Casablanca — A new BBC comedy series called “The Real Housewives of ISIS,” has its public divided between those seeing it as being in poor taste and those praising its satirical endeavors.
“It’s only three days till the beheading, and I have no idea what I’m going to wear!” It is with these words that the trailer for the BBC Show “The Real Housewives of ISIS” begins.
The trailer explores the lives of several imaginary “ISIS wives,” who tell the viewers about the circumstances that led them to join the organization. A clear satire of the terrorist group, the trailer has nonetheless sparked outrage amongst many, who criticized BBC and the show of tackling an inappropriate topic.
The BBC really made a satirical show called “The Real Housewives of ISIS” while the real housewives of ISIS are being raped and abused daily
— Meraj. (@UncleMeraj) January 4, 2017
Hmm a parody show called ‘The Real Housewives of ISIS’ may just be a bit too far ?
— Stephen McKnight (@SteMcKnightLFC) January 3, 2017
So #Revolting on @BBCTwo was vile. Real Housewives of ISIS?! Who thought it would be ok? Racist, disgusting, and disturbing. Disappointed.
— Blythe (@CrippleLikePunk) January 4, 2017
Others were less critical of the show, and questioned why many found it so offensive:
The outrage over ‘Real Housewives of Isis’ is ridiculous – it’s our duty to satirise people who join terror groups https://t.co/BWnnzetl0D
— Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) January 5, 2017
The same people claiming The Real Housewives of ISIS is mocking Islam are the same people who claim ISIS is nothing to do with Islam. ?
— Chris Beale (@bealec1988) January 4, 2017
It’s mocking terrorists, not Islam, but I guess that’s just too edgy, these days. https://t.co/1gkqpKOpQE
— DatNoFact (@datnofact) January 4, 2017
Jon Gaunt, from Talk2Me Radio, tells RT that “we’re talking about democracy, here. And we’re talking about freedom of speech and freedom of expression. You see, that’s the wonderful thing about living in 21st century tolerant, liberal Britain.We have freedom of expression and freedom of speech. And therefore, all flavors, all views can be put forward, and so can comedy and so can ridicule.”
Chief Executive of the Ramadan Foundation, Mohamed Shafik, however, thinks it’s “quite distasteful. I don’t think satirizing the suffering of our citizens and innocent people —thousands being killed at the hands of these brutal terrorists — is something to satirize.”
If this controversy proves anything at all, it’s that humor is subjective.
