March 12, 2016
HUN HUGGERS:
A Syrian refugee has become a YouTube star by explaining German culture to Germans (Renuka Rayasam, 3/12/16, Quartz)Firas AlShater, a Syrian refugee, became a YouTube celebrity pretty much overnight. In January the acting student made a video describing an experiment in which he stood blindfolded on Berlin's Alexanderplatz with a sign saying he was a Muslim and asking for hugs. (It was his version of a street performance carried out by Arab artists in various countries.) AlShater's take on Germans--that they need some time to warm up, but once they do, they don't stop--isn't particularly original, but his goofy and endearing manner won over thousands of fans.
Within days of posting it to YouTube, the video had 300,000 views, and German media were bombarding AlShater, who will soon turn 25, with interview requests. Fans recognize AlShater on the street and public transit. Sometimes they even try to hug him. He has recently landed a book deal, too.
AlShater's German co-producer, Jan Heilig, attributes the popularity of this, and other videos the pair have made, not just to their lighthearted humor--a genre which Germans haven't quite mastered--but also to the lack of refugee voices in an otherwise very serious debate about immigration in the country.
"Firas is the first," said Heilig. "He's not just answering the questions that people ask, but really saying what he wants to say. "
Posted by Orrin Judd at March 12, 2016 9:12 AM