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Mo Amer’s new Netflix Series “Mo” · Obnoxiously Pleasant

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_01: Would you like to try some chocolate hummus?
• 0:02
  SPEAKER_00: You say chocolate hummus?
• 0:04
  SPEAKER_00: You know what you just did?
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: You just insulted my grandmother.
• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_00: The hell with your culture.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: Lo siento, I did not know that hummus was Mexican.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: It's not Mexican.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: It's Palestinian.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_01: So, I want to ask you, Lena.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: Like everybody else in America.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_01: Well, in the Arab American community, have you watched Mo on that one?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, of course.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: So what do you think?
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: Loved it.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_01: Oh my god, I thought it was so cute.
• 0:28
  SPEAKER_01: I love the fact that it was just like just an immigrant story.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like you could be from like anywhere.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_01: Any immigrant.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: Everybody can watch it.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just relate.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's not just, you know, for Palestinian Americans or Arab Americans.
• 0:38
  SPEAKER_02: It's really um there's so many there's so many aspects of the story that you know are relatable to so many different communities.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_02: Like and just you can just be anybody who's dealing with like um healthcare issues, the fact that he doesn't have that he's undocumented.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: He's undocumented, you know, he he's an asylum uh uh case and he's been struggling to get his citizenship.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I love when when when you know he's like I I love when he says, um, you know, like I can't go back.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: Like I I don't belong to this country, and I can't go back or to where I am from.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, a free agent.
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, exactly.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: I'm a free.
• 1:17
  SPEAKER_01: But like like it's funny in the moment, but at the same time, you're like, that is so deep.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but the way he did it, yeah.
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: He's the story, he like literally he embodies the story of so many people.
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like, if you come from someplace that's like, I'm not talking about like, you know, Felestine being war torn.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it is kind of war-torn, let's be real.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but like there's a lot of war-torn places in the world, and a lot of those folks are here, right?
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like in the United States, and it just like humanizes them.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: And it's true, his experience.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, his experience is relatable to so many people with different backgrounds.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_02: You don't have to be just an Arab, but I think it's very the the way he did it, you know, with humor, yeah, it just gets to the point and to the core.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: I took some notes because I'm like, I wanna you tell me, and then I'm gonna I'm gonna pull up my.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: I loved it.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_02: I loved it, but I as soon as I started, as soon as I finished it, I'm like, oh my god, I already know.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_02: Like there were some some episodes and some scenes where the Arab American community is just gonna have a field day with it.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: I know.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: I that's what I you know what's you know what's amazing though is this is like one of the few things that got a hundred percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_01: That's what I wanted to do.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a great and Rotten Tomatoes, though I like I love Rotten Tomatoes because like they are so good about the way they review stuff.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like I thought it was just freaking No, he got wonderful reviews, and I think I think like most of my Arab friends, I don't know about your Arab friends, but most of my Arab American friends loved it.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so I I think he was very true to his his story and his experiences, and he he showed that.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like And I love the fact that we finally have like a um okay, so like like it's super different.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_01: Like him and Rami were because I loved Rami when it came out, right?
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, but this is not we're not reviewing Rami because it's a whole other because it's I have so much.
• 2:59
  SPEAKER_02: I know no about that.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_01: I loved the um like I love the difference in in the way that they both presented like Arab Americans.
• 3:07
  SPEAKER_01: Does that make does that make sense?
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_02: Well, I think Rami's story was a little bit different than his because he's more talking about the spiritual, like his spiritual uh uh journey, yeah, yeah, or his struggles with being a Muslim American.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_01: But I think it's yes, but I also think there's a little bit of his like you know Egyptian American.
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, come on, of course.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_01: But I love the different the way that they were presented differently, but I just love the fact that there's the way that Palestinian Americans were portrayed in this show.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like the like their people.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: I like the Yemeni dude.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: Me too.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: The Yemeni guy was so freaking funny.
• 3:39
  SPEAKER_02: I love that guy.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: I have to say, yeah, and I love I love that the they had a uh a Jewish guy like hanging out with them all the time and like they're constantly talking about the Palestinian-Israeli um uh situation.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: Uh but yeah, that was funny.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_02: Um, did you have did you did you dislike anything about it?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um no, not at all.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I did it.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: I I did it.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: I love the fact, like, so I love the fact that I'm gonna be able to do that.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_02: I love his brother too.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: Sorry, like his brother was awesome.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_01: But I love the fact there's that one scene where he's like, they're winning, I think they're winning to call his case.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: He like just had a fight with his girlfriend, and his mom's like not well, and he's like, oh my god, what's gonna happen?
