美国国家公共电台 NPR Muslims Are Having A Hollywood Moment

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

Something is changing on American television and online streaming services. There are more Muslim characters and more nuanced portrayals² of Muslim communities. NPR's Leila Fadel starts this story on set in Los Angeles.

LEILA FADEL, BYLINE³: It's one of the last days of taping for a new Web series called "East Of La Brea."

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Rolling, rolling. Quiet, please.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Let me know when you're (unintelligible).

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Good.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: And action.

FADEL: It's a show about being in your 20s and figuring out life. And it's told through two main characters, roommates who are Muslim. But that's not the entirety of their storylines, says Sameer Gardezi, the creator of the show. It's about...

SAMEER GARDEZI: Paying rent, you know, having a dead-end job, having issues with, you know, your family life, going to a family...

FADEL: It's the first project from Powderkeg, the company founded by director, writer and actor Paul Feig, known for films like "Bridesmaids" and the recent "Ghostbusters." "East Of La Brea" follows the friendship of two women, a black Muslim and a Bangladeshi-American Muslim, in gentrifying Los Angeles. Gardezi says it's one American Muslim story.

GARDEZI: There's so many different versions. And my hope would be that everyone gets a shot to tell their version of a Muslim-American story so it doesn't feel like - oh, this is the one Muslim show that needs to make it.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: All the way back.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: All the way back, OK.

FADEL: We head to the next location for taping, an LA mosque⁴. The scene deals with racism⁵ black Muslims sometimes face within Muslim communities. The character Aisha Hassan, played by Geffri Maya, is praying when her phone starts ringing with a song like this.

(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "GUCCI GANG")

LIL PUMP: (Rapping) Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang, Gucci gang...

FADEL: The director tells the other actors how to react.

SAMANTHA BAILEY: And ladies, look at her a little shady.

FADEL: In the next scene, a woman scolds Hassan, assuming she's a recent convert, and tells her her prayer doesn't count.

UNIDENTIFIED ACTOR: (As character) Sister, we have prayer lessons every Thursday morning - help converts with salat.

FADEL: It's something that happens, an immigrant Muslim assuming she knows better. And it's one way the show explores identity. And "East Of La Brea" creator Sameer Gardezi says he's glad there are more projects involving Muslims. But he says there isn't going to be one breakout moment. But hopefully, there will be many moments. And the more stuff that's out there - even the bad stuff - the better.

GARDEZI: That is a flexibility⁶ and a privilege that I think white communities have, is that they're allowed to fail in Hollywood. And no one really bats an eye. It's like - oh, it's OK. You can jump back up. And here, let's throw millions of dollars again for you to do your next project. So that's the point that we have to get to.

FADEL: It's a struggle a lot of communities of color and minorities face in Hollywood. The 2018 Hollywood Diversity Report from UCLA found that despite progress, minorities are still underrepresented in key jobs, from lead actors to directors to writers. Right now, there's an appetite for shows about Muslims. In part, it's because Muslim writers like Gardezi, who's written on "Modern Family" and "Outsourced," are creating their own content. And there's support for it. He got a grant from Pop Culture Collaborative to create the series. And some of the interest is Hollywood reacting to anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant sentiment from Donald Trump⁷. After he announced his candidacy in 2015, The Hollywood bureau of the Muslim Public Affairs Council got a lot more popular.

SUE OBEIDI: The phones were ringing off the hook.

FADEL: That's Sue Obeidi. She leads the bureau and consults with studios and production companies on creating more authentic⁸ Muslim characters.

OBEIDI: We're up against decades of storytelling that is inaccurate⁹ many times, that is racist¹⁰ often and very stereotypical¹¹.

FADEL: Among the tropes, women are chattel¹² and don't have identities or Muslims only portrayed¹³ as the gas station owner or the taxi driver. Obeidi says it's an uphill battle. But today, the list of characters on mainstream¹⁴ television is longer than she's ever seen.

