London: Real Housewives of ISIS, a comic take on the life of western born Jihadi brides within the ISIS territory by BBC Two, has been facing considerable flak from academics and victims, for trivialising the issue.
The video, a part of BBC Two show ‘Revolting’, gives a hilarious twist to the morbid atrocities that the group has made a reputation for.
“It's only three days to the beheading, and I've no idea what I'm going to wear," one of the characters says in the video that spans 1 minute and 40 seconds.
In another scene, Zaynab, another character is seen telling in the mock-documentary, that she has been widowed five times. “Six times,” she corrects herself as a bomb goes off in the backdrop.
But perhaps the highlight of the video is when two of the jihadi housewives squabble over their matching ‘suicide jackets’.
Speaking to a local newspaper, the writers of the episode, Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein said, “It’s important not to pull your punches in satire. You have to be fearless or it undermines your credibility. You can’t go after David Cameron for five years like we did and not go after Islamic State."
They added that their main goal was to tackle extremism through the video.
But it has received mixed response in social media, with some criticising its political correctness, pulling in angles of religion, ethnicity and apathy to the victims of ISIS, while others point out that a satire is a satire.
“Finally people are realising religion is actually stupid enough to be worth laughing at. It's a joke, it's not real. Just like Deities!” said one user in Facebook.
“Bad taste, not funny at all. With everything going on in the world, I'm sure those who have been affected by Isis, or been victims of them, or the relatives of those killed in terrorist attacks, won't be laughing? Sorry why laugh at the thought of woman showing off explosive jackets etc, is sick sorry. Why are we laughing about current situations going on in the world especially after the Night Club killings in Turkey, where my niece and nephew and my ex sister in law live? It's not funny, when you’re worried about the safety of your own family?” another user remarked.
Britain, and other European nations, is grappling with cases of radicalisation, especially among young educated women, who fall prey to the ISIS’ vast online presence.
Over 600 women from Western countries have left their homelands to join Islamic State, which has captured swathes of Syria and Iraq.
Like Western men who have joined ISIS, the women felt socially and culturally isolated, believed Muslims were being persecuted and were angry that nothing was being done about it.
They were also attracted by an idealistic view of religious duty, a sense of sisterhood, and the romance of the adventure.
However, as pointed out in the satire, life under ISIS was far from the image they saw portrayed online. Conditions were harsh and some became widows at a young age.
