Descarfing Shabnam (EE)
When Shabnam returned I was a little annoyed they replaced her with an uptight droid but I was very interested that they had made her start wearing a headscarf and being an actively faithful Muslim woman.
However, last week they showed her at home without her scarf on which is both honest and logical but combined with the Fatboy cards I think it's pretty obvious they're going to un-Muslim her but I have been pondering how.
I reckon Masood and Jane will get close again, Shabs will be absolutely fuming and try to sabotage it. After weeks of raised voices and door slamming Mas will have a heart to heart with his daughter and she will explain she's very involved in the local mosque and strictly adhering to her faith as she's embarrassed and ashamed of how her family is viewed and thinks by being the best Muslim in Walford will appease her family's "sins".
More heart to hearts and she'll realise she's wearing the hijab for the wrong reasons and take it off. And then decide to date the lovely and sweet Fatboy.
They always tone down new characters after a while and I think this is how they will address Shabnam. Although I notice she hasn't said a peep aout her gay brother which seems unlikely given she was upset her father was even friends with English women
However, last week they showed her at home without her scarf on which is both honest and logical but combined with the Fatboy cards I think it's pretty obvious they're going to un-Muslim her but I have been pondering how.
I reckon Masood and Jane will get close again, Shabs will be absolutely fuming and try to sabotage it. After weeks of raised voices and door slamming Mas will have a heart to heart with his daughter and she will explain she's very involved in the local mosque and strictly adhering to her faith as she's embarrassed and ashamed of how her family is viewed and thinks by being the best Muslim in Walford will appease her family's "sins".
More heart to hearts and she'll realise she's wearing the hijab for the wrong reasons and take it off. And then decide to date the lovely and sweet Fatboy.
They always tone down new characters after a while and I think this is how they will address Shabnam. Although I notice she hasn't said a peep aout her gay brother which seems unlikely given she was upset her father was even friends with English women
0
Comments
I can see her taking off her hijab but not yet. I think she'll fall in love with Lee Carter and then she'll question herself. I doubt she would go for Fatboy.
'I think it's pretty obvious they're going to un-Muslim her but I have been pondering how.'
Not sure if this more politically or grammatically incorrect...
Correct or not, I imagine it's what the writers will do. I can't see Shabnam as a committed Muslim being sensational enough for storylines in the future. I hope they don't "un-Muslim" her (for want of a better word) but wouldn't be at all surprised.
I have the same feelings about Linda Carter, they have shown her to be struggling to accept her son's sexuality as opposed to Mick who got over it in a day. Just like religion some people grow up believing homosexuality is wrong and die believing the same thing and whereas as Linda hasn't kicked up that much of a fuss about it, we as the audience know she still finds it hard to cope with and that is very true to life and this might sound horrible, but I hope she doesn't come to terms with it, because it'll show people that life isn't all flowers and daisies and sometimes things don't end up for the best.
I kinda went of on a tangent, but i hope my point is clear..
I get what you mean. It was nice that Zainab and Mas softened their attitudes but totally unrealistic that they would plan a wedding!
I hope that Shabnam keeps the way she is, because if suddenly she were to change and become a lot more western in her thinking then what would be the point of having muslims in the show.
We've already got and had many Muslims who have been basically western but not white, so now I think it's time that we had at least one Muslim who acted like a Muslim!
And I actually think that the more "muslim" they make her, the better the storylines, as they're normally quite thought provoking, like homosexuality storylines are, and they're the ones that people love to argue/discuss etc....
On another note, I can't stand the way that noone smokes in soaps anymore, apart from a couple of people.
The only thing they do show in abundance is people drinking alot and cheating on each other!
Oh yes, espcially Zainab. I felt very awkward watching that.
Muslim women are allowed to ditch their headscarf around their family, but Fatboy being there probably meant that she had to still wear it at home.
My thoughts exactly.
Apparently wearing it or not is a matter of choice, not a fixed part of the religion.
Agreed. This was very weird. Especially the way in which it jumped from extremes. From Zainab wishing her son was dead to her accepting Christian as a son-in-law. Totally far-fetched. But I think as it was the first time tackling such a big storyline they wanted it to end happily just to give hope to people watching, but we're done with that now. Time they showed the other side of the moon.
Agreed, I think with all the ofcom complaints, the last couple of years has seen the soap become a morals parade instead of a reflection of real life. Granted there are some far-fetched storylines that do happen and unlikely for all of them to happen in one neighbourhood, however there's few things soaps have shown that don't happen in real life I think some people find it too difficult to accept that sometimes murderers don't go to prison, sometimes secrets aren't found out and sometimes a person's personality can change etc
The thing is, when the Masoods first arrived. Zainab and Masood were quite religious and had strong beliefs and morals. Shabnam was torn between the way her western friends lived her life and the strictness of her religion. It was a very interesting struggle.
