So I Watched An Episode of Shuga…

I am one of those rare mythical creatures who never got into Shuga. I remember a while back I watched 10 or 15 minutes of season 1 episode 1 (the one with Lupita) and I just wasn’t having it for some reason. I think part of it stemmed from knowing that the show was about HIV awareness and education. Maybe I was just expecting it to become preachy at any moment so I gave up on it before it had the chance to get there.

Recently, I was cruising around YouTube when I stumbled on episode 1 of season 4 (Need I remind you that I really didn’t see any of the prior seasons) and like play like play, episode 1 turned into two turned into four turned into the entire season.

Needless to say, now I understand the appeal of Shuga.

I recently saw a Tom Hanks interview where he says that the three things he looks for and strives towards when making a movie are to “entertain, educate and enlighten”. The difference between education and enlightenment is that education provides the information and enlightenment requires an understanding an impact.

In Nollywood, most of our movies are “entertainment, entertainment, and entertainment”. Occasionally we have that one movie that also seeks to educate and it usually comes off as one of two things which are either preachy or just thrown in (as in the case of Fifty). We hardly ever have those movies or shows that seek to educate and enlighten. When they occur they usually do not do too well because someone forgot the ‘entertainment’ aspect.

The joy of watching Shuga was that even though the characters were all new to me they still felt familiar. There was a certain comfort within the cast that translates onto the screen (which probably comes from years and seasons of working together). Also, the characters seem familiar because they are real people that are not overly exaggerated. The situations they are going through are things that could happen to us and/or the people that we know or have already happened.

From the stories of Sheila and Femi to Nii and Mary, the show forces you to ask yourself real questions. Unlike the unreal stories where the only relatability would be in asking yourself “oh if a spider bites me and I find myself with super powers, am I going to be a superhero or do I use it to steal pizza from the bakeries?”. No! The show asks real questions like “if you fall in love with someone who is HIV positive, would you be willing to continue in that relationship? How would you face the world? How will your family take it? If your daughter does this, how will you take it?”

From the cast and crew, the writers and directors, and everyone involved you can tell that Shuga has the formula right. Telling real stories, asking real questions while never missing the entertainment mark.