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: So he just starts to have this like complete sweaty like panic, yeah, right?
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_01: Like the worst possible time.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_01: And I just I was like, I loved it because I was like, yeah, it's very relatable.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's the thing.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_02: That could be any of us, yeah.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_02: And and I think just going back to the difference between him and Rami, Rami was born and raised in the US, yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: So this guy's experience is completely different, it's a whole different story.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, he talks about um, you know, not having a job because he's undocumented and how he has to hustle for his family.
• 4:42
  SPEAKER_02: He likes to say, like, I gotta, I gotta like do this, I gotta provide for my family.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_02: And those are things that you not just Arab Americans or just Arabs or anybody, it's like anybody can relate to that.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_02: You can be from any kind of background, you can be from any kind of country, yeah, you can be uh an immigrant from Afghanistan, from anywhere in the world, and still have that experience too.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's why it was, it was like I liked it a lot.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_02: And like I said, he talks about, you know, he gets like no spoilers, but like he has to go to the doctor, but he chooses not to.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not gonna spoil it, but he he chooses not to.
• 5:16
  SPEAKER_02: And it's because he first of all, he's undocumented.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_02: And second of all, he can't afford it.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_01: He doesn't have health insurance, you know?
• 5:23
  SPEAKER_01: And so I feel like that touches like you know what I loved about Mo, like, yes, everything you said, every underscore yes, yes, yes.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: I love the fact that it was like a comedy, but with heart.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, right.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_01: Like for me, that is phenomenal.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I laughed, I I I felt his his his pain, I felt, you know, like his his worry, his relationship with his mom, and then him trying to bring his girlfriend, you know, his girlfriend's Latino, into she's awesome, by the way.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_01: I loved her.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Me too.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but trying to bring her into you know, like his very freaking like Arab American, Palestinian American family who carries olive oil or whatever he's gonna do.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: I know, I know.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_01: I I I mean, just everything.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Like, I was like, this is this guy.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: So, like, this guy's like a great representation, by the way, of like a lot of like Arab American like But see, that's what I want to come to.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Not first generation, but immigrant Arab American.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so here's here's the thing.
• 6:14
  SPEAKER_02: I don't know what notes you wanted to talk about, but I wanted to touch on the criticism.
• 6:18
  SPEAKER_02: Oh, yeah, yeah.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_02: So the criticism, and I saw this coming like a mile away.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, okay.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Like the first thing is like, oh my god, he's a Muslim and he has a girlfriend.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: It is so Ibn.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and Haram.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, like Ib, of course, it comes before Haram, staghfar Allah.
• 6:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like, that's not what I believe, but like that's that's the concern, okay?
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: So it's like, oh my god, he has a girlfriend and he's showing it, and I'm just like, it's it happens.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_02: Like, this is I mean, it's the truth.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Like, obviously, you shouldn't be watching this with your kids, or if you're not gonna be.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: No, but I but I think it's weird because like so so there was a um there there's a like a group that I'm in on Facebook and they were discussing uh Mo, and that was like one of the biggest issues that somebody was bringing up is that oh my god, he's making it okay to have a girlfriend.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: I'm like, he's not making anything.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: This is the reality.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_01: It's just really in our culture not to talk about it.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, and like let's be real like, how how many times do we see it where a guy in our culture, like an Arab guy, goes around and has a girlfriend, and it's perfectly fine.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yep, but the minute a girl does that, halas, it's over.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_02: And I'm not condoning either one.
• 7:24
  SPEAKER_02: I'm not okay.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: Don't come after me.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I'm not condoning it.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And I told you I'm all for just live your life.
• 7:29
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, live your life.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: It's I'm not condoning any of this.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: I'm just saying that this this happens.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_02: And if you choose to ignore that or think, oh my god, we live in this fantasy world where nobody does anything wrong or nobody has it.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, this is just part of life.
• 7:43
  SPEAKER_02: Like, I know so many.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_01: I just think it's weird that people think like people are just openly being like, oh my god, they shouldn't portray that.
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: But why not?
