BY SHAZIA ADAT
Working Title:
'In what ways does "Citizen Khan" reinforce Islamphobia?
Angle:
How is the current issue of post 9/11 and the media being portrayed in sitcoms to be shown to a wide range audience?
Hypothesis:
I believe that all sitcom reinforce islamphobia due to post 9/11 issues.
Linked Production piece:
Opening Sequence of sitcom focusing on a young Muslim girl in modern media showing the ups and downs
MIGRAIN:
The costume in which he wears is a smart suit with a Pakistani twist of a traditional hat as he is shown as half as he loves the British culture which shows he is hypocrite as he hates being called a PAKI and another costume that is used is the hijab that Mr Khan's daughter as she uses it as an object to please her dad and takes it off to show off to her friends. The lighting used throughout the sitcom is High Key lighting and Natural fillers to show the audience a sense of realism in which they can relate to in their lives.
The actors in the sitcom are Mr Khan who is a normal protagonist of Vladimir Propp theory of characters, he is shown as a proud husband & big hearted father and a community leader as he wants his daughter to have the best wedding, Then there is his wife who wears the trouser in the household, his two daughters Shazia who is fiery and independent is getting married to Amjad and her sister Alia is the modernised Muslim, Also there is Amjad who is Shazia's Fiancee (not the sharpest tool in the box) and a Muslim convert called Dave who Mr Khan doesn't respect at all as Dave is the mosque manager and white. The makeup that they use in the sitcom match the actors identity this audience identify the actor or character, they can relate to.
The props used in citizen khan is a yellow car and suit; Mr Khan had bought these when he first came to England this shows that Asians overall like to keep objects for memorabilia and to show how much wealth they have. The sitcom is set in many various locations such as a House where most of the family spends their time in and have family gatherings and a Mosque where the worship the god, this helps the Muslims audience to identify and reflect on their own culture.
The institution that introduce this sitcom is BBC1, Their main mission statement is to 'Inform, Educate & Entertain', the BBC is a Public Service Broadcaster (PSB) which is funded by the TV license fee paid by the public. The Writer of the show (Adil Ray) is linked to the BBC as he was a presenter on the Late Night Show on the BBC Asian Network, he strongly associated himself with the show as he had a similar upbringing as he is a modern Muslim.
The generic/narrative conventions in the sitcom is romance shown through Mr Khan & his family and Shazia & Amjad (pre-wedding love phase) which will not be allowed in a traditional Muslim family this is a countertype. Furthermore we see a binary opposition of a Pakistani Muslim compared to a British Pakistani and how it is improved over the years.
Mr Khan had been represented to the audience as a Man of the house who has except his family to follow his rules and guidelines, He was also shown as a two sided man as he loved the Brits but also sided with the Pakistanis and the strong accent used by Mr Khan adds humor to the sitcom.
The typical audience of a sitcom like this will be C1 & C2 who range from 16-35, they may be mainstreamers who aim for security and avoid risk and may stick to programs made by BBC ONE or an explorer who seeks adventure and explores themselves asking the question who are they related to in the show and what will happen if they do something like one of the characters in real life.
SHEP:
Globalization as twitter was hash tagging the show before it had started at made up to the top ten hash tags before and after the show, The show was also publicized by many of the following radio presenters such as Murtz and Bobby Friction....After the show, Citizen Khan had been very stereotypical towards Muslims and Asians.
Historically, there have been many shows like "Citizen Khan" before for example The Kumar's at No.42 & Channel 4 East is East and it also challenges the ideas of post 9/11 as it shows a Muslim family living around and in a British Society.
