Britz: Reviews & Reactions
Britz is a two-part thriller about a brother and sister, British-born and Muslim, who are pulled in different directions by their conflicting personal experiences in post 9/11 Britain. The first part - told from the perspective of the brother - was aired last night, in the U.K. Here are three related entries from around the blogosphere:
Yahya Birt posted an advanced review of the show, several days ago:
Like a lot of political dramas, the situations and characters seem engineered to get a political point across, and the interweaving of the personal and political is not as artfully done as it could have been. So what are the big points that Britz tries to make?
Two early reactions to part 1:
Unique Muslimah wonders whether the production is “pyschological warfare or an innocent film?”
Is this drama part of a psychological warfare to threaten and frighten Muslims to believe that they are being watched every single second of the day? I think so. And I believe it is also a tactic to scare the British public that the terrorist threat is something the MI5 have to tackle daily. It makes one suspect that their neighbours could be terrorists, or their colleagues at work. Any group of men having fun at a paint-ball park will also be suspects; perhaps they are training to be terrorists. Every Muslim is a suspect.
Safiya of Outlines, thought Sleeper Cell was bad, until she saw Britz:
He works for M15, she is a trainee terrorist. “Which Side Are You On?” is the tag line. Err, neither actually, thanks for asking. Oh sorry, you didn’t ask me did you? As I’m just a normal law-abiding Muslim and my life is not very dramatic.
It will be interesting to see what the reviews and reactions to Part II - the sister’s story - will be like.
It’s interesting how UK and US are producing shows like “Britz” and “Sleeper Cell”, while in Canada, we get Little Mosque on the Prairie (which, while tremendously unfunny, at least shows some semblance of “normal” Muslims).
Yusuf Smith had a few more comments about this here; actually, it’s a response to the last post you highlighted.
About the actors. Are they Muslims or hired Indian actors?
Britz is not a fair portrayal of British Muslims. It contradicts the true message of Islam. Suicide bombing and killing is not permitted in Islam and this TV show justifies this phenomenon. Disguising herself as a pregnant woman is sick and disgusting and I feel that ‘Asian’ pregnant women will be targeted by those who panic. I suffer enough abuse for choosing to wear my headscalf and now I feel more fear and this is why Muslims dislocate themselves from a society which is brainwashed to hate Muslims. I am a British Muslim and contribute much to my country but I feel my Religion is under threat and that this programmed can cause more serious problems for Muslims trying to live normal lives. Don’t believe everything you see on TV. This is just a drama it is fictional and not based on facts that should be generalised.