• 7:50
  SPEAKER_01: This is the truth, this is what happens, and it's not for me to like condone or or not condone or whatever.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: I that's I'm like, live your life.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: This happens.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that they talked about it.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm glad that he talked about it.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, because it is it it it's his life, this is his life experience, and this stuff happens not just with Mo, every Palestinian, every Arab, and I'm not saying every, sorry, let me take that back.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_02: But I mean, like it's it happens often enough that I don't know why people are surprised.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_02: Okay, maybe these people didn't want him to actually portray that, but then he wouldn't be true to his story, exactly.
• 8:20
  SPEAKER_02: You know, and he I didn't see him like pushing for that or he the entire the entire time he was trying to kind of bring the two cultures, like trying to bring her into the family and figuring out how he can have her in his life.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: But the show in short frames.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's a love story just which just it's not even it's not even about them being the show in general was just like I loved it because it was an excellent portrayal of like what an immigrant life looks like in America.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_01: End of story.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_01: And like, yeah, maybe I don't I don't feel like anything is overdramatized, I don't feel like anything is not dramatized enough.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: I don't feel like they don't discuss anything.
• 8:57
  SPEAKER_01: I absolutely loved every aspect of that show.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's great, but I think for the critics, I think the problem is they left everything that was amazing about that show and focus on that thing.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: The Hummel scene was my favorite.
• 9:09
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean that that's one that's one, but like I'm saying, don't focus.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_02: Like I get their concerns, and I get like, yeah, like whatever.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: I understand that.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Because like I personally wouldn't want my kid doing that, but that's fine.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: But I I also know that I'm like, whatever.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: You want your kid to have a girlfriend?
• 9:26
  SPEAKER_01: Whatever, that's life.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_02: No, I'm not gonna let him do that.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: No, we're not, we're not condoning that stuff, but at the same time, we're not condoning it, like I was saying, but at the same time, don't just focus on that one thing, okay?
• 9:45
  SPEAKER_02: Look at the bigger picture.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: I will smack you.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_02: Look at the bigger picture.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: Love is good.
• 9:50
  unknown: Love is good.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: Keep it within halal parameters, though.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_02: That's what I'm saying.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Anyway, I love the show.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_02: Me too.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: Anything else?
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_02: No, I loved it.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: I thought it was excellent.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_01: So, what do you say to the critics?
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: I say to the critics, like, watch it and watch it without any of your own biases.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_01: Just watch it as an immigrant story.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_01: If he was an Arab, if he was Indian, you would not have the same feelings.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_01: If he was, you know, uh like Asian American, you wouldn't have But let's let's clarify the critics.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Who the critics we're talking about, like Arab Americans, Arab Americans, too.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Come on.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Because honestly, like folks who are uh there's a look there, like let me not like let me not say that it's a humongous population of Arab Americans who hate the show.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, no, no.
• 10:35
  SPEAKER_01: No, I think it's the opposite.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's like overwhelmingly a lot of support.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, Arab American uh community like in the United like here, everywhere, honestly.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_01: Arab American community loved it.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think it's like a tiny sliver of people who are like, this is not appropriate or who shouldn't show X, Y, and Z.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_01: But I think overall, like it was amazing.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's about it's about damn time, as Liza would say.
• 10:57
  SPEAKER_01: It's about damn time that we have the kind of representation that we want in the media, how we want people to see us.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: And Mo for me, excellent immigrant story.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_01: I loved it.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: I loved it.
• 11:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yes, definitely watch it for myself.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_02: Yes, me too.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_02: I'm gonna I'm an immigrant.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_01: You were born here.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_01: No, I wasn't.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_02: Really?
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_02: No, you don't know that.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_02: No, I wasn't born here.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: I came when I was six.
• 11:18
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she was I'm still more immigrant than she is.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_01: I was 10.
• 11:23
  unknown: I'm kidding.
• 11:24
  unknown: I'm kidding.
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_01: That's funny.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: I'm kidding.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: I thought you knew that.
• 11:26
  SPEAKER_01: No, I thought you were born here.
• 11:28
  SPEAKER_01: Okay, well, she's an immigrant too.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: But no, honestly, as an immigrant, and like I was a little bit more like I'm fortunate, right?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: I was not, I didn't live that undocumented life.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_01: Like, no, I didn't either.
• 11:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but you still deal with so many of the other aspects of things that he talks about, and I just I loved it.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: I love that, you know, here's something that's portraying us as humans, and nothing's really ever done that before.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's awesome.
• 11:53
  SPEAKER_02: I love it.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_02: Definitely watch it, and I can't wait for season two.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_02: Me too.