I'll be surprised if Shabnam doesn't reconsider her thoughts. The only reason she know has strict views is because she has been living in Pakistan for the last few years where she has only viewed the strict religious way of life.
As she settles back into life in Walford and begins to face challenges that conflict with her religion it coukd be really interesting to see her accept the western culture again. It would be decent character development. Like we've seen over the years when Dot's religious views are comprimised or challenged.
I'm not saying Shabnam should forget her beliefs. But at the moment they are so strong because of her time in Pakistan and because she says it as a way of sorting out her family problems. But eventually to see that challenged could become really instramental in how Shabnam fits, long term into the show because if she doesn't accept walford's way of life she is going to struggle to interact outside of her family unit and that is unhealthy for character growth and the role she'd end up playing in the show.
I think this would be a great sl for EE, and I can imagine the forums the next day.....
It's just it does happen but isn't shown that much on tv thanks to the pc brigade, but as Geekinfected said, this is a soap and not a morals parade and I think it'd make really good tv.
Actually I've just remembered, didn't she refuse Fatboy due to his not being a Muslim?
Gets my vote .... and quickly please, this has the potential to be uber tedious for months and months.....
An excellent point, I didn't even think about the timing of Fats moving out!
For the record I do agree with you I'd like them to keep her faithful, I would like to see someone with some proper convictions in a soap for once!
I just think, a lot of the storylines in soaps are so dramatic they require, well, characters with flexible morals shall we say. And unfortunately the only drama a devoted religious person (or any faith) can bring is a lot of tutting and frowning upon certain practices which I don't see going down well.
If they do tone her down though, Lee Carter oh my gosh you are so on the money because I guess there's the whole "you illegally invaded a Muslim country" thing to wrestle with despite being attracted to him, forbidden fruit etc etc.
Well Shabnam never drank. She hung around with Dawn and Carly, and did pole dancing for fitness. And Masood has very much pointed out a few times that Shabnam hasn't always been so perfect.
So no thanks, please don't get rid as other people are enjoying, interested and hope to see more of this complex, realistic character.
I don't think it's the PC brigade I think it's pretty reasonable and rational that she wouldn't go out with a non-Muslim. In the same way that I as an athiest could never seriously consider someone religious because our lives just wouldn't align. I make no judgements on what people want to do we just wouldn't be compatable.
Or say people refusing to date smokers, or people who like taking recreational drugs vs people who don't. That's not PC that's just knowing what you want from a partner and what you want to build together as a couple.
I'm okay with her going off with a non-Muslim character if that's the way to progress her character. I don't want her to become too isolated. But I would like it to be done gradually if they decided to go in this direction. I don't want her to just to see Lee Carter or whoever and fall head over heels straight away. Let it be a slow burner that gradually develops.
But I would prefer if they brought in a Muslim husband for her - a bit of an alpha male businessman who mixes with the likes of Max, David and Phil. That would be cool. I think the Masoods are sorely lacking some alpha males.
And yes, I'm enjoying the new Shabnam. She has revitalised the Masoods IMHO. Hopefully, Zainab will be back too to join forces with her
I do think it's rational that a muslim would always marry a fellow muslim, and I also am an atheist and couldn't ever think of marrying a christian, but I just feel that in these times, noone is allowed to say any of that for fear of being accused of racism, homophobia ageism, "religionism" or any other kind of "ism"!!
For example, I know that in the real world, someone like Ian Beale probably would never marry a black woman like Denise and vice versa, but of course, noone is allowed to say that....so hence why I commented that it'd be interesting if we had a sl like this but coming from a Muslim i.e. refusing to date white people....
100% behind this idea. I think someone reminiscent of Yusef or Amira's Dad (minus the evil, so he has a longer shelf life) would be great for her. She could take his first name as her last, maintaining the tradition and they could become a proper muslim family unit. Then I wouldn't mind so much that the Masoods aren't really waving the muslim flag like they should. Its not often you get one of these token family units giving birth to anothe. The Brannings gave us the Jacksons, The Beales gaves us the Wicks' and Fowlers, The Wicks gave us the Carters.
It would be nice to give these types of families some cementing in Walford, there have been too many easiy mobile families with no historical ties to the show e.g. the Carpenters, The Osmans, The Jeffries, The Taverniers, The Ferrerias, The Millers and now we have the Foxes, Trueman(s) and Masoods that are very easily mobile and have no solid roots in Walford.