OBEIDI: A Muslim surgeon on "Grey's Anatomy," a superhero on "DC's Legends Of Tomorrow," a LGBTQ hijabi Muslim on "The Bold Type," a pork-loving, alcohol-drinking Muslim on "Master Of None."

FADEL: When writers come to her for advice, Obeidi reminds them that these Muslim characters might be the only Muslims some people ever meet. She tries to help them get the language right, like scripts that use the term Allahu akbar, which means God is great.

OBEIDI: So you've seen many TV and film projects that have Allahu akbar being used in very violent scenes.

FADEL: Obeidi negotiates with studios to try to get them to change it, translate it or offset¹⁵ it with happy scenes, like saying God is great at a wedding or a dinner party because for Muslims, it's a beautiful phrase portrayed as ugly.

OBEIDI: You know, so someone hears Allahu akbar when they're dining out. And all of a sudden, you know, they're calling 911 because they think a family is doing something bad when all they're saying is God, that was a damn good meal - Allahu akbar.

FADEL: And Obeidi is excited by many of the projects now being written by and about Muslims for large audiences. There's Maysoon Zayid, a Palestinian-American comic with cerebral¹⁶ palsy, writing an autobiographical sitcom¹⁷ for ABC; Mo Amer, a comic with a recent Netflix special, and Ramy Youssef, who I met on a night he's headlining at the Hollywood Improv. He jokes about how, in LA, suddenly people think Islam is cool.

RAMY YOUSSEF: Like, I was at a juice shop. I was just, like, getting some juices and talking to this woman. And I'm telling her about Ramadan. And, you know, she works there. And she's like, oh, my God. That sounds so - I'm going to do it this weekend.

(LAUGHTER)

YOUSSEF: She was like - she said it like it was Coachella.

FADEL: The New Jersey¹⁸ native is following in the path of many comics who've gone from stand-up to sitcom, like Seinfeld. Ramy Youssef is writing 10 episodes of a show called "Ramy" for Hulu. It will reflect who Youssef is, an Egyptian-American, a practicing Muslim, who, like most people, wrestles¹⁹ with trying to be good. After a stand-up performance, he jokes about how he and his friends approach religion a little like a menu.

YOUSSEF: We call it Allah carte, where we're all kind of just picking and choosing, like - well, this is my deal with God.

FADEL: He hopes "Ramy" reflects how all kinds of people have their deal with God.

YOUSSEF: I like to get dark. I like to get weird²⁰. I like to get uncomfortable. And I feel like when an immigrant family or when a family that is maybe, you know, a group that's not well-represented - when people try and put them on television, they go out of their way to make them look amazing and look perfect.

FADEL: His show won't do that.

YOUSSEF: I just was really excited about the idea of making Muslims look imperfect and not create something that was like some, you know, PR thing but create something that was, you know, really just a realistic portrayal¹ of what we go through, how we are.

FADEL: Youssef says that people connect with others when they see their flaws, not when they're a hero, a villain²¹ or exactly like everyone else.

Leila Fadel, NPR News, Los Angeles.

(PHILANTHROPE, OMAURE AND FLITZ AND SUPPE'S "AY")

1 portrayal   

n.饰演；描画

参考例句：

• His novel is a vivid portrayal of life in a mining community.他的小说生动地描绘了矿区的生活。
• The portrayal of the characters in the novel is lifelike.该书中的人物写得有血有肉。

2 portrayals   

n.画像( portrayal的名词复数 )；描述；描写；描摹

参考例句：

• And painters alluded to her eroticism in their bare breasted portrayals of the dying queen. 画家们把她描绘为裸胸垂死的贪欲的女王。 来自互联网

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 mosque   

n.清真寺

参考例句：

• The mosque is a activity site and culture center of Muslim religion.清真寺为穆斯林宗教活动场所和文化中心。
• Some years ago the clock in the tower of the mosque got out of order.几年前，清真寺钟楼里的大钟失灵了。

5 racism   

n.民族主义；种族歧视(意识)

