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Abed Nadir (Community) - The Best Portrayal of a Muslim Character on US Television
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Antonio E. Gonzalez
Oct 30, 2011, 5:36:56 PM10/30/11
to
With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
aversion.
Basically the movie nerd in Community his character's Islamic
background is rarely brought up; when it is, it tends to be subtle,
and hilarious (as most jokes in Community are).
The TV Tropes Characters page best sums him up:
<http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Community>
" * The Smart Guy/The Chick
* Actor Shared Background: Abed is half-Polish, as is his actor,
Danny Pudi.
* Alternative Character Interpretation: Lovable Nerd Woobie who
just has problems reading peoples emotions, or Manipulative Bastard
whose main goal is purposely influencing people around him so they get
into all kinds of trouble resembling his favourite movies? For
example, if true, the whole plot of "Accounting for Lawyers" is kicked
off by Abed Obfuscating Stupidity. He even got called out on it in
"Cooperative Calligraphy":
"I wouldn’t do that.I hate bottle episodes."
* Ambiguous Disorder: He is incredibly fascinated with films and
television and is a bit obsessed with projecting their tropes onto
real life. He also has a strange, somewhat sterile demeanor, doesn't
seem to know (or even when corrected, care about) how to go about
certain social situations, and is face-blind. The characters seem to
be unsure of whether or not Abed is showing symptoms of some kind of
mental disorder, or is just really quirky. His parents have attempted
treatment, if the syringe clipart in his student film is anything to
go by.
* Awesomeness by Analysis: He's so Genre Savvy that he can
predict, word for word, how anyone in the group will respond to a
given situation.
o In Cooperative Calligraphy, it was revealed that in this
fashion he figured out the menstrual cycles of the women in the group.
o Prophecies Are Always Right: Any prophecy he makes in this
fashion will be accurate.
* Bollywood Nerd
* Breakout Character
o Teased a few times:
Troy: So you constantly have your own little side
adventures?
Abed: Pretty much, yeah.
Troy: ...Me too.
* Brutal Honesty: Abed tends to deliver cutting analyses of people
without any sort of sugary coat. It becomes a plot point in
"Aerodynamics of Gender".
* Catch Phrase: (points)"Cool." (beat). "Coolcoolcool."
* Dangerously Genre Savvy: His encyclopedic command of tropes
gives him the full-on power of prophecy. He shot a video where the
study group bands together to stop Jeff from living out of his car...
the week before it happened to the characters themselves.
* Dawson Casting: Abed's exact age is never specified, but he's
probably in his early twenties. Danny Pudi is 32.
* Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Lampshaded in "Advanced Criminal
Law."
Abed: "Troy invented rap music, and he's related to Danny
Glover, and President Obama."
Troy: "Hey man, that stuff I said this morning wasn't true, I
was just messing with you."
Abed: "You were lying?"
Troy: "Yeah, as a joke. You've never had somebody mess with you
before?"
Abed: "Yes, just kidding, no. Like that? ...This isn't a table.
(Laughs) ...That's funny."
* Fake Nationality: Abed and his dad as Palestinians, or as any
kind of Arab: Danny Pudi (Abed) is half-Indian and half-Polish (and
grew up speaking Polish), while Iqbal Theba (Abed's dad) is Pakistani.
The Arabic they speak in "Introduction to Film," however, is real.
o Notably, "Physical Education" states that Abed is
half-Pakistani, half-Polish, although other episodes have referred to
him having family in Gaza as well.
* Fourth Wall Observer: At one point he looks directly at the
camera and says "this is the movie!" while someone sings "Abed!" in
the background.
* Genre Savvy: His defining characteristic.
o As he says, talking about people like they're in a TV show
is his gimmick and that they "leaned pretty hard on that last week."
He then says that he "can lay low for an episode." As mentioned above,
this becomes Dangerously Genre Savvy at times (oddly enough it is
relatively rare that he is victim to Wrong Genre Savvy).
o He's even Genre Savvy about having an Ambiguous Disorder -
he got out of a conversation with Chang where he was caught in a lie
by pretending to 'glitch', making Chang go away in frustration.
Abed: Works every time.
* Heterosexual Life Partners: With Troy.
