Citizen Khan: Twitter reaction
We’re only one episode into Citizen Khan, the BBC's first Asian sitcom, and already the knives are out. Is it racist – or simply unfunny? Or will it defy the critics and be a hit? Let’s see what the online world made of it all
- How, in 2012, is Citizen Khan the BBC's first British-Asian sitcom? So asked the Guardian in its preview of the show:
Citizen Khan: an Asian sitcom star is bornOn a muggy July evening, hundreds of people are queueing to enter a shiny studio at the BBC's new MediaCity centre in Salford: we are all...- It’s a good question. Maybe no one’s been brave enough. Some of the reaction on Twitter was perhaps predictable, but will nevertheless make difficult reading for the show’s writers.
I won't be surprised if #citizenkhan ratings are so shite they have to cancel it! I wish they do, it's a terrible representation!- Are they? If you didn't watch it, here's the BBC’s trailer for the show.
- The first part of that clip rang bells, as I’ve had pretty much the same conversation with my wife. Given an ex-colleague of mine, who was of Pakistani origin, once forgot my name and apologised by saying, “Sorry, you white folk all look the same to me,” you can guess I don't hail from Islamabad.
So some of the humour is clearly universal, and - talking of universality - it would be nice to think that most viewers are intelligent enough to realise the truth of the following tweet:
- So is it really racist? Arifa Akbar, writing in the Independent, thought it “lazy and outdated” – but not racist. “While I’m not convinced it is racist comedy, I am convinced it is stuck in the past. The script is rehashed, the characters are rehashed, even the canned laughter sounds like it’s out of the ‘70s.”
Citizen Khan is not just outdated, but lazy and offensive | Arifa Akbar | Independent Arts BlogsIs Citizen Khan offensive? Yes, and not because of its treatment of religion but because it patronises its audience by flogging dead joke...- And here’s Mark Lawson in the Guardian – key quote: “My own cultural outsider's view is that Citizen Khan pays British Muslims perhaps the highest compliment television can bestow, which is treating them like any other creed and people by subjecting them to a gentle domestic sitcom in the tradition of My Family.”
Citizen Khan: who was offended by it, and why?Viewers found it impossible to understand Parade's End (Fridays, BBC2) because the actors were mumbling so much and British muslims among...- So his conclusion is also that it's not racist; it's just not very funny. Back on Twitter, the show did have its supporters.
#CitizenKhan is definitely insulting in its religious context. But the cultural cracks and gimmicks are on point and funny.
People take stuff way too seriously man lighten up you boring people #CitizenKhan- One tweeter went as far as to suggest the reaction to the show sums up what it means to be Asian in Britain in 2012.
- There is general agreement that Citizen Khan can’t hold a candle to Goodness Gracious Me.
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- julie smit the adil ray groupies will not hear a bad word about citizen khan or its author despite the dire effort of comedy2012-08-31T14:07:52.150Z
- julie smiti find it revealing that criticism is being censored through abuse of twitter complaints process = banning users2012-08-31T14:05:59.068Z
- julie smit the adil ray groupies will not hear a bad word about citizen khan or its author despite the dire effort of comedy2012-08-31T14:07:52.150Z
- julie smiti find it revealing that criticism is being censored through abuse of twitter complaints process = banning users2012-08-31T14:05:59.068Z
