Fridae

Watching The Infidel, one will be reminded of the booming popularity of Arab stand-up comedians Europe and America, and the golden rule of stand up routines: it’s okay (and actually funnier) to make offensive jokes about your own ethnic and religious group.

The Infidel does feel like a stand-up comedy because its protagonist Mahmoud is played by the popular British Iranian stand-up comic, Omid Djalili. In keeping with the tradition of stand-up comedy, the film takes on a deathly serious and very offensive ethnic and religious issue – the long-standing grudge match between Jews and Arabs.

What better way to make fun of both Jews and Arabs than to have Mahmoud, a “middle-aged Muslim misogynist”, discover that he was actually born a Jew and adopted as an infant by devout Muslim parents? In the protagonist’s developing identity crisis and attempt to connect with his horrifying Jewish roots, our protagonist learns from Richard Schiff (The West Wing) how to say “oy vey” in the right tone of voice, shrug like Jew, watch Fiddler on the Roof, and appreciate the existential angst of Philip Roth. And to make things even funnier and more preposterous, Mahmoud must also behave as a model Muslim to appease his father of his son’s bride, a fundamentalist preacher of international renown...

I suppose the reason why The Infidel didn’t get banned in Singapore (and in fact is showing in several Muslim and Arab countries!) is because it is genuinely funny and adorable. You can’t really offend too many people when all you want is to poke fun at religious fundamentalists and zealots of all stripes and colours. Some readers may rightly complain that the jokes in the film are too tasteful and respectful of both religions and cultures. Yet thanks to the well-crafted script and top notch performance, the film actually feels like an edgy, borderline offensive stand-up routine when you’re watching it. And that’s hard to achieve, really.