"We Are Lady Parts" Rocks with Spiritual Soul
A TV punk rock band of Muslim women makes big points with huge laughs
“We are the world/we are the people”
The brilliant British TV series “We Are Lady Parts” makes me think of a line from the satiric political comic strip of yore, “Pogo” – “We have met the enemy and he is us.” The incisively hilarious comedy about four young London Muslim women who form a punk rock band evoked a sweet variation on that from me.
Yes, you read that correctly: Muslim women… punk rock band. Two notions that seem like not just apples and oranges, but in near total contradiction. An ideal equation for hilarity.
Ever since 9/11, too many Americans have lumped all Muslims together as our enemy. Some Republicans slam our two female members of Congress, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, as enemies within our national government. Both perceptions are flawed, equating any Muslim with radical Islam and terrorism.
“We Are Lady Parts,” screening on Peacock, is, alas, perhaps only a small ameliorative for anti-Islamic prejudice. But it does at least very clearly show how Muslims in Western nations that some may tag as enemies are in fact very much like us. I’m reminded of how the Pakistani Muslim owner of a convenience store I patronized and became friendly with, a very Americanized guy, once referred to attending his mosque as going to church.
The series makes both light of yet at the same time respects the faith of modern Muslims – no small feat. And is a celebration of girl power, even if it is feminism within a religion that largely represses women. Those two equations are just some sources of the non-stop comedic potency of “We Are Lady Parts.”
It was created by Mida Manzoor, a Pakistani Muslim whose family moved to London when she was age 10. She has played guitar since she was eight years old and is a Bob Dylan acolyte.
The show’s main character, Amina, is drawn from her creator. A PhD. microbiology student, she wears a hajib (head scarf) and at first glance seems a rather traditional young first-world Muslim young woman. Yet just like her peers of other faiths, she’s prone to boy crushes and shy and awkward in their presence. She plays guitar, enjoys folk music and singer-songwriters, and teaches guitar to younger students.
When she auditions for the band, Amina’s skills as a hot electric lead guitarist emerge. She’s the ideal fourth member for the group, but for one hitch – crippling stage fright that causes her to vomit. It’s one of many challenges that she and Lady Parts must overcome.
Manzoor designed the band to reflect a range of modern young Muslim women. Bassist Bisma wears casual Western clothes. Drummer Juliette, like Amina, wears a hajib. Lead singer and rhythm guitarist Sarah, an African Muslim, sports a hair-wrap atop her head.
Their manager, Lucie, is garbed in full Islamic wrap down to a Niqab veil over most all her face, is nonetheless a feisty hustler and social media maven who thrusts the band forward towards building an audience for their shows and making a record.
Humor abounds throughout from such ripe situations. The show lovingly nudges at being Muslim in the modern world. All of the its characters feel like people we might and even do know, regardless of their religion. And best of all: The four actresses became a real and pretty darn good rock band playing clever and catchy original songs as well as some cool takes on cover tunes. In short, Lady Parts rock indeed.
With its warm and lovingly pointed humor, “We Are Lady Parts” stresses a universality of contemporary human experience and offers a universalist religious vision our modern world sorely needs. As we witness the iniquitous suffering of Palestinian Muslims in Gaza due to a conflict with religious elements, the show reminds us how we are all human. And laughing about that while we rock out is quite a delicious tonic.
I’m watching!