Little Mosque cast to present forum on diversity
Little Mosque on the Prairie creator Zarqa Nawaz will participate in a Toronto forum tomorrow, offering insight into the show’s premise and message, and will comment on the show’s popularity.
Executive Producers Mary Darling and Michael Snook will also participate, along with the two of the series’ lead actors Sheila McCarthy and Manoj Sood.
Their participation is part of the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television’s Canada Award Screening Tour — part of a road show that attracted audiences in Winnipeg, Regina, Calgary and Vancouver.
The screening series showcases diversity in the show, encouraging discussion and promoting multiculturalism. The series will feature episode screenings and a question and answer period with the show’s producers, creator and several cast members.
The screening is free to the public and will be at the NFB Cinema (150 John Street) at 6:00 p.m. ET.
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Awww…this is why I loved living in a southern city: forums galore!
I hope somebody shows up to ask them when they will extend diversity to the non-muslim characters. I don’t watch it that often but in some episodes I noted:
– A completely WASP non-muslim cast, ignoring the history of several waves of eastern european migration to the prairies.
– No first nations characters (Corner Gas has at least two)
– an episode about gay marriage where the couple eventually returned to "civilized" Toronto to get married.
– a redneck radio announcer who wears a string tie and cowboy hat.
– a recent episode on "Wheat Week" that somehow came across to me as patronizing of small town prairie culture (this is admittedly subjective, I think Corner Gas could have pulled it off as quirky and funny).
– shots that look like they were shot in sort of a neutral Toronto light, not the beautiful sharp summer light we get out here on the prairies. Again, compare to Corner Gas.
I am not muslim, so cannot comment on those aspects of the show but the depiction of prairie culture rings complettely false.
Since I won’t be able to attend the Q&A, I have a question for Sheila McCarthy.
How do you reconcile being a spokesperson for Amnisty International seeking to help the Muslim women in Islamic countries who are regarded as property and subjected to horrific human rights abuses such as honor killings , stoning, and imprisonment with the whitewashing of Islam in Little Mosque on the Prairie?
Saudi Arabia is going to behead a woman, under Sharia law, because she is a witch. That would be a quirky episode.
Peter: I spent a good chunk of my childhood and teen years in Saskatchewan. I laughed out loud at some of that "Wheat Week" stuff. Am I wrong for believing that I got the joke, having grown up with the inspiration for it?
Donna: Are you sure it’s whitewashing? Or maybe McCarthy considers it another part of solving the bigger problem of getting all us humans to learn to respect each other, right along with her Amnesty work. I can see that argument forming already from here.
Dwight: I see that you responded to the only admittedly subjective part of my comments. I didn’t say that a Wheat Week plot line couldn’t be funny. I just didn’t think it was written well . Thinking about it further: the mayor pretty much says "let’s cancel it and blame it on the muslims". I think that a more real depiction would be for the mayor to say " let’s cancel it" and leave it more implied that she’s blaming it on the muslims.
By having her say it out loud, she is made to act more like a stereotype. In their eargerness to preach diversity, the writers are forgetting to make the WASP characters diverse.
Thanks for making me think a bit more about it, Dwight. Sorry to take so long about replying but I was busy taking down my Family Day decorations.
Regards,
Peter