by Akinwande Jordan.
The “coming of age” media/ genre is one that will never go out of style or production. Globally, we are all to a certain degree mostly familiar with the work of John Hughes’work, especially Breakfast club – a film that for all its flaws still holds up in today’s society and the blueprint across culture when it comes to the depiction of youth and growing pains. As long as there are young people, perplexed and in a state of an ever-changing dynamism with an immediate society that historically sets to misunderstand instead of educating them, there will always be a book, a film, or a television series documenting the trials and tribulations of the disgruntled hormonal adolescent. There will always be shows like HBO’s Euphoria, Canada’s Degrassi, and MTV’s Shuga.
Orginally an HIV multimedia awareness campaign that started in 2009, the show boasts an ensemble of writers like Amanda Lane, Tunde Aladese, Kemi Adesoye, and actors like Ruby Akabueze, Efe Iwara, Olumide Owuru, Timini Egbuson, and now Hollywood star Lupita N’yongo. Shuga’s premise spans multiple seasons and characters, alternating between Nigeria and Kenya and being shot in different languages. Shuga is split into two parts: Shuga Naija and Shuga Down South.
However, the issues remain unchanged despite the multilingualism and the anthological format. Shuga primarily focuses on sex, specifically the dangers of unsafe sex, and other societal topics such as teenage pregnancy, HIV/AIDS, homosexuality, and sex work. But it does not tackle these issues in a way that aggressively points fingers at the terrible decisions of the characters, predominantly consisting of teenagers and young adults. There’s a certain ease to many of the stories that require a ton of empathy and, if necessary, our sympathy.
Like Degrassi, a show famous across North America and beyond – it has its own darkness and grit. It possesses a face-slapping realism that is all too familiar with each passing story arc and character you come across. Although it doesn’t necessarily possess the occasional campiness that Degrassi had or the “meme-able” moments that have now become a staple in long-form television as a way of being relevant, Shuga still possesses a lot of heart and good intentions. A lot of that is missing in African media specifically made for our youthful demographic. There’s mostly morality at the forefront of the themes with no sense or attempt at complex characterization.
The issues of young people in television almost always fall victim to the embellishments of writers who are scared of being too “uncool” or want to write something with a unique sense of edge. Writers who are on a quest to be seen not as prudes but as people who depict the harsh realities of sex as teenagers – and the depiction of that in itself doesn’t invalidate art. Still, the excessive embellishment leaves a distaste in the mouth when these issues are being aestheticized instead of analysed.
Our issues as teenagers and young adults are already being scrutinised by the generations before. The romanticism of said issues shouldn’t be overly depicted on screen; instead, we need something that tells it like it is without a modicum of indulgence or over justification. And Shuga, to a certain extent, has managed to tell those stories because it is imperative, especially in a hyper-conservative climate like Nigeria or Africa as a whole. It’s approach to the topic of HIV, sexual health and teenage pregnancy doesn’t dance around the causes and the effects and it avoids the erroneous act of blaming victims.
We need media that doesn’t shy away from the supposed unspeakable. We need our very own Degrassi and have it in MTV’s Shuga, at least for now. There’s an argument to be made about how the show “normalises” vices but that’s just art imitating life and not just parodying or justifying it. Without trying to be didactic or come off as a moral instruction – shuga does a decent job at teaching.
A new season/ installment of the show is coming to our screens very soon starring Adesua Etomi, Susan Pwajok, Last year’s breakout star Genoveva Umeh, etc. – continuing its tradition of focusing on the lives and decisions of young Africans. The premise however might change despite the consistency in themes. We should all tune in and help champion shows like this. It’s one of the most decent television shows we have running, and for now, that is just going to have to do. How we document our youth is how we document our society and it’s perhaps one of the greatest forms of storytelling.
