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Hi, what are your thoughts about the upcoming kidnap to Pakistan storyline for Rana? Personally, coming from an Asian bg myself, I think it’s a much needed turn of events to educate people who are not quite aware of what lengths some south Asian families are willing to go to, to conceal sexualities or out of caste marriages etc.
I’m excited to watch it unfold as a dramatic storyline for Kana, tbh. It seems to be a fairly cut and dried action scene where nobody gets hurt physically? And as someone who’s felt very sorry for Rana this last couple of months, I feel like this will be eye-opening for the characters who haven’t always understood or acknowledged what she’d been going through. When Rana explained to Kate that her parents would never speak to her again, I think Kate understood and believed her, but that faded, especially with time spent with her own family, it’s easy to think “it can’t be that bad”. And Zee, outing her to them, what did he expect? So they better freaking dote over her once she’s rescued.
As a storyline for raising awareness, I hope it shames the families who’d consider doing something like this and makes them rethink. The rest of us think ya’ll are gross, and you’re just hurting the people you claim to love. I expect (or hope) Yasmeen gets on her soapbox and lectures them on how terrible and un-Islamic it is.
I don’t have any misgivings about it because Corrie has sympathetic Muslims on the other side right there, which proves again the value in having a diverse cast. The Nazirs are human and with flaws but they’re warm and compassionate and accepting, the antithesis of the Habeebs. No one can come away from watching these eps thinking the Habeebs represent all Muslims, it’s such a welcome luxury to not have to worry about negative representation being the only representation.
Hi, what are your thoughts about the upcoming kidnap to Pakistan storyline for Rana? Personally, coming from an Asian bg myself, I think it’s a much needed turn of events to educate people who are not quite aware of what lengths some south Asian families are willing to go to, to conceal sexualities or out of caste marriages etc.
I’m excited to watch it unfold as a dramatic storyline for Kana, tbh. It seems to be a fairly cut and dried action scene where nobody gets hurt physically? And as someone who’s felt very sorry for Rana this last couple of months, I feel like this will be eye-opening for the characters who haven’t always understood or acknowledged what she’d been going through. When Rana explained to Kate that her parents would never speak to her again, I think Kate understood and believed her, but that faded, especially with time spent with her own family, it’s easy to think “it can’t be that bad”. And Zee, outing her to them, what did he expect? So they better freaking dote over her once she’s rescued.
As a storyline for raising awareness, I hope it shames the families who’d consider doing something like this and makes them rethink. The rest of us think ya’ll are gross, and you’re just hurting the people you claim to love. I expect (or hope) Yasmeen gets on her soapbox and lectures them on how terrible and un-Islamic it is.
I don’t have any misgivings about it because Corrie has sympathetic Muslims on the other side right there, which proves again the value in having a diverse cast. The Nazirs are human and with flaws but they’re warm and compassionate and accepting, the antithesis of the Habeebs. No one can come away from watching these eps thinking the Habeebs represent all Muslims, it’s such a welcome luxury to not have to worry about negative representation being the only representation.
Do you think rana will still celebrate Ramadan after her parents disown her?
Do I think the Corrie writers will have fictional character Rana celebrate it or do I think Rana the person we’ve gotten to know will? 😛
I don’t know if the writers will even remember it when the time comes, heh, but they could just as soon make a point of it, either to have her not, in a rejection of her parents and their so-called values, or she could continue fasting as a way to connect with them and her culture, despite everything.
It’d be harder to say with Rana, the real person. First, to clarify, “celebrate” is so the wrong word. Fasting when you’re a kid (when the grownups make it easy for you) and when Ramadan’s during the winter (since it’s on the lunar calendar, it moves back 11 days every year) is one thing, but these last few summer Ramadans, ugh, especially in the northern areas, it’s just this month long slog of eating, napping, the worst part: waking up again, and having to repeat. And with a possible full work day thrown in there somewhere. Though this year Ramadan’s finally moved back enough to be entirely before the summer solstice, people in Manchester will have to FINISH eating BEFORE 3 in the morning, on average and will only be able to eat again after 9:20.
It’s tough. I can see someone starting out with the best of intentions still deciding, eh, especially if she doesn’t really believe in it.
My cousin who lives up in Canada, even with a very devout mom (when it comes to herself, she’s not the type to judge others or make them do anything) doesn’t fast anymore, no matter how much others in the family sideeye him. On the other hand, as long as Rana stays in touch with any of the Nazirs, I think it’s that much more likely that she’ll continue. Even though it is religious, it does involve activities that have become cultural and it’s made easier by doing it as a community. Having someone there with you when you wake up to eat before sunrise, when you complain through the day, and when you’re finally breaking fast at sunset makes it all so much nicer. Especially if it’s Alya or Yasmeen, of course. Be cute if Kate tried to be that person for her, or at least until she realized how horribly prepared she is for that life and Rana stops her. 😛
Do you think rana will still celebrate Ramadan after her parents disown her?
Do I think the Corrie writers will have fictional character Rana celebrate it or do I think Rana the person we’ve gotten to know will? 😛
I don’t know if the writers will even remember it when the time comes, heh, but they could just as soon make a point of it, either to have her not, in a rejection of her parents and their so-called values, or she could continue fasting as a way to connect with them and her culture, despite everything.
It’d be harder to say with Rana, the real person. First, to clarify, “celebrate” is so the wrong word. Fasting when you’re a kid (when the grownups make it easy for you) and when Ramadan’s during the winter (since it’s on the lunar calendar, it moves back 11 days every year) is one thing, but these last few summer Ramadans, ugh, especially in the northern areas, it’s just this month long slog of eating, napping, the worst part: waking up again, and having to repeat. And with a possible full work day thrown in there somewhere. Though this year Ramadan’s finally moved back enough to be entirely before the summer solstice, people in Manchester will have to FINISH eating BEFORE 3 in the morning, on average and will only be able to eat again after 9:20.
