By Chinwe Ochu
I guess I am not the only one that thinks ‘Tinsel’, the M-Net produced show on DSTV is a hot mess. No one is talking about it, not because they will be hunted down on the streets for expressing their opinions about the show, but for the fact that no one is watching. Not that anyone cares, anyway. Tinsel is in its fourth season and sadly has had little or no impact on viewers, at least Nigerians. I can’t tell for other Africans, since the people I am acquainted with do not watch it. It happens not to be part of their weekly dosage of TV, at all.
Tinsel started almost simultaneously with Jacob’s Cross, another M-Net production, featuring South Africans. (Although they tell us it’s partly set in Nigeria). Anyway, Jacob’s Cross came, made a splash and then a killing. We all love the show-plot, cast, wardrobe, make- up, set design, cinematography, directing, the whole nine yards. It’s top-notch, hands down. Our dear Tinsel on the other hand, not so much. Since we would not painstakingly produce a standard show, the South Africans have done it for us. I guess that’s why I am not complaining so much. How the world works? You take what you are given or otherwise wise-up and take it yourself. Tinsel is, in my opinion a classic case of ‘shut up and eat it, you have no choice.’
I would attempt to piece together an array of mess that Tinsel as a production exudes. I do not have anything against M-Net, just being an objective critic. I wish I do not have to be so polite sometimes. Anyway…Let’s start with the meat of the issue- Tinsel’s plot; therein lay the dialogue. That aspect of the production is not what bothers me the most, but I will jump into it.
The plot surrounding Tinsel is weak and unexciting; nothing to look forward to. The Ade-Williams’ family, one that constitutes the bulk of the plot, has so little drama to sustain the whole show. It’s either Gideon Ade-Williams, the scion of the family, is rebelling (trust me, doing nothing juicy), or causing ‘trouble’ at his father’s company – Reel Studios. Then the other cast members’ stories are very boring and watered down. That leaves the viewers with nothing to expect. The suspense level is mediocre; dialogue is boring, drab and uninteresting. Nigerians are naturally warm, dramatic people, animated too. I’m not subscribing to infusing unnecessary drama, like some Nollywood movies. Nevertheless, a little energy would not hurt.
Then, there is the issue of the chemistry between the lovers in the show. The vibe they let out is the opposite of what we expect; like they were forced into the scenes. The dialogues are unemotional and often constitute awkward silences and stiff body language. For lovers? Really? It’s a mess. The lack of chemistry between Soji Bankole, the sissy photographer and Telema Duke, the pageant queen is appalling. The same goes for Amaka Okoh and Sunom whatever his name is; whose unimaginative acting is topic for another day. For me, any couple on set that doesn’t seem like a real life couple are doing a bad job. We should be able to see the passion (real or assumed) between them; to the extent that we are pushed to spin a story of an off-set romance. If we don’t get that feeling, sorry, bad job.
Meanwhile, that Soji guy is a terrible actor. Very stereotype and awkward to look at. He is the poster boy of ‘Dude, I think you missed your calling’. I get uncomfortable when I watch him, and not because he’s great looking. The love scenes between him and Telema Duke are mechanical and amateurish. I don’t expect frolicking beyond the show’s PG censure level, but even their hugs are not electric, at best. They don’t even kiss without making me cringe and hide behind something. It’s that excruciating for me.
Part of the no chemistry dilemma is evidenced in the relationship between Brenda Mensah and her wheelchair bound brother Kwame. I don’t know if it is a Funlola Aofiyebi-Raimi (plays Brenda) thing; you know, always making it obvious that she memorised the script. Or the other thing she constantly does with her face. She needs to loosen up a bit and at least stop the stone-face act, for example when she speaks to her brother. We know she is the Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada) of Tinsel, but she must have a soft spot. Everyone does, even Hitler and Osama had families that saw them smile, at some point.
This leads me to the production’s make up and wardrobe department. I have to come out straight here, say it like it is. The costumes are tacky and look cheap. Nigerians do not look that way. We are one of the most fashionable people on earth. We try to look fabulous at all times. Brenda Mensah most times wears outrageous ensembles with inappropriately bright colours – lemon green, cheap pink. It’s a mess. Then, those accessories (the beads, the silver and gold ones), and the plastic synthetic hair she wears? How does she allow them put her in those? For a rich business owner in Nigeria and in the entertainment industry, no less, we all know what she should look like. Even the beautiful Funlola will not be caught dead in those outfits in real life. This is Nigeria and we are unapologetically fabulous. Then there is Telema Duke, a former pageant queen, actor, model and celebrity in her own right; in the show though. The things they make her wear? And she is playing a Nigerian? What have Tinsel’s make- up and wardrobe department been thinking? Those cheap-looking elastic-inspired blouses, hideous off-shoulder dresses and back- water jewelleries? Really, Tinsel? Instead of Miss Continental, they make her look like Miss Swahili (no disrespect to the language). Amaka Okoh is no exception. All things considering, the guys look better, wardrobe- wise.
I have no idea where it all went wrong. Is it the scriptwriting or the directing or even the cinematographers, who by the way are playing it safe? Nothing evokes excitement as they leave me without an elevated heartbeat. These people are portraying Nigerians, right? Where are the rest of the families? The extended ones? In Nigeria, one cannot escape that and they come with their own variety of drama. We never see that in Tinsel. I would rather watch a good Nollywood movie that will give me drama, good wardrobe and hair (although the wardrobe department is technically non-existent in Nollywood productions, I don’t care). I shouldn’t prefer Nollywood movies to an M-Net show but come on. That’s how dysfunctional I think Tinsel is.
