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And I think there& #39;s something here beyond the question of geography (because there are diaspora creatives and critics in the US and Europe who engage respectfully with scholars and creators on the continent)... https://twitter.com/SilasMiami/status/1264077654862462977">https://twitter.com/SilasMiam...
African Americans - and this *absolutely* includes first-gen and Africans whose professional work is largely located in western-based Institutions have a responsibility to interrogate the ways in which power functions in their work
Because as long as you& #39;re based in the US, and steeped in conversations and communities there, your perspective will be different from continental perspectives. And sometimes that distance (as Silas pointed out) becomes a lack of care because you& #39;re so far-removed
But that aside, I& #39;ve been thinking about this article and reflecting on some of the assertions made herein, and why it seems so off: https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/blood-and-water-review-netflix-1202232200/">https://www.indiewire.com/2020/05/b...
A summary of the article argues that "the facile teen melodrama set in South Africa doesn& #39;t pack much of a wallop." Yet based on one of the actors& #39; running tally of the series& #39; popularity across different countries https://twitter.com/ThabangMolaba_/status/1263752855707582464">https://twitter.com/ThabangMo... -
this perspective doesn& #39;t seem to hold against audience preferences in multiple countries - both within and outside the continent. Granted, not everyone in Africa will like the show (and I& #39;m always railing against flattening narratives that one thing is for all of us).
This reality would also disprove the article& #39;s assertion that the drama "will leave viewers mostly apathetic". Because, clearly, a lot of them, in many places, are voting through their streaming preferences.
But I think one claim that& #39;s especially reductive is this one - "...if you have some experience with African television you may find “Blood & Water” unsatisfyingly non-committal, as a lukewarm attempt to dress up a mild Western-style drama."
Netflix& #39;s "Elite", is a Spanish drama that is comparable to Blood and Water. Suppose a review said: "if you have some experience with European television you may find Netflix& #39;s “Elite” unsatisfyingly non-committal" - the review itself would be unsatisfying.
Because we know that European television is not a genre in itself - there are genres and genres within European film and television.
Similarly, "Blood and Water" and, say, Ousmane Sembene& #39;s "Xala" are both "African" creations - and different parts of Africa, at that - but comparing the two would make little sense because they serve *very different purposes.