It’s tough. I can see someone starting out with the best of intentions still deciding, eh, especially if she doesn’t really believe in it.
My cousin who lives up in Canada, even with a very devout mom (when it comes to herself, she’s not the type to judge others or make them do anything) doesn’t fast anymore, no matter how much others in the family sideeye him. On the other hand, as long as Rana stays in touch with any of the Nazirs, I think it’s that much more likely that she’ll continue. Even though it is religious, it does involve activities that have become cultural and it’s made easier by doing it as a community. Having someone there with you when you wake up to eat before sunrise, when you complain through the day, and when you’re finally breaking fast at sunset makes it all so much nicer. Especially if it’s Alya or Yasmeen, of course. Be cute if Kate tried to be that person for her, or at least until she realized how horribly prepared she is for that life and Rana stops her. 😛
Hiiii :) Hope you had a nice weekend! About your “way” of shipping, wow, it has to be a really special pair for you then. But that means you’re really invested, which is nice when things are good but awful when they are bad. Plllllsss of course I ship Kana, it’s something very unique and the chemistry between those two is… ? also Bhavna honestly deserves an award or a statue or something, she’s phenomenal. I just wish that in the end everything goes well, people need that hopeful message. -S
I did have a nice weekend, thank you! How about you?
Haha, ahhh, my friend makes fun of me for how easily I ship. I can be pretty open to a lot of pairings and dynamics. But there is a scale as to the…intensity? of shipping, and some couples are, oh, that’s nice, while others I would have given up so much to see properly done in canon. I think the number of canon couples makes us less desperate for that one couple that gets it all right, eat least. I think Corrie definitely messed up in how Kate was written, but hopefully there’s plenty of time to do other things well.
Hiiii :) Hope you had a nice weekend! About your “way” of shipping, wow, it has to be a really special pair for you then. But that means you’re really invested, which is nice when things are good but awful when they are bad. Plllllsss of course I ship Kana, it’s something very unique and the chemistry between those two is… ? also Bhavna honestly deserves an award or a statue or something, she’s phenomenal. I just wish that in the end everything goes well, people need that hopeful message. -S
I did have a nice weekend, thank you! How about you?
Haha, ahhh, my friend makes fun of me for how easily I ship. I can be pretty open to a lot of pairings and dynamics. But there is a scale as to the…intensity? of shipping, and some couples are, oh, that’s nice, while others I would have given up so much to see properly done in canon. I think the number of canon couples makes us less desperate for that one couple that gets it all right, eat least. I think Corrie definitely messed up in how Kate was written, but hopefully there’s plenty of time to do other things well.
Hi anon z. Of course I won’t post anything if you don’t want it to be. 🙂
You’re right that Rana’s parents don’t seem that religious, not enough to try this anyway, but as I said before, I think they are very image-conscious. The shame of it is what they can’t stand, being talked about and shunned by the others in their community. They’re certainly not the type to stand up to others for Rana’s sake or to voluntarily withdraw because they don’t want to associate with those who’d badmouth their daughter. Not that I’m entirely sure Corrie grasps the distinction and most likely went with this storyline because they wanted to and were stuck with this pair, it’s not like they were going to bring in a third set of Muslims and have them go through the same thing.
It would be nicer to see an accepting Muslim family, but of the instances of Muslim LGBT characters I can think of, almost all of them HAVE been positive? It’s only the other soap EastEnders, from ages ago, where it was a similar drawn out negative reaction. And this seems important enough to show and without much harm to any of the characters, I think it’ll work out well in having all the good characters (the audience proxy, in this case) react so negatively that the audience can see how repulsive it is without having poor Rana actually being dragged away and being locked up.
And yeah, people have such an odd idea of Pakistan. It can be awful for people in the wrong circumstances, but for most of us it’s a chill visit to a place with a really advantageous exchange rate and a lot of food available for delivery. Fun fact, I’m actually heading there for a couple weeks’ vacation soon, and I was applying for a Pakistani visa and this is the sight that greeted me. 😀
Hi anon z. Of course I won’t post anything if you don’t want it to be. 🙂
You’re right that Rana’s parents don’t seem that religious, not enough to try this anyway, but as I said before, I think they are very image-conscious. The shame of it is what they can’t stand, being talked about and shunned by the others in their community. They’re certainly not the type to stand up to others for Rana’s sake or to voluntarily withdraw because they don’t want to associate with those who’d badmouth their daughter. Not that I’m entirely sure Corrie grasps the distinction and most likely went with this storyline because they wanted to and were stuck with this pair, it’s not like they were going to bring in a third set of Muslims and have them go through the same thing.
It would be nicer to see an accepting Muslim family, but of the instances of Muslim LGBT characters I can think of, almost all of them HAVE been positive? It’s only the other soap EastEnders, from ages ago, where it was a similar drawn out negative reaction. And this seems important enough to show and without much harm to any of the characters, I think it’ll work out well in having all the good characters (the audience proxy, in this case) react so negatively that the audience can see how repulsive it is without having poor Rana actually being dragged away and being locked up.
And yeah, people have such an odd idea of Pakistan. It can be awful for people in the wrong circumstances, but for most of us it’s a chill visit to a place with a really advantageous exchange rate and a lot of food available for delivery. Fun fact, I’m actually heading there for a couple weeks’ vacation soon, and I was applying for a Pakistani visa and this is the sight that greeted me. 😀