Uti Nwachukwu, Big Brother Africa alumni and Season five winner worked extra hard, talking his mouth off, trying to convince his fellow house mates to get hooked on Tinsel. His sales speech left the rest of the housemates bored, as they dispersed one after the other, leaving only Munya, the Zimbabwean. I guess Uti didn’t even believe in the goods he was selling, himself. And months later, we see him play a gay swindler. Guess what? I threw up a little when I saw that. It scarred me for life. But anyway, that’s Tinsel.
It’s not all wrong with the production. I give them kudos though, on set design, camera work, editing and the cast’s spoken English. The casting directors seemed to concentrate more on great speakers of the language than their interpretation of the scripts. It’s disturbing though because Tinsel would have been as successful as Jacob’s Cross. My theory? Much thought was not put into the production. I believe at a point they got stuck but couldn’t retreat. So, they soldiered on to their Waterloo.
If Africa were into TV show ratings, Tinsel would have been pulled off the screens a long time ago. Compare Tinsel fans with the teeming Jacob’s Cross fans. Anyways, people involved in the whole Tinsel production get to work and pay bills. I’m happy for them, but apart from that, boo.
Ochu is an Abuja-based Journalist.
19 comments
Lol ok ok ok. chill out a bit. i do agree and disagree with u lol. i do agree that it does sometimes come off a bit weak and doesnt have that hold power that we would love. however, i think the time they show it and the station matters a lot too. everyone one knows soap time in 9ja is like between 7 – 9pm. last time i caught it, it was at like mid day on mnet or something. maybe coming to silverbird or african magic or something may draw a larger audience. altho i think mnet is a good idea for cross country coverage. loss of chemistry among the actors and actresses? yes a bit but i think gideon, funlola and the rest are pretty good actors. dey do a clean and decent and professional job but yes they can do better. ill give them all on average like a B+……A+ is wen dey get the unpsoken parts of their acting right. afterall most of our communication isnt spoken..or so they say. and d producer can like to add more drama too jo. i concur. i also like ashionyes brief part on the series. dey shuld give her a bigger role….chei dis is long
First, i would say u know nothing abt wat u talking about. Except its another Tinsel you are talkin abt. Tinsel is the only show me and my family looks forward to on Nigerian Television, and yes i said it, Nigerian Television. First, Its Phillip Ade-Williams. Gideon is his real name. Telema and Soji are really disconnected and that is the reason for their acting. And as for the colour and everything, are u providing their wardrobe allowance? Never generalize when writing. You just have ‘beef’ for Tinsel.
Ochu, as much as you have every right to do a critique of any creative art work, never expected you should take such laborious artistic work to the cleaner like that.
I see no constructive criticism in your write up on Tinsel. Because, I’ve seen some episodes of this soap and was impressed with the production and I believe Mnet should be commended for trying to revive the long lost television soap culture.
Let face the fact, how many television series, apart from Wale Adenuga’s Super story, can match such standard that Tinsel has set?
Tinsel is a fresh breather and remain the only challenger to the ‘culture-corrupt’ and semi-quality Mexican soaps that have taken over most of Nigerian televison networks.
The plots and dialogues of Tinsel may not be near perfect, and scored high rating as Jacob’s Cross, but one thing you cannot take away from Tinsel as a soap is the fresh breath of entertainment it gives to millions of televison watchers in Nigeria and the rest of the continent.
While I also concured that the audience base of the soap is not as wide, but that has nothing to do with the storyline, but simply because the current editions of the series are only screened on the premium bouquet of the Dstv. Let hope they will show it more on other lower bouquet and see whether the fan base will not soar. But by and large, the Tinsel is growing and should be encourage to grow more. thanks.
Chi or watever u call urself, thanx for publicising Tinsel even more with this! It’s obvious that u’ve got pure beef for the soap tho and you probably havn’t really watched the programme coz most of your criticisims are not constructive at all! Tinsel is far from being unexciting! Your overall use of language in describing them is just wrong!
I find Tinsel very well directed and interesting, I am paying DSTV’s premium bouquet just because of it on MNET…end of story.
i think tinsel is one of the best soaps on dstv now.i just love it and can’t stop watching it end of story.
Most of these comments show the level of mediocrity our Nigerian TV audience tolerate. Its really sad. Naija for life tho.
I as a fan though agree with some of the stuff like the connection between Sodji and Telema being bad, in the least tinsel has a nice plot to it and is interesting but some parts of it does drag on for a little bit too long. But generally Tinsel is a good soap and should be appreciated a little bit more.
Are u talking about the same Tinsel??? Pls, lets get real here. Its still one of the best soaps I’ve watched in the last 2 yrs. It stands out in everyway, unlike Superstory, etc that have stilted speeches that sound like they are still rehearsing. Lets appreciate good things when we see it pls. Yes, i agree that Brenda overdoes it sometimes, but hey, she’s just one person.
my oh my, naija will never cease to amaze me!!!
Tinsel??? C’mon!! i will take Checkmate over it anyday, anytime not to talk of Behind the Clouds(if any of you can remember that). i started watching Tinsel when it aired on DStv and was not a bit impressed. if the acting isn’t mediocre, it’s overdone(funlola as brenda)-wassup with all her facial contortions by the way-or just plain boring. it started showing on silverbird last year and still, i cannot see why i should sit down to waste 30mins watching it. no suspense to carry on to the next episode, no love scenes to look forward to, no intrigue, nothing, just plain. chinwe has done a good job here and until we clamour for better programmes, we will get fed rubbish such as this. once upon a time, i used to look forward to the 7pm-10pm belt on local stations but not anymore, what with the crap the keep feeding us. pls let’s be very frank here, Tinsel is mediocre and yes, y’all watch it because there is nothing better to watch.
naija for life
Chinwe, God bless you. The cast, crew, