The ‘Real Housewives of ISIS’ sketch: When funny is harmful

If you follow the news, you have probably heard about the controversial new BBC sketch ‘Real Housewives of ISIS’. I do like some good comedy and have no issue laughing at Muslims or issues that arise in Muslim societies. There are great sketches on that. As a student I used to laugh at Baba Ali clips. More recently, I have quite enjoyed the videos of the Germany-based Datteltäter who make sketches on topics such as life in Germany as a Muslim woman wearing hijab and who have actually released a rather short yet brilliant skit on ISIS in 2015. For another example of how comedy on controversial issues can be done well, see Sara Salem’s analysis of the ‘Real Housewives of ISIS’. I agree that humour and comedy can be a strong tool to counter extremism; after all, there is hardly anything extremists of all colours are as afraid of as being ridiculed for views which they themselves take so seriously.