We Are Lady Parts season two
We Are Lady Parts, Channel 4’s brilliantly anarchic riot grrrl comedy, is back for a second season. Hot off their UK tour, the all-female Muslim punk band sets out to record their debut album. This time around, lead guitarist Amina (Anjana Vasan) is in her self-proclaimed villain era, refusing to settle for less as she pursues her punk dreams. But there’s a quintessentially 2020s problem: the girls find out that gigging doesn’t pay. As such, they have to somehow scramble the funds together to record their first record. That’s not all, however.
Speaking of 2020s problems, Saira (Sarah Kameela Impey) is being hounded by hardcore fangirl Taifa (Kimani Arthur), who ends up covering the band’s tracks on TikTok and achieving greater fame than Lady Parts along the way. It’s a surprisingly moving rumination on the death of the artist – in the traditional sense at least – and the rise of 15 minutes of fame (or should that be 15 seconds?) social media influencers. Moreover, the popularity of Gen-Z it-girl Taifa, in contrast to what the millennial band deem their potentially waning stardom, speaks to capitalism’s propagation of women as objects for use and disposal with a looming expiry date. Such existential fears tie in with Saira reaching her 30th birthday.
The characters are bold and beautifully written, perfectly embodied by the stellar ensemble cast. At times, however, the gags feel a tad flat –puerile even. Accordingly, the comedy, which is unashamedly silly and occasionally delves into outright surrealism, is sometimes overshadowed by more dramatic, philosophical plot developments. But in an era in which Islamophobic stereotypes are rife – and Muslim women in particular as unwittingly used as culture war pawns by populist politicians – silliness is ultimately an act of resistance for Amina and co. British sitcoms have come a long way since the insular, white-centric days of the noughties and early 2010s. We Are Lady Parts is a riotously radical work, equal parts sitcom and a shining example of stereotype-smashing representation.
Antonia Georgiou
We Are Lady Parts season two is released on 30th May 2024.
Watch the trailer for We Are Lady Parts season two here:
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