Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act returns on Netflix today after over two months of delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The latest episode titled ‘What Happens If You Can’t Pay Rent’ suggests Minhaj has once again taken up a timely subject that has impacted many in this ongoing health crisis. The new episode, according to reports, has been filmed at Minhaj’s home.
ThePrint asks: Hasan Minhaj back on Netflix: Will irreverent comedy work in dark Covid times?
Patriot Act’s brand of comedy is the mirror to society we need during Covid-19
Samira Sood
Associate editor, ThePrint
Irreverent comedy will definitely work now. People need something to laugh about, given that they’re locked in their homes, many entirely by themselves. Many people are working harder than ever. Between trying to keep their jobs and running a house full-time, everyone is worried about themselves and their loved ones. Now, more than ever, is the time for a solid dose of comedy.
When governments fail us, we often look to popular culture to show us the way. Given the way the pandemic is being handled in India, with the poor treatment of migrant workers and the suppression of information about Covid-19 case numbers, comedy is the mirror to society we need. Hopefully, Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix show will address that.
While the pandemic has taught us that we need to take public health seriously, we also need to understand that life is transient. And humour, if sensitively done, is a great way to deal with the crushing vulnerability that comes with the realisation that we are, in many ways, powerless right now.
Wonder if Patriot Act can be called irreverent comedy. It’s just slapstick infotainment for Indian-Americans
Pia Krishnankutty
Journalist, ThePrint
It’s hard not to like Hasan Minhaj’s Netflix show Patriot Act. He has a unique way of using comedy and irony to engage audiences, especially the Indian community in the US, on a wide range of news topics. That said, I’ve noticed that Minhaj also has a tendency to water down heavily-loaded news stories and conveniently repackage it with American pop culture references. This can sometimes leave out nuance from the issue at hand. I wonder if the show can even be put in the same box as irreverent comedy, or if it’s just slapstick infotainment.
I’m also curious to know where and how the new episodes were or are being taped. From Minhaj’s teaser, I’ve deduced that he has either shot it at home or in an isolated setting with a green screen, which would be very Covid-conscientious. He could have also shot it on his Netflix set with limited staff and crew, which is concerning in a country known for major Covid mismanagement.
Maybe Minhaj was trying to covertly reference the pandemic or working-from-home lifestyle with his green screen teaser. But this seems to have fallen flat. Let’s hope Sunday’s new episode doesn’t do the same.
We need distraction and comfort right now, not Minhaj’s irreverent twist to dark news
Madhavi Pothukuchi
Senior web editor, ThePrint
Hasan Minhaj’s news comedy show had only had a lukewarm reception in India. While he tried to be the younger, hipper, and brown version of John Oliver, and pulled it off to a certain extent, he failed in becoming a household name.
In times of distress, we instinctively turn to comfort — comfort food, the comfort of friends and family, and comforting entertainment. That’s why, regardless of the hundreds of new shows coming out, we always go back to the classics — shows that we know, that make us happy, that don’t demand anything from us, not even our full attention.
We’re also experiencing a time in which we’re incessantly exposed to the news around us. The pandemic is all we can hear or talk about, day in and day out. Three months in, and it’s taken a noticeable toll on our collective mental health.
Having another show, which will take the same dark news we consume and put an irreverent twist to it, may not be what the doctor ordered. Distraction and comfort are what we seek from art and entertainment at the moment, not another reminder of our bitter reality — no matter how sugar-coated.
Patriot Act will certainly work for the audiences, but Minhaj’s humour isn’t irreverent
Srijan Shukla
Reporter, ThePrint
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to restrict the supply of new streaming options on over the top (OTT) platforms, the return on Hasan Minhaj’s Patriot Act is one the biggest arrivals of the corona season. Minhaj by now, has evolved into a cult figure. So it’s impossible to assume that the new volume of web comedy TV talk show won’t work.
With Minhaj’s comedy, the real question is whether the show will be as boring as the last time. And to be fair to Minhaj, he is not the only one who needs to be blamed for the shift of political comedy from irreverent humor to boredom.
Until a decade ago, with Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart ensured old style political comedy was still alive and kicking. “It was a kind of comedy that seamlessly moved what seemed like an impossible political divide — from the Bush administration to the Obama administration,” wrote columnist Eve Peyser.
But sometime, halfway through the last decade, the political comedy became too issue-centric and started veering towards adhering to the broad Centre-Left orthodoxy. If John Oliver heralded this shift with Last Week Tonight, Minhaj has brought it back to its logical “boring” conclusion. Oliver is still funny, Minhaj really isn’t. As Peyser notes, “Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj took the comedy show as lecture circuit one step further.”
Can Covid-19 save him? We’ll see.
Also read: What were you planning to do post-lockdown and how will you spend two more weeks?
By Pia Krishnankutty, journalist at ThePrint