* Informed Islamism: Abed's religion doesn't really come up,
except at Christmas or when Pierce wants to be Pierce.
* Lost In Character: For his walk-on role in Cougartown.
* Meta Guy
* Missing Mom: Sadly he has one.
* Motor Mouth
* The Movie Buff: And how!
* One of Us: He knows the terminology Bottle Episode!
* Only Sane Man: Literally. When Britta has the entire group take
a psychological test, all of them are revealed to be extremely
unstable, except for Abed.
* Pass the Popcorn: Part of his Meta Guy shtick. He goes as far as
giving cues to the players so they know how to proceed cinematically.
* The Rainman:
o In his own words, "I know you guys all so well I can
predict your behavior."
o There's a throwaway joke in "Physical Education" when Jeff
spills a bag of bagels on the floor and Abed glances down at them
briefly before saying, "Thirteen."
o Pierce and Duncan have both referred to him as such.
* Reference Overdosed: References are basically how he
communicates with the world.
* Sarcasm-Blind: Early Season 1. He gets better.
* Stat-O-Vision: How Abed sees the world.
* Twofer Token Minority: Half-Polish, half-Arab.
* Tagalong Kid: Although Annie and Troy are technically younger
than he is.
* The Unsmile: Averted. His most common expression is a dead
pokerface, but on the couple of occasions when he does smile... its
pretty adorable.
* Vague Age: He's somewhere in his twenties, but where? "
--
- ReFlex76
- <http://twitter.com/ReFlex76>
television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
aversion.
Basically the movie nerd in Community his character's Islamic
background is rarely brought up; when it is, it tends to be subtle,
and hilarious (as most jokes in Community are).
The TV Tropes Characters page best sums him up:
<http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Characters/Community>
" * The Smart Guy/The Chick
* Actor Shared Background: Abed is half-Polish, as is his actor,
Danny Pudi.
* Alternative Character Interpretation: Lovable Nerd Woobie who
just has problems reading peoples emotions, or Manipulative Bastard
whose main goal is purposely influencing people around him so they get
into all kinds of trouble resembling his favourite movies? For
example, if true, the whole plot of "Accounting for Lawyers" is kicked
off by Abed Obfuscating Stupidity. He even got called out on it in
"Cooperative Calligraphy":
"I wouldn’t do that.I hate bottle episodes."
* Ambiguous Disorder: He is incredibly fascinated with films and
television and is a bit obsessed with projecting their tropes onto
real life. He also has a strange, somewhat sterile demeanor, doesn't
seem to know (or even when corrected, care about) how to go about
certain social situations, and is face-blind. The characters seem to
be unsure of whether or not Abed is showing symptoms of some kind of
mental disorder, or is just really quirky. His parents have attempted
treatment, if the syringe clipart in his student film is anything to
go by.
* Awesomeness by Analysis: He's so Genre Savvy that he can
predict, word for word, how anyone in the group will respond to a
given situation.
o In Cooperative Calligraphy, it was revealed that in this
fashion he figured out the menstrual cycles of the women in the group.
o Prophecies Are Always Right: Any prophecy he makes in this
fashion will be accurate.
* Bollywood Nerd
* Breakout Character
o Teased a few times:
Troy: So you constantly have your own little side
adventures?
Abed: Pretty much, yeah.
Troy: ...Me too.
* Brutal Honesty: Abed tends to deliver cutting analyses of people
without any sort of sugary coat. It becomes a plot point in
"Aerodynamics of Gender".
* Catch Phrase: (points)"Cool." (beat). "Coolcoolcool."
* Dangerously Genre Savvy: His encyclopedic command of tropes
gives him the full-on power of prophecy. He shot a video where the
study group bands together to stop Jeff from living out of his car...
the week before it happened to the characters themselves.
* Dawson Casting: Abed's exact age is never specified, but he's
probably in his early twenties. Danny Pudi is 32.
* Does Not Understand Sarcasm: Lampshaded in "Advanced Criminal
Law."
Abed: "Troy invented rap music, and he's related to Danny
Glover, and President Obama."
Troy: "Hey man, that stuff I said this morning wasn't true, I
was just messing with you."
Abed: "You were lying?"
