"Ramy" is a well-made TV show with some bright moments, especially when Ramy's character becomes more philosophical in his pursuit for contentment, usually the scenes with Mahershala Ali's Teacher character in. But all too often this is cut way too short by episodes or protracted moments where the writers/filmmakers feel the undying NEED to over-apologise for every possible issue in existence which the Western World may have with Islam and Muslims. I really think that both the character and filmmaker versions of Ramy are suffering from Stockholm Syndrome, whereby they want to explore their heritage and religious philosophy, but the overbearing establishment breathing down their neck, having bullied them for so long, is making them constantly feel guilty for simply being Muslim, and thus they are constantly trying to imitate their white oppressor. Malcolm X once asked: "Who taught you to hate yourself?" and I think Ramy may need to be asked that.
To be honest I sometimes think the show does a better job of discrediting and smearing Islam than it's critics do. The key reason for this is because it makes minimal effort to differentiate between whether the issues, such as the Muslim characters' prejudices of other people, are personal issues of the characters (cultural), rather than issues of Islam. This leaves the door open for people who may not be educated on the matter to draw improper conclusions and associate the flaws of the self-concerned characters with Islam itself. The sad part is that this is all done in the name of comedy, often for some cheap, and unfunny laughs. You can say that this is to 'create conversation' and that the problematic Muslim characters do exist. But the same arguments are made by the far right who also generalise Muslims based on the actions of minorities. For far too long Muslims have suffered from mass-misrepresentation based on the actions of a few, and unfortunately, Ramy does not do too much to change this.
Also I have to say I did roll my eyes when I saw yet ANOTHER story about how much of a tiring and unbearable experience, being Muslim is. While the show does do more than what a lot of other surface level works do to explore some of the nuances, it simply drowns in the white-noise of it's annoying flaws. This isn't made easy by the excruciatingly annoying character of Ramy, he comes across as so entitled and (real-life)Ramy's bumbling and repetitive delivery of his lines doesn't really help. The characters just feel repetitive and two-dimensional a lot of the time. You could say that his character is meant to grow as the show progresses but he feels quite static to be honest, and it's nobody's fault but his own.
I will also note that I don't think (real-life)Ramy has any malicious intentions in making this show, he just seems to be confused with what he's trying to do, and I think he must have one too many voices in his ear.
To be honest I sometimes think the show does a better job of discrediting and smearing Islam than it's critics do. The key reason for this is because it makes minimal effort to differentiate between whether the issues, such as the Muslim characters' prejudices of other people, are personal issues of the characters (cultural), rather than issues of Islam. This leaves the door open for people who may not be educated on the matter to draw improper conclusions and associate the flaws of the self-concerned characters with Islam itself. The sad part is that this is all done in the name of comedy, often for some cheap, and unfunny laughs. You can say that this is to 'create conversation' and that the problematic Muslim characters do exist. But the same arguments are made by the far right who also generalise Muslims based on the actions of minorities. For far too long Muslims have suffered from mass-misrepresentation based on the actions of a few, and unfortunately, Ramy does not do too much to change this.
Also I have to say I did roll my eyes when I saw yet ANOTHER story about how much of a tiring and unbearable experience, being Muslim is. While the show does do more than what a lot of other surface level works do to explore some of the nuances, it simply drowns in the white-noise of it's annoying flaws. This isn't made easy by the excruciatingly annoying character of Ramy, he comes across as so entitled and (real-life)Ramy's bumbling and repetitive delivery of his lines doesn't really help. The characters just feel repetitive and two-dimensional a lot of the time. You could say that his character is meant to grow as the show progresses but he feels quite static to be honest, and it's nobody's fault but his own.
I will also note that I don't think (real-life)Ramy has any malicious intentions in making this show, he just seems to be confused with what he's trying to do, and I think he must have one too many voices in his ear.