Parents' Guide to

Ramy

TV Hulu Drama 2019
Ramy Poster Image

Common Sense Media Review

Joyce Slaton By Joyce Slaton , based on child development research. How do we rate?

age 15+

Language, sex in comedy about balancing faith, modern life.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 15+?

Any Positive Content?

Parent and Kid Reviews

age 17+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 18+

highly acclaimed, but quite crass

This is not a show for kids. And it's quite crass for adults too. Lots and lots of sexual references and situations. Language. Very mature themes. This is not family watching material.
age 16+

We love Ramy!

Each episode brilliantly explores the many struggles that immigrant families must face in the U.S., in this case, an Egyptian family who are Muslim. Very real issues are shown, such as Ramy being asked if he’s a terrorist; the loneliness of the mother; the struggle to observe Ramadan; the feeling of disconnection from your country of origin; and the pitfalls of cross-cultural dating. The acting is fantastic and we find ourselves laughing and also relating to it at the same time. There is definitely a lot of swearing and sex, so I wouldn’t recommend it for anyone under 16. My husband and I can’t wait for the next season to begin because we’ve grown so attached to Ramy’s character!

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (1 ):

By turns sweet and sardonically amusing in the Master of None vein, this entry in the Young Man on the Verge of Adulthood genre is affecting and goes down easy. It certainly helps that Ramy's Muslim heritage makes for a lot of comical moments many viewers probably haven't seen on screen before, like when a mosque elder takes time to criticize Ramy for not washing properly between his toes before prayer ("When you address God, you must be clean!") or when Ramy's snarky sister Dena (May Calamawy) evades an uncomfortable reunion with a misogynistic uncle by pretending she has her period.

Speaking of Dena and other female characters, one of the most powerful aspects of Ramy is the focus it puts on the expectations on women in the Muslim culture. Ramy complains when his mom (Hiam Abbass) gently urges him to find a nice Muslim girl to settle down with, but Dena's already getting pressure from her parents to provide them with grandchildren. A fascinating scene in Ramy's first episode provides more perspective on what women of Ramy's age and station are going through, when a date with a "proper" Muslim woman winds up as a steamy makeout session in a car. The woman asks Ramy if he brought a condom, offers to get an over-the-phone nikah mut'ah (a temporary "pleasure marriage" that's controversial in Islam) to make him comfortable enough to have sex, and finally resorts to asking directly for what she wants sexually, which is for Ramy to choke her while she masturbates. When he demurs, she criticizes Ramy for putting her in a "Muslim box." In this scene, as in so many others, Ramy rings true -- and real, and extraordinarily, delightfully different.

TV Details

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