Troy: "Yeah, as a joke. You've never had somebody mess with you
before?"
Abed: "Yes, just kidding, no. Like that? ...This isn't a table.
(Laughs) ...That's funny."
* Fake Nationality: Abed and his dad as Palestinians, or as any
kind of Arab: Danny Pudi (Abed) is half-Indian and half-Polish (and
grew up speaking Polish), while Iqbal Theba (Abed's dad) is Pakistani.
The Arabic they speak in "Introduction to Film," however, is real.
o Notably, "Physical Education" states that Abed is
half-Pakistani, half-Polish, although other episodes have referred to
him having family in Gaza as well.
* Fourth Wall Observer: At one point he looks directly at the
camera and says "this is the movie!" while someone sings "Abed!" in
the background.
* Genre Savvy: His defining characteristic.
o As he says, talking about people like they're in a TV show
is his gimmick and that they "leaned pretty hard on that last week."
He then says that he "can lay low for an episode." As mentioned above,
this becomes Dangerously Genre Savvy at times (oddly enough it is
relatively rare that he is victim to Wrong Genre Savvy).
o He's even Genre Savvy about having an Ambiguous Disorder -
he got out of a conversation with Chang where he was caught in a lie
by pretending to 'glitch', making Chang go away in frustration.
Abed: Works every time.
* Heterosexual Life Partners: With Troy.
* Informed Islamism: Abed's religion doesn't really come up,
except at Christmas or when Pierce wants to be Pierce.
* Lost In Character: For his walk-on role in Cougartown.
* Meta Guy
* Missing Mom: Sadly he has one.
* Motor Mouth
* The Movie Buff: And how!
* One of Us: He knows the terminology Bottle Episode!
* Only Sane Man: Literally. When Britta has the entire group take
a psychological test, all of them are revealed to be extremely
unstable, except for Abed.
* Pass the Popcorn: Part of his Meta Guy shtick. He goes as far as
giving cues to the players so they know how to proceed cinematically.
* The Rainman:
o In his own words, "I know you guys all so well I can
predict your behavior."
o There's a throwaway joke in "Physical Education" when Jeff
spills a bag of bagels on the floor and Abed glances down at them
briefly before saying, "Thirteen."
o Pierce and Duncan have both referred to him as such.
* Reference Overdosed: References are basically how he
communicates with the world.
* Sarcasm-Blind: Early Season 1. He gets better.
* Stat-O-Vision: How Abed sees the world.
* Twofer Token Minority: Half-Polish, half-Arab.
* Tagalong Kid: Although Annie and Troy are technically younger
than he is.
* The Unsmile: Averted. His most common expression is a dead
pokerface, but on the couple of occasions when he does smile... its
pretty adorable.
* Vague Age: He's somewhere in his twenties, but where? "
--
- ReFlex76
- <http://twitter.com/ReFlex76>
Stan Brown
Oct 31, 2011, 6:49:20 AM10/31/11
to
On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:36:56 -0700, Antonio E. Gonzalez wrote:
>
> With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
> television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
> aversion.
1. Where do you get that the character is Muslim? I've never seen
>
> With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
> television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
> aversion.
any reference to any religion of his.
2. Where do you get that he's Arab?
3. By "Muslim/Arab", do you *really* mean to imply that the two
always go hand in hand? I'm sure there are plenty of Muslims and
plenty of Arabs who would disagree.
--
Stan Brown, Oak Road Systems, Tompkins County, New York, USA
http://OakRoadSystems.com
"I'm not as nice as people think I am. I'm studying to be a lawyer."
-- Arthur Schillub, on /Homefront/
Zombie Elvis
Nov 1, 2011, 10:03:08 PM11/1/11
to
On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:49:20 -0400, Stan Brown
<the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:36:56 -0700, Antonio E. Gonzalez wrote:
>>
>> With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
>> television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
>> aversion.
>
>
>1. Where do you get that the character is Muslim? I've never seen
>any reference to any religion of his.
JEFF: "I'm sure we can agree on one thing."
<the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:36:56 -0700, Antonio E. Gonzalez wrote:
>>
>> With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
>> television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
>> aversion.
>
>
>1. Where do you get that the character is Muslim? I've never seen
>any reference to any religion of his.
