Mo. A rare representation of an immigrant Palestinian Muslim on American TV.
I can't wait for season 2, inshallah.
My art is on Instagram @klonskyart
For immigrants in the U.S., undocumented or otherwise, the immigration issue never goes away.
For the rest of America the issue is back in the news as red state governors like DeSantis, Ducy and Abbott disrupt and abuse the lives of those seeking asylum in the U.S. by forcing or fooling them onto planes and buses to other states that offer sanctuary.
I would call it political theater except the people being abused are not actors and this is no show.
While all this is happening, Netflix has decided to broadcast an actual eight episode show called Mo.
Mo is played by stand-up comedian, Mohammed Mustafa Amer.
Mo is the incredibly rare sympathetic representation of a Palestinian Muslim on American mass media.
I just finished the final episode last night and can’t wait for the second season, inshallah.
The only show I can compare it to is Ramy, which was on Hulu a few years back. Ramy was also a Muslim Arab in America and was also a rare complex, sympathetic character, played by actor Ramy Youssef.
As in real life, all Muslim Arab immigrants are not the same and although Ramy Youssef had a hand in the making of Mo, this is a very different person.
While Mo is not the terrorist most Arab Muslims are portrayed as on TV and in the movies, he is no angel. He is a real working class immigrant caught up (in Houston) in the day to day struggles of survival.
Layered on top is the fact that his family is facing deportation in spite of the fact that they have lived in Houston most of Mo’s life.
His family was part of the Palestinian diaspora, fleeing the Zionists in Palestine, then caught up in the Iraq/Kuwait war.
The show shifts between seriousness, comedy and moments of situations Mo gets into which requires some suspension of disbelief.
In a word: Great.