Potically
P
Issues/Debates:
Representation & Stereotyping- The representations and stereotypes of the sitcom are the Muslim and Indian culture as they challenge Perkins' theory of stereotypes as not all stereotypes are true for example, they mock the reading of the quran, flirting in the mosque and the importance of wearing a hijab. Which also links with the theory of Edward Saeed as his theory was to do with the west vs the east and 'Citizen Khan' shows the adaptation of the east in the west. It shows some Muslims are wearing masks (Franz Fannon) to hide their identity according to Alia
Moral panics- The moral panics created by the sitcom shows that not all Muslims are terrorist bombers or benefit scroungers but it differentiates the idea of muslims being seen as "the others"
Post 9/11 and the media- The post 9/11 and the media issues relates to this sitcom as it shows a positive side the concepts of 'other' and the sitcom doesn't show that all Muslim are fundamentalists
Ownership & Control- The ownership of this program is BBC, BBC is a public service broadcaster which aims to INFORM, EDUCATE and ENTERTAIN with all their programs as 'Citizen Khan' does that by informing the public about the Muslim culture, educating them by teaching them the norms and values of life and entertaining them by introducing a bit of humor in the day to day life of the characters.
Regulation & Censorship- 'Citizen Khan' as a whole was shown to be a very stereotypical sitcom, which was investigated by OFCOM asinforming the public about the Muslim culture, educating them by teaching them the norms and values of life and entertaining them by introducing a bit of humor in the day to day life of the characters..
Theories:
Semiotics- Barthes had introduced the idea of semiotics and signs as denotation (the actually meaning) & connotation ( the could meaning), Citizen Khan relates to this as every series had been based on several events that have happened and the audience could interpreted a different meaning of the show.
Ethnicity- We could relate ethnicity to the text due to the fact that the writer ( Adil Ray) had become a ethnographer as he had live the life of the Muslim culture since he was a baby as he was born in a Muslim family.
Colonialism- Colonialism is the domination of the countries such as Africa, South America, Australasian and Asian by occupying powers from the 16th century and that led to Post Colonism which is still occurring now in which people like Asians moved to Britain and bought over their cultures some in which is shown through 'Citizen Khan'. Many of the post colonist theorist are Alvarado which focused on four main aspects exotic, dangerous, humorous and pitied in which 'Citizen Khan' falls under all of them as he is from Pakistan an exotic country, dangerous because he is a Muslim and associated with terrorism Humorous because of his accent and it is pitied by the audience. Mr Khan is also closely related to be wearing a white mask as he wants to be British but can't forget his culture concluding to Franks Fannon theory. Another theorist is Edward Saeed who discusses east vs west or 'them and us', this shows Muslim to be very negative.
Audience theory- The audience theory closely link to 'Citizen Khan' is the Uses & Gratification discussed by Blulmer and Katz, diversion as the audience may want to escape their normal life, personal relationships may be also portrayed through citizen khan such as Family, husband & wife and community, Personal Identity with others as the audience may see themselves reflected in the texts and another is surveillance which doesn't really link with the text.
Contemporary media landscape
The study fits in to this due to the fact of the current issues of post 9/11 in the media as this challenges and reinforces the ideas of Islamphobia and the idea of them and the others; the study also shows us the aspects of post Colonism
Media Texts
The media texts that I will focusing on will be "Citizen Khan"
Other Media texts
Other Media texts that relate to "Citizen Khan" are:
Homeland ( channel 4)
The Kumars at no.42 ( BBC1)
East is east (channel 4)
TV Documentaries
Islamophobia: A Vanguard Special- (Current.com/ Current TV )
9/11 Ten years on (Channel 4)
Islam: Untold Story (Channel 4)
Panorama: Documentary on Muslims schools. (BBC1)
Accused BBC1
Academic Texts/Books
Terror Post 9/11 and the Media (Global Crises and the Media)- David L. Altheide (Author)
Islamophobia: Making Muslims the Enemy By Peter Gottschalk, Gabriel Greenberg
Entertainment wars: Television culture after 9/11L Spigel - American Quarterly, 200
Islamophobia. Christopher Allen
Internet Links
1.Diary of a Badman: 'I'm not a model Muslim, but I make people think-http://www.guardian.co.uk/culture/shortcuts/2012/jun/10/diary-of-a-badman?INTCMP=SRCH
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