ABED: "That I get 72 virgins in heaven!"
SHIRLEY: "Abed's dad is a hardcore Muslim!"
>
>2. Where do you get that he's Arab?
From the pilot where he tells Jeff that he's
>2. Where do you get that he's Arab?
half-Polish/half-Palestinian the first time we meet him?
From the fact that he mentions that his grandfather lives in the Gaza
Strip?
>
>3. By "Muslim/Arab", do you *really* mean to imply that the two
>always go hand in hand? I'm sure there are plenty of Muslims and
>plenty of Arabs who would disagree.
While there are plenty of Muslims who are not Arabs and plenty of
>3. By "Muslim/Arab", do you *really* mean to imply that the two
>always go hand in hand? I'm sure there are plenty of Muslims and
>plenty of Arabs who would disagree.
Arabs who are not Muslim, Abed is an Arab (Palestinian anyway) Muslim
even if he's not particularly devout.
--
"I recall a time not long ago when a bullet in the chest meant a
sucking chest wound, not a quick bandage job and a climactic
final confrontation with a criminal mastermind atop an unfinished
skyscraper."
- Seen on The Onion
Roberto Castillo
roberto...@ameritech.net
http://robertcastillo.net/
http://twitter.com/ZombieElvis
http://robertocastillo.tumblr.com/
Antonio E. Gonzalez
Nov 3, 2011, 12:24:16 AM11/3/11
to
On Tue, 01 Nov 2011 21:03:08 -0500, Zombie Elvis
<DELETErobe...@ameritech.net> wrote:
>On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:49:20 -0400, Stan Brown
><the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:36:56 -0700, Antonio E. Gonzalez wrote:
>>>
>>> With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
>>> television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
>>> aversion.
>>
>>
>>1. Where do you get that the character is Muslim? I've never seen
>>any reference to any religion of his.
>
>JEFF: "I'm sure we can agree on one thing."
>ABED: "That I get 72 virgins in heaven!"
>
>SHIRLEY: "Abed's dad is a hardcore Muslim!"
>>
>>2. Where do you get that he's Arab?
>
>From the pilot where he tells Jeff that he's
>half-Polish/half-Palestinian the first time we meet him?
>
>From the fact that he mentions that his grandfather lives in the Gaza
>Strip?
>>
>>3. By "Muslim/Arab", do you *really* mean to imply that the two
>>always go hand in hand? I'm sure there are plenty of Muslims and
>>plenty of Arabs who would disagree.
>
>While there are plenty of Muslims who are not Arabs and plenty of
>Arabs who are not Muslim, Abed is an Arab (Palestinian anyway) Muslim
>even if he's not particularly devout.
I'm of Christian Arab decendence myself! (grandfather on my
<DELETErobe...@ameritech.net> wrote:
>On Mon, 31 Oct 2011 06:49:20 -0400, Stan Brown
><the_sta...@fastmail.fm> wrote:
>
>>On Sun, 30 Oct 2011 14:36:56 -0700, Antonio E. Gonzalez wrote:
>>>
>>> With prevalent stereotypes about in Muslim/Arab characters in US
>>> television, Abed Nadir from Community is an incredibly pleasant
>>> aversion.
>>
>>
>>1. Where do you get that the character is Muslim? I've never seen
>>any reference to any religion of his.
>
>JEFF: "I'm sure we can agree on one thing."
>ABED: "That I get 72 virgins in heaven!"
>
>SHIRLEY: "Abed's dad is a hardcore Muslim!"
>>
>>2. Where do you get that he's Arab?
>
>From the pilot where he tells Jeff that he's
>half-Polish/half-Palestinian the first time we meet him?
>
>From the fact that he mentions that his grandfather lives in the Gaza
>Strip?
>>
>>3. By "Muslim/Arab", do you *really* mean to imply that the two
>>always go hand in hand? I'm sure there are plenty of Muslims and
>>plenty of Arabs who would disagree.
>
>While there are plenty of Muslims who are not Arabs and plenty of
>Arabs who are not Muslim, Abed is an Arab (Palestinian anyway) Muslim
>even if he's not particularly devout.
mother's side; from Lebanon)
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