Yallahrup Færgeby

What would you get if you crossed the early 1990s urban themed variety show "In Living Color"  with the UK’s Muppets-style political parody show "The Spitting Image" and then plopped it in the middle of Scandinavia?   It might look something like "Yallahrup Færgeby". [HT: Islam in Europe]

The program follows the misadventures of two dimwitted boys of Middle
Eastern background in  the fictional Danish ghetto suburb neighborhood of
Yallahrup Færgeby.  The eponymous neighborhood  is a play on words that mixes the Arabic exclaimation Yalla! and the Islamic name for God with commonplace  place names (in Danish -rup and -by are a bit like -ton or -ville in English).

Islam in Europe:

Yallahrup Færgeby, DR2’s Christmas show, is about two immigrant boys, Ali (Palestinian, 12) and Hassan (Moroccan, 13). The two, who live in a suburb called Yallahrup Færgeby, dream of being gangsters. They love to rap Tupac Shakur, started a [marijuana –Svend] smoking club and in general refer to girls as "whores".

The series, which is rated for 15 and up, has received quite a lot of criticism about their portrayal of Danish immigrant youth.

It’s a caustic, crude and at times sidesplitting funny puppet show lampooning Danish multiculturalism from the right. I’m not comfortable with the offensive way it portrays immigrants or Islam, but I’m not all that surprised given current events, and it certainly gives you a window into the stereotypes that prevail in Danish society.

Denmark, like the rest of northern Europe in my experience, can be to be a bit less sensitive about multicultural sensitivities–I remember a cousin in Jutland chiding me for being "politisk korrekt" when I expressed horror at her reference to a child with Downs Syndrome as a mongoler ("mongol")–than the US, so it comes as no surprise that the show freely resorts to stereotypes (e.g., the Pakistani mullah singing the song mentions 72 virgins after the bomb goes off). And risqué by American standards.

Below is the YouTube video of  their music number "En krammer til Osama" ("A hug for Osama"). I’ve translated its lyrics quickly, not that it probably adds much to the experience given how the lyrics are so random as to almost be  incoherent. The focus is clearly on goofy rhymes. (It all rhymes humorously in Danish.)

Unfortunately for most of you, everything’s in Danish. Which is a shame, as the dialog and foreign accents can be wickedly funny. And the satire is quite biting at times.

But you don’t need to understand Danish to pick up on the following important dynamics if you watch some episodes on their website:

• Minority youths in Denmark, like in many places, identify instinctively and passionately with hip-hop culture.  (Wanna see an example?)
• Like in much of Europe–and unlike in the USA–in Denmark the issue of immigration and assimilation is inextricably intertwined in the popular consciousness with Muslims and Islam.  If in America, African-American men are the feared Other of urban life, in Denmark and much of Europe that dubious honor is held by Muslim men (and, increasingly, even Muslim women).
• English and American popular culture permeate Danish life. (One skit features a Tupac Shakur puppet rapping in agonizingly American-accented Danish.) 

Update (2008-01-12):  A few stylistic tweaks and edits.