Local soapies targeted at black people have been under scrutiny in the past year with the media accusing Generations and Muvhango of being racists for not having white actors on their shows.
Though it is clear Muvhango is a Venda-based drama deeply rooted in African traditions, customs and values and how they at times are at conflict with western lifestyle, still, the public somehow expect that the soapie feature some white people. This made me wonder how the show was gonna fit in whites in their storylines seeing that even board members at the show’s hub which is Mukwevho Holdings are only black. I wondered if whites have no business interest at the conglomerate.
On the other hand, Generations is concerned with the rich and the famous and how they fabulously live their extravagant lifestyles and somehow trying unconvincingly to accommodate other facets of the entertainment industry such as music, news and marketing, among other things. The central business district of the show is two companies which are Ezweni Communications and Mamela Media (or whatever the name). Generations does have a few whites as extras but still there is a cry by the public that whites needed be an integral part of the storyline.
In the wake of the racism criticism, it appears the two soapies went back to the drawing board and drew strategies of bringing whites to also be part of the blacks on screen because it is blacks who were crying out foul on the shows’ alleged racism.
I understand race is still a thorny issue in South Africa but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t discuss race relations and racism that we may be possibly noticing on our TV screens.
In a bid to please the public and let racism cries die down, Generations brought in a PA. I was like, ohk!? But did really this PA have to be white? I mean a black person could have played that role. There was no fundamental necessity that required the role to be played by a white. I would have preferred the show to inject some white blood on screen in a convincing way and a manner that makes it necessary to have a white PA. Is that a major failure I see right there?
Some may dismiss the so called racism perception saying both Generations and Muvhango have whites working behind the scenes. But in reality, the general public doesn’t know that. We still have millions of people who are part of the 7 million and 4 million that watch Generations and Muvhango respectively who still don’t know the shows are filmed from 7:00 to 19:00 and that there are over 100 people working rather hard just to entertain them for just over 20 minutes each week night.
On the other hand, we all know Muvhango actress Jo-Anne Reynecke has a white father and the actress now has a fictitious white father on the show. It aint rocket science that this came under the wake of racism reports that we have seen in the media. I just want to commend Muvhango for introducing whites on the show in manner that makes it necessary for the characters to be white. Kaloku we know in reality and in fiction, it is kind of mandatory for Pearl to have a white father. Now there are at least four whites on the show including Pearl’s father who just died.
What I like about the storyline is that it gave Jo-Anne a chance to feature as a lead. This way, the show is also giving young actresses a chance to shine as opposed to them being glorified supporting casts with no significance or a mere humorous storyline. Also, with this storyline, the soapie isn’t shying away from the racism that still exists in our small towns and big cities as we have just seen Pearl’s uncle disapproving of Pearl being part of her newfound white family.
It seems Generations never learns. This time I will not recommend they learn from best soapie Isidingo but learn from Muvhango of all soapies. Some ideas for Genewhatwhat: Have a solid character description for the white PA, what’s her name again? Tjo, it now shows I watch the show on intervals. Anyway, bring on white people on the show in a more clever way than just dropping a white face on our screens.
On the other hand, soapies like Rhythm City, Isidingo and Scandal! are cosmopolitan soapies which capture the essence of what South Africa aims to achieve in terms of doing away with racism. Soapies have a great part to play in building a non-racial South Africa and we are happy that Muvhango and yeah yeah, Generations, are coming to the party.
Yazi someone is really thinking this opinion piece is unwarranted. But I would like you to ask yourself this: If 7de Laan didn’t have black and coloured people on the show, can you really begin to imagine the political interference by the majority party and the general public’s racism outcry? I am not sure whether 7de Laan having a significant numbers of blacks on screen is a way of silencing racism politics.
Essentially, I think in order for Generations and Muvhango to do away with racism allegations by the public and the media, they just have to become cosmopolitan soapies like bo Rhythm City and Isidingo while still maintaining their identity. Phela times are changing ge e le ga gona bjale. We are in 2012 for crying out loud bandla! Or kanjani?
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