Sketch comedy series are often hit-or-miss when it comes to bringing laughs to absolutely everybody who tunes in, and new British series Revolting featured a sketch that has been incredibly divisive ever since it debuted on BBC2.The piece parodies the Real Housewives franchise, but it's not set anywhere glamorous. The two-minute sketch is called "The Real Housewives of ISIS," and it has a lot of people talking. Take a look:
"The Real Housewives of Isis" was featured in the series premiere of Revolting, and it's safe to say that creators Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein found a way to create a lot of buzz for their show right out of the gate. The clip has been making its way around Twitter, and it has provoked everything from incredible enthusiasm to complete outrage. The four women married to ISIS members creating drama over everything from matching bomb vests to Instagram is certainly not something that you see on TV every day. A couple of folks on social media even seemed to believe that "Real Housewives of ISIS" was going to be a real show. All in all, an awful lot of people who watched the sketch have something to say about it.
Despite the outrage from certain vocal circles, Heydon Prowse and Jolyon Rubinstein don't regret anything about "The Real Housewives of ISIS." Rubinstein came out to clarify that they were not making fun of religion or the plights of young women who were recruited over the Internet to become ISIS brides. He said this about this sketch:
The target is online grooming. It's about people who are vulnerable to these kind of approaches. We've had the 'White Widow' (British-born terror suspect Samantha Lewthwaite) so this is actually happening to women here.
The two Revolting creators have been creating satire for the small screen for years now, so "The Real Housewives of ISIS" is hardly the first time that they've tackled controversial topics. In fact, their new show also targets subjects like the Brexit vote and British politician Boris Johnson. Heydon Prowse weighed in during the chat with iNews about why he and Jolyon Rubinstein chose to satirize such a serious and controversial topic like ISIS on top of everything else, saying this:
It's important not to pull your punches in satire. You have to be fearless or it undermines your credibility. You can't go after David Cameron for five years like we did and not go after Islamic State.
Revolting is hardly the only sketch comedy show to tackle ISIS for the sake of some laughs. Saturday Night Live aired a piece starring Chris Rock as an ISIS agent appearing on Shark Tank in 2014, and it went with a clip featuring Dakota Johnson as a daughter on her way to join ISIS in 2015. Of course, SNL has been on the air for decades and Revolted has only hit the airwaves in 2017, so SNL may have more freedom to shock viewers than the new series. Only time will tell if Revolting will have to start pulling its punches moving forward.
Check out our midseason TV premiere schedule to see what you can watch on the American side of the pond in the coming weeks.
