'Netflix's Bodies is the Muslim representation I've been waiting for'
If you're after a new series to binge watch on Netflix this weekend, then you need to know about Bodies.
The crime and sci-fi drama follows four detectives from different time periods – 1890, 1941, 2023 and 2053 – who discover the exact same body, and begin to unravel a mystery spanning decades as they try to catch the killer.
One detective, Shahara Hasan (played by Amaka Okafor), is a Muslim woman who wears the hijab, and without a doubt, her character is the Muslim representation I've been waiting to see on screen.
The series begins with Shahara going about her day – she goes for a run, wakes her son up for school and goes to her job as a police detective. We also learn that Shahara is mixed-race, with her father (played by Nitin Ganatra, what a legend!) being from a south Asian background.
As the series progresses, we see how her faith and culture play a part in her work. She is given particular cases due to being from a similar, cultural background to those involved, and we hear about police officers potentially discriminating against certain communities tied to a case she's working on.
Still, Shahara is so much more than just her faith and culture, which is refreshing to see. Usually, when a Muslim woman is portrayed on screen, writers resort to lazy stereotypes, presenting them as oppressed by their faith, family or culture, and not having much to say or do apart from wait to be liberated by a white protagonist.
But, Shahara doesn't need saving. Bodies does things differently in highlighting her faith and culture through important conversations about her role in the police force, all the while not making it the *only* lens we see her through. Series creator, Paul Tomalin, speaks on why this was so important.
"There's not one character that doesn't have something that makes them an outsider," he told Cosmopolitan UK. "We did the research, looking for cast that preferably had lived experiences, while making sure we had the best actors.
"Each thing that made the characters different could be a whole show, so we highlighted it then developed it alongside the main story," he continued. So, sure, Shahara is Muslim, but there's so much more to her than that.
Bodies is brilliantly diverse in not only its Muslim representation, but that of different communities. Detective Charles Whiteman is Jewish, but struggles with his faith and faces constant anti-semitism in the police force and wider society. Alfred Hillinghead is gay and faces prison if he is found out, while Iris Maplewood has a disability.
Overall, the series deals with representation in a way that truly values it, rather than just ticking a box. It discusses the issues that each character faces, and their lack of feeling loved by society, while not making it their sole focus and instead, creates a grabbing, entertaining series with an overarching, important theme about the need of love and acceptance in society.
If you're in the need of a new series to watch on Netflix, Bodies is it.
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