapoor) who have recently faced serious legal issues. Throughout this segment, Minhaj employs mockery and satire in order to ridicule the ostensibly quintessential Indian American stereotype. I think that the usage of these resources allows for Minhaj to shed light on critical affairs—which regularly generate extreme controversy when publicly addressed—while moderating most audiences’ possible reactions.
Moreover, it can be inferred that by juxtaposing the more positive Indian people’s conventional image with several case studies (which conflict with this image), Minhaj attempts to showcase the fallacies underlying stereotypes—which in the case of muslims often give the religion a negative connotation. By showing these two starkly contrasting kinds of Indian people—the doctors as criminals and the stereotype of Indians as good doctors—Minhaj is able to denaturalize commonly held auspicious ideals about Indian people. This polarity evidently depicts the unreliability of stereotypes. Thus, it obliquely contemplates the untrustworthiness of muslim stereotypes.
Furthermore, in the last part of the episode, Minhaj shows a video which presents a few Indian American children who have been influenced by the behavior of the prominent Indian Americans —mentioned at the beginning of this post—and who have consequently decided to quit their future as honorable professionals and follow these individuals’ dark footsteps. I think that this video effectively communicates the absurdity of stereotypes. Since the scenario that it depicts is irrational because children are unlikely to have obscure intentions—kids are frequently used as symbols of innocence and purity. Lastly, Minhaj’s dual identity—both, as a muslim and as an Indian American—qualify him to comfortably address the one sided conjectures of each subject (his religion and nationality respectively). Thus, enabling Minhaj to maintain a fair standpoint. Altogether, these features withdraw significant biases from the presenter—Minhaj— and give room to a more balanced critique and analysis of the subject matter—muslim and Indian American stereotypes.
Citations:
Minhaj, Hasan.“Patriot Act: Saudi Arabia”.Netflix.(2018) https://www.netflix.com/watch/80239279?trackId=155573560