What I’m Watching: Ramy

Ramy: Season 1, Episode 4 “Strawberries” (B+)

I was intrigued enough by this flashback episode to Ramy’s childhood before things took a serious turn with the revelation of just what day in Ramy’s past this was. Going into a chat room to ask questions about masturbation reminded me of the very entertaining film “Yes, God, Yes,” which I saw at SXSW, and I like that someone told him to search for “nice boobs” and he ultimately chose the magazine cover to serve as the proper inspiration. It was fascinating to watch the shift that happened after news of the terrorist attacks broke and, just as that moment, he heard Arabic emanating from the walkie-talkie that his mother insisted upon calling a cell phone because its functions were essentially the same in her view. His friends casually asking him if he was a terrorist on the walk to school was insensitive but not in an entirely cruel way, though forcing him to go into the woods to masturbate to prove that he wasn’t lying about everything did cross a certain line. It somehow felt natural for Ramy to wander into the kitchen late at night to find none other than Osama Bin Laden going through his fridge looking for whipped cream before delivering a lecture about the western appropriation of strawberries. After that head trip and a visit from the woman on the cover of the magazine to provide the appropriate encouragement, it was sweet to see the roots of his friendship with Steve long before his sense of humor took a dark turn.