Living With the Infidels an Inaccurate, Unfunny Look at Terrorism

When approaching tough, controversial topics like that of terrorism, it’s important to convey some sense of accuracy — and if you’re attempting to make a comedy, it’s also helpful to be funny. So that’s two strikes, right there, against Living With the Infidels.

Created by Aasaf Ainapore (who was born into a Muslim family but does not consider himself a believer), Infidels is a light-hearted comedy about a Muslim terrorist cell in Bradford, England, focusing on Rezza (San Shella) and Abdul (Naveed Choudhry), young men torn between jihad and temptations of the modern life. This struggle is represented, in this case, by the attractive blond Abi (Annie Cooper) and her friends, and depicted with all the grace and subtlety you’d expect from a show featuring a character named Psycho Ali.

While the production values, from sound to production design to editing, are decent, and the actors do fully commit to the concept, the jokes rarely work, mainly because the overall execution is frankly repellent. For, despite the well-meaning effort to humanize those who might fall into this way of life, Infidels‘s inauthentic nature and blasé attitude stands in the way of any higher purpose — and it’s genuinely unpleasant to watch such a serious topic be so misconstrued.

When the show premiered on YouTube this August, the Guardian spoke with Ainapore about his intentions, who made clear he understood that those who had lost loved ones in terrorist attacks would be “anxious” about the series. “But I truly believe that it is only by ridiculing these extremists that you can hope to persuade young Muslims to turn against radicalism,” he told writer Sarfraz Manzoor.

The issue that Ainapore completely overlooks here is that while his effort to dissuade young men from becoming indoctrinated into terrorist cells is appreciated, poking fun at the concept is no way to convince budding converts not to join. Anyone who’s spent time learning about the reasons why soon-to-be suicide bombers join up with the cause knows that they go far, far deeper than the promise of lying with a multitude of virgins in Paradise. (Martyrs being able to score with virgins in Paradise is about as close to a real discussion of the Muslim faith as Infidels gets.) Most of those who join terrorist cells, in fact, purportedly do so because it gives them a sense of purpose and belonging.

My recommendation? Watch the 2004 docudrama The Hamburg Cell, read books like Journey of the Jihadist by Fawaz A. Gerges. And avoid Infidels at all costs.

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