I’ve only seen two episodes of
Moferefere Lenyalong (SABC2, 7.00, Sundays) and Generations at its worst (think the Sindy character) is better than what I’ve seen.
It’s not even that Shai; a
seasoned actor who should be in the ranks of Vusi Kunene, James Ngcobo and boJerry Mofokeng; is the only actor of “substance” in the comedy but that his acting has gone down to the level of Liopelo Maphate.
Pathetic is the word I am looking for.
Where are our storytellers? Do we really have a shortage of good stories to tell? Is funding a problem? Has our creative pool run dry? I’ve seen better stories told in ADVERTS for crying out loud! In retrospect,
Sgudi Snays, Going Up, Emzwini we Zintsizwa were repetitive and cheesy but they had something that worked for them. I don’t know if it was the appeal of the actors, the convincing storylines or that the SA audience didn’t have anything better to compare them against.
One would have thought that in the wake of the TSOTSI Oscar, the standard of SA films would skyrocket but what seems to be happening is that made-for-TV stories just seem to be produced in the same fashion as Khanyi Mbau released a CD-
for the fun of it. Not even the SAFTAS seem to be motivation enough.
Why would a man like Shai settle for such a lousy production? Shouldn’t he have a pile of scripts to sift through and choose ONLY what he feels does JUSTICE to him as an actor? Are our actors at the mercy of our storytellers? I don’t think the writer of Moferefere had anyone in mind for the character of Kgosi because he probably knew that there’d be a queue of actors lining up to take on that STUPID role.
It’s about time that our actors took enough pride in themselves and their craft and REFUSE to appear in productions that reduce them to comedic spectacles! In the same way publishers reject aspiring writers’ manuscripts, so too should our actors reject appearances in shoddy productions.
I feel really sorry for Shai and many other actors in SA but I am DAMN tired of yawning through a viewing of our stories, effing tired of sub-standard work being shoved down our throats and so tired of reading about our artists’ financial statuses when they die. It’s a joke!
Could the real storytellers please stand up!
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