Representations of US Muslims in Hulu’s <i>Ramy</i>

This article investigates how Egyptian American comedian Ramy Youssef’s 2019 comedy-drama series Ramy disrupts dominant representations of Muslims in US entertainment media. The show explores the first-generation experiences of its titular character and foregrounds topics relevant within American Muslim communities, including the cultivation of Islamic religiosity as a young US Muslim while navigating the social norms of dating, the ethics of sexual practice, and the pursuit of marriage. Analyzing the pilot episode in conversation with scholarship on Islam in media, I argue that Ramy illustrates the parameters of US Muslim inclusion by depicting how its characters negotiate their faith through everyday social decisions. The series offers a critique of the social pressures imposed on American Muslims by the norms of hegemonic secular culture while selectively accommodating these same norms—at times portraying Islam as socially restrictive in contrast to an America characterized as permissive and liberal, particularly regarding sexual mores. Nevertheless, by centering the complexities of American Muslim life, Ramy pioneers a groundbreaking portrayal of Islam on US television—one that resists defining Muslims through Islamophobia and instead presents religiosity in a nuanced and affirmative way, without succumbing to the pressure of portraying likable or morally exemplar characters who uncritically adopt secular values. Through its layered storytelling, Ramy reveals the complex social negotiations young American Muslims must constantly navigate to gain acceptance and belonging in the US, while simultaneously confirming and critiquing their outsider status. Ultimately, the show challenges monolithic portrayals of Muslims and instead offers an authentic and multifaceted depiction of them as individuals who celebrate, wrestle with, and continually reconfigure their faith, thus illustrating the diversity of Muslim experiences and identities and what it truly means to be Muslim in the US today.