The new UK documentary My Week As a Muslim has been widely criticised for a television experiment that shows what happens when a white British woman goes ‘undercover’ as a Pakistani Muslim.
The concept required participant Katie Freeman to don a hijab, prosthetic nose and dark makeup in the name of highlighting Islamophobia in the UK: it just so happened that filming occurred, by chance, during the week of the Manchester bombing.
According to the show's producers, Freeman's 'disguise' was designed so she could "experience first-hand the reactions of non-Muslim people to those of Islamic faith."
Freeman—who admits on camera that she holds prejudices against Muslim people—was embedded into the community to challenge her misconceptions but the result has been panned, with some viewers describing it as "racist" and "ignorant" on social media.
One Twitter user wrote: "My nose/skin colour aren't entertainment devices for you to realise you're racist. Learn EMPATHY".
Series producer Fozia Khan has defended My Week As A Muslim in an opinion piece for the Guardian, saying she wanted the show "to bring to a wide audience the harsh realities" of Islamophobia in the UK.
"Often, when making documentaries, you feel you are preaching to the converted," she writes. "I was determined to make something that would reach people who wouldn’t normally watch a programme about Muslims."
She goes on to say that: "'Blackface' or 'brownface' has historically been used as a form of entertainment to mock non-white people.
"This film is the antithesis of that. Its purpose is to inform and promote understanding between communities, not to caricature them."
The documentary aired in the UK on Monday night.
