Pakistan's Growing Cultural Impact
Vanessa Khan
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LOS ANGELES, CA -(RYM)- The Latest Marvel Series, Ms. Marvel, has just wrapped up its first season, with the finale streaming earlier this week. Since the show’s premiere the reviews have been mixed, but now we are seeing a score of 98% from Rotten Tomatoes, making Ms. Marvel one of the highest rated projects to come from the MCU.
Credit: Rotten Tomatoes
What really sets this show apart for many was the more accurate representation of Muslim-American, and Pakistani families in the U.S. as well as the depiction of Karachi, Pakistan when the show traveled there throughout some episodes of the show’s premiere season.
“The diverse experiences of Muslim women in “Ms. Marvel” are among aspects that stand in contrast to findings of a report published last year examining Muslim representation across 200 top-grossing movies from the U.S., the U.K., Australia, and New Zealand that were released between 2017 and 2019.
The study found women were particularly underrepresented, with just 23.6% of Muslim characters in these movies being female. Conducted by the University of Southern California’s Annenberg Inclusion Initiative, with support from others, it also found that 90.5% of these films didn’t feature Muslim speaking characters and yet 39% of “primary and secondary” Muslim characters were perpetrators of violence.
Making Ms. Marvel more relatable was intentional, said Sana Amanat, one of Kamala Khan’s creators and an executive producer on the show. She wanted to portray a Muslim character who “feels like someone you know.””
The depiction of how Pakistanis are represented in the U.S. is something that Hina Abidi, and Nausheen Khan of the Pakistan Arts Council of USC Pacific Asia Museum works diligently to show a side of Pakistan not often seen in the U.S.
“Pakistan’s culture and society have been significantly influenced by diverse ethnic groups living in the country. Punjabis, Kashmiris, Sindhis, Balochis, Siraikis, Pakhtuns and Muhajirs have all contributed to our cultural heritage and art over many decades.”
Scribe Publishing Platform Website, Dawn. Discusses the melting pot of cultures inside Pakistan, and how their cultures have influenced the arts of the nation and their culture. Nausheen opens up in further detail about the expansion of cultural inclusion.
As more representation of Pakistan is seen on the international stage, as seen with the global expansion of Coke Studio, has shown a side of Pakistan’s Music industry which leads us back to Ms. Marvel in particular it’s soundtrack.
While this first season showed commonly recognized songs in the U.S. like Bon Jovi’s Living on a Prayer, Blinding Lights by The Weekend. What really made the soundtrack stand apart from other project’s in the MCU is the inclusion of some of the top tracks from the Latest Season of Coke Studio, Pakistan. Including Tu Jhoom, Peechay Hutt and In particular, Pasoori by Ali Sethi x Shae Gill.
A song that has already begun to make a huge impact in the music industry, the track being added to the already studded soundtrack led to more success for the track.
Now the PAC along with Grand Performances are coming back with another year of showcasing the music featuring Ali Sethi as their main artist. Featuring Special Guest, Discostan. Scheduled for July 23, 2022 at the Grand Performances Main Stage in Downtown Los Angeles.
For more info on the event, Pakistan Arts Council of USC Pacific Asia Museum and Grand Performances check out the links below:
Pakistan Arts Council of USC Pacific Asia Museum