{"id":338,"date":"2008-01-12T01:42:38","date_gmt":"2008-01-12T01:42:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2008\/01\/12\/yallahrup-frgeb\/"},"modified":"2013-05-07T18:37:09","modified_gmt":"2013-05-07T23:37:09","slug":"yallahrup-frgeb","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/akramsrazor\/2008\/01\/yallahrup-frgeb\/","title":{"rendered":"Yallahrup F\u00e6rgeby"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

What would you get if you crossed the early 1990s urban themed variety show \"In Living Color\"\u00a0 <\/a>with the UK\u2019s Muppets-style political parody show \"The Spitting Image\"<\/a> and then plopped it in the middle of Scandinavia?\u00a0 \u00a0It might look something like \"Yallahrup F\u00e6rgeby\"<\/a>. [HT: Islam in Europe<\/a>]\"Ali_og_hassan_med_logo_thum\"<\/a> <\/p>\n

The program follows the misadventures of two dimwitted boys of Middle
\nEastern background in\u00a0 the fictional Danish ghetto suburb neighborhood of
\nYallahrup F\u00e6rgeby.\u00a0 The eponymous neighborhood\u00a0 is a play on words that mixes the Arabic exclaimation Yalla<\/em>! and the Islamic name for God with commonplace\u00a0 place names (in Danish -rup<\/em> and -by<\/em> are a bit like -ton<\/em> or -ville<\/em> in English). <\/p>\n

Islam in Europe<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Yallahrup F\u00e6rgeby, DR2\u2019s Christmas show, is about two immigrant boys, Ali (Palestinian, 12) and Hassan (Moroccan, 13). The two, who live in a suburb called Yallahrup F\u00e6rgeby, dream of being gangsters. They love to rap Tupac Shakur, started a [marijuana \u2013Svend]<\/em> smoking club and in general refer to girls as \"whores\".<\/p>\n

The series, which is rated for 15 and up, has received quite a lot of criticism about their portrayal of Danish immigrant youth.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

It\u2019s a caustic, crude and at times sidesplitting funny puppet show lampooning Danish multiculturalism from the right. I\u2019m not comfortable with the offensive way it portrays immigrants or Islam, but I\u2019m not all that surprised given current events, and it certainly gives you a window into the stereotypes that prevail in Danish society.<\/p>\n

Denmark, like the rest of northern Europe in my experience, can be to be a bit less sensitive about multicultural sensitivities\u2013I 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 <\/em>(\"mongol\")\u2013than 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 risqu\u00c3\u00a9 by American standards. <\/p>\n

Below is the YouTube video of\u00a0 their music number \"En krammer til Osama\" (\"A hug for Osama\"). I\u2019ve translated its lyrics quickly, not that it probably adds much to the experience given how the lyrics are so random as to almost be\u00a0 incoherent. The focus is clearly on goofy rhymes. (It all rhymes humorously in Danish.)<\/p>\n

Unfortunately for most of you, everything\u2019s in Danish. Which is a shame, as the dialog and foreign accents can be wickedly funny. And the satire is quite biting at times. <\/p>\n

But you don\u2019t need to understand Danish to pick up on the following important dynamics if you watch some episodes<\/a> on their website:<\/p>\n