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« (Book Review) Landscaping Postcoloniality: The Dissemination of Anglophone Cameroon Literature | Main | Memory Lane Video (March 13, 1962): President Kennedy Welcomes Ahmadou Ahidjo »

March 27, 2009

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ngum

it's totally brilliant! the cast, the picture quality, the colours. uhhhh, i just love everything about it (esp idris elba lol).

Willie

From the first time I saw it I loved it. Very funny yet so real. If you have not seen it, I strongly recommend you tune to BBC 1 on Sundays at 9 pm as it is still running. This is what African films should look like not those Nigerian films with monotonous plots that are usually unprofessionally filmed with poor sound quality and the noise ew! that usually irritate next door neighbours. This is a mater piece of scripting and directing for TV and I think African producers, writers, directors, actors and actresses should learn a lot from this.

samiraedi

Funny as some of the episodes are, the cast are stereotypical and their portrayal rather outrageous. After "enjoying" the dramatic antics of the lead characters; brilliantly portrayed by Jill Scott as Precious and her quirky little secretary Anika Rose, it downed on me that the amateurish approach to their jobs, of both ladies is a stereotypical depiction of Africa. It seems as if Africans cannot be demure, composed, classy and intellectual.

And this is no fault of the producers - but I felt a sense of revulsion and shame at some of the story lines, because they are true.

But this is drama, and this is comedy. It should've been lighter with something that didn't made Africans look so stupid-- like paying a detective to find a small unhappy dog? Some of the stories portrayed the gory and filthy side of Africans.

In the episode of "The Big Bonanza" Precious had to use her bare hands to extract a watch from the dead carcass of a crocodile, which had swallowed a client's husband- effectively, she was dipping her hand into the belly of a dead man to extract a watch!! How filthy is that!!

Something else worried me! Georgeous as Jill Scott is, she wouldn't cut it as a lead in a Hollywood Detective Story; because she doesn't "look the part." I applaud the producers for giving her the part, because I am not prejudicial about the way people look in such things. But I'm highlighting this to confirm the perception that the "typical African lady" is an ample figured Mama (as portrayed) in the mind of the Whiteman. That is why she was chosen; to go with the perceptin of the adipose African Mother.

If there was a real life African detective lady, she'd be a slim, sassy, saucy, sexy little minx, dressed in a provocative outfit, and not in a large boubou wearing comfortable or flat shoes.

OK, and the dialogue was a drag. Not sharp and quick-witted. Their tongues(accents) seemed too heavy for English. I thought that was a mistake. Art should imitate life-- to a certain extent. They spoke English like it was great effort that took out strength from the actors. I know it is meant to be a Botswana accent, but...
Again, the little child actor (bless him) couldn't act and speak at the same time. Check out little kids in Slum Dog.. that's what I'm talking about. They make out Africans to act stupid and make-do with mediocrity.

bonor

Samiraedi do I notice more than a touch of embarrassment about the fat African mami? Women in the West suffer immensely from the idealization of anorectic waifs that bear little semblance to reality. I suppose you would have been more content with a version of CSI Gabarone.

UnitedstatesofAfrica

Samiraedi

You raise valid points. The stereotypes should not come as a surprise because after all the books were written by a white British man

Bonor
Yes! the West suffers from anorexia but we shouldn't be glorifying obesity in Africa. Our women become shamelessly obese after they wed and hide behind huge "cabas". They don't eat right (all that red oil and fried food) or engage in any healthy exercise. Obesity is glamorized in Africa and as a result people die everyday from preventable diseases...diseases which would have been prevented if they just had a bowl of salad two days a week instead of the red oil-infested Achu.
In Africa we cherish curves and curves are definitely good. A lot of Nigerian actresses in the limelight like Omotola, Genevieve, Ini Edo and even American celebrities like Beyonce are beautiful curvy women (even though they are considered fat by Western standards). Such curves are good and should be promoted in Africa (as we already do) because it is healthy. However, there is a difference between being curvy and obese.

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