And I think there'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

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'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're so far-removed

But that aside, I'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/

A summary of the article argues that "the facile teen melodrama set in South Africa doesn't pack much of a wallop." Yet based on one of the actors' running tally of the series' popularity across different countries https://twitter.com/ThabangMolaba_/status/1263752855707582464 -

this perspective doesn'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'm always railing against flattening narratives that one thing is for all of us).

This reality would also disprove the article'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'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'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'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'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.