Patriot Act

What is the Patriot Act?

The USA PATRIOT Act is anAct of the US Congress that was signed into law by President George W Bushon October 26, 2001, which stands for Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001.

What else is the Patriot Act?

A Netflix original series presented by comedian, actor, producer and television host Hasan Minhaj, through which he navigates around the world with his comedic and storytelling skills to question and critique social issues and offer a general perspective on them.

With the rise in the popularity of the internet over the past few years, there has been a visible shift in viewer ratings from mainstream media to internet streaming services. In a world where anything is accessible at the snap of a finger, it is more convenient to utilise the web and its platforms to ascertain newer and trendier topics than go down the lane of the conventional television and radio medium.

Patriot Act is also one such show that according to Hasan aims to "explore the modern cultural and political landscape with depth and sincerity". The show began airing in October 2018 and has 3 seasons so far, with each episode running on an average of 25 minutes.

Although the show's main focus seems to be political satire, watching a handful episodes convinces the viewers that it doesn't just stop there. As Hasan narrates his script, it becomes instantly clear that a lot of effort and production went into it. The intricate and meticulous style of storytelling, with humour, splashed around every now and then is all proof to the show's attempt at delivering a mindful blend of catharsis and criticism.

Although a quick scroll through the review section reveals disappointment of certain sections of the audience on how the show is inspired by leftist ideals and draws conclusions based on half baked facts, the overall image of the show looks pretty decent and the content is convincing enough for an outsider who's trying to make sense of what is happening around the world.

Over the course of the show, Hasan has spoken about various global issues and delivered facts and figures regarding them very professionally. Although Hasan is primarily a comedian, through this show he appears to transform into a journalist. This show is distinctive in its ability to bring down harsh truths of alarming magnitude to audiences, in comparison to other talk shows.

The first episode titled "Affirmative Action" was featured around a lawsuit alleging Harvard University that it discriminates against Asian Americans in their admission process. The episodes that followed focused on multiple other issues like Saudi Arabia, Oil, Amazon, Content Moderation and Free Speech, Student loans, Cricket corruption and so on.

As Indian-American raised in the states, Hasan raves about India on the show quite often and to solidify this has also hosted an episode on Indian elections of 2019 in season 2. There was also a follow-up episode on it in the next season. Apart from these, there are also clips that display Hasan's interaction with his audience where he answers their questions. Although the show is centred around light-hearted humour, it takes a few deep turns here and there bringing out a serious tone.

As consumers of content, we come across various platforms that provide various insights on a multitude of things. When we have a million sources to choose from, the reality of matters often gets distorted and we are left to believe in what the media has to offer to us. The efforts made by the Patriot Act to step back, question and reflect on the issues happening around is surely a commendable one, but what we choose to feed on is solely our decision. What we make of the conclusions that the show throws at us should hopefully be able to make the world a better place.