It Should be Called Young-ish, Famous, & Kind of African

If you haven’t seen it yet, there’s a reality show called Young, Famous, and African on Netflix that has taken the internet by a storm and I’m not sure it’s for good reasons. The show is in its second season and follows some famous artists, entrepreneurs, and actors alike as they navigate relationships, friendships, and highlights the wealth that is often overlooked in conversations about Africans as a whole. No Sally, we don’t all live in huts with our pet lions chasing us around. There’s so much more to African countries than poverty, violence, and chaos that the western media has portrayed. We have joy, heart, culture, and so much beauty that many people don’t ever get to see on their screens. However, many viewers have commented on the fact that the show has failed to appropriately live up to its title of young, famous, and African.

The cast members are African and famous but we’re yet to see a bit of African culture or their fame. Outside of the beautiful traditional attire that many cast members have blessed us with, there hasn’t been much else to show the beauty of South Africa, Nigeria, Tanzania or Namibia where the cast members are from. All we’ve gotten so far is relentless bickering, old and tired parties, and Swanky's late but fashionable entrances in slow motion. As a viewer, I would love to live vicariously through the cast members and get to see parts of South Africa where the show is shot. All I've seen so far are empty restaurants where nobody ever seem to order food, let alone eat. I want to see what makes South Africa beautiful, unique and a fun place to be. All the cast mates are either millionaires (or they claim to be one) and so why not shoot in other countries where the rest of the cast is from?

I am in no way asking for this show to turn into yet another sad historical documentary about some painful parts of African history or colonization but please give me a bit more than scripted and forced meetings. Can the cast please visit a spot that shows a bit of its people’s culture? Given that we have some musicians in the cast (Nadia, Diamond, 2Baba) can we get to see a bit of their music? Diamond sings a lot, if not most of his songs in Swahili, can we get to see him in the studio working on some music? That’s what makes him famous so can we see a bit of that? Can we see some of the philanthropy work he does in both eastern and central Africa? Of all the things this artist has to offer, all the show has chosen to highlight is his inappropriate relationship with his ex and a cringey conversation with the 25 year old cast mate Fantana. I felt so much second hand embarrassment watching him ask Fantana about her sexual life; so much so that I wanted the earth to open and just swallow me whole. Can we see Annie read a script for an acting role? Is the trouble is her marriage all that this show can highlight about a woman who has been acting for years in Nollywood? I have so many questions and before I can even think to answer it, we're at yet at another meet-up starting what can only be categorized as a scripted drama.

With the exception of Zari the boss lady and Andile, most of the cast members are in their 30’s which is pretty young if the cast members don’t age themselves. In every scene, Annie reminds us that she’s an elder who deserves respect and I’m like where’s the young portion of this show to make this title make sense? The vibes are just old and tired and I want more from this show all together.

As an African myself (Congolese) I think maybe the expectation for this show is high because it’s the first one we’ve ever gotten. Other reality shows get to just be petty and messy for no reason so is it me? Am I being too critical and putting so much on this show and its cast? Do you think that this cast should get to just exist without the pressure of representing the entire continent in a way that will please all its viewers? Is this another form of respectability politics?