参考例句：

• He said that racism is endemic in this country.他说种族主义在该国很普遍。
• Racism causes political instability and violence.种族主义道致政治动荡和暴力事件。

6 flexibility   

n.柔韧性，弹性，（光的）折射性，灵活性

参考例句：

• Her great strength lies in her flexibility.她的优势在于她灵活变通。
• The flexibility of a man's muscles will lessen as he becomes old.人老了肌肉的柔韧性将降低。

7 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

8 authentic   

a.真的，真正的；可靠的，可信的，有根据的

参考例句：

• This is an authentic news report. We can depend on it. 这是篇可靠的新闻报道, 我们相信它。
• Autumn is also the authentic season of renewal. 秋天才是真正的除旧布新的季节。

9 inaccurate   

adj.错误的，不正确的，不准确的

参考例句：

• The book is both inaccurate and exaggerated.这本书不但不准确，而且夸大其词。
• She never knows the right time because her watch is inaccurate.她从来不知道准确的时间因为她的表不准。

10 racist   

n.种族主义者，种族主义分子

参考例句：

• a series of racist attacks 一连串的种族袭击行为
• His speech presented racist ideas under the guise of nationalism. 他的讲话以民族主义为幌子宣扬种族主义思想。

11 stereotypical   

n.常规

参考例句：

• Personas should be typical and believable, but not stereotypical. 人物角色应该是典型和可信赖的，但不是一成不变的。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓
• Anything could be stereotypical, so I guess it could be criticism. 任何东西都可以变的老套，所以我猜那就是一种批评。 来自互联网

12 chattel   

n.动产；奴隶

参考例句：

• They were slaves,to be bought and sold as chattels.他们是奴隶，将被作为财产买卖。
• A house is not a chattel.房子不是动产。

13 portrayed   

v.画像( portray的过去式和过去分词 )；描述；描绘；描画

参考例句：

• Throughout the trial, he portrayed himself as the victim. 在审讯过程中，他始终把自己说成是受害者。
• The author portrayed his father as a vicious drunkard. 作者把他父亲描绘成一个可恶的酒鬼。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 mainstream   

n.（思想或行为的）主流；adj.主流的

参考例句：

• Their views lie outside the mainstream of current medical opinion.他们的观点不属于当今医学界观点的主流。
• Polls are still largely reflects the mainstream sentiment.民调还在很大程度上反映了社会主流情绪。

15 offset   

n.分支，补偿；v.抵消，补偿

参考例句：

• Their wage increases would be offset by higher prices.他们增加的工资会被物价上涨所抵消。
• He put up his prices to offset the increased cost of materials.他提高了售价以补偿材料成本的增加。

16 cerebral   

adj.脑的，大脑的；有智力的，理智型的

参考例句：

• Your left cerebral hemisphere controls the right-hand side of your body.你的左半脑控制身体的右半身。
• He is a precise,methodical,cerebral man who carefully chooses his words.他是一个一丝不苟、有条理和理智的人，措辞谨慎。

17 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

18 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

19 wrestles   

v.（与某人）搏斗( wrestle的第三人称单数 )；扭成一团；扭打；（与…）摔跤

参考例句：

• The book also wrestles with the idea of individualism. 书中也与个人英雄主义的观念进行搏斗。 来自互联网
• He that wrestles with us strengthens our nerves and sharpens our skill. 和我们搏斗的人锻炼了我们的勇气，磨练了我们的技能。 来自互联网

20 weird   

adj.古怪的，离奇的；怪诞的，神秘而可怕的

参考例句：

• From his weird behaviour,he seems a bit of an oddity.从他不寻常的行为看来，他好像有点怪。
• His weird clothes really gas me.他的怪衣裳简直笑死人。

21 villain   

n.反派演员，反面人物；恶棍；问题的起因

参考例句：

• He was cast as the villain in the play.他在戏里扮演反面角色。
• The man who played the villain acted very well.扮演恶棍的那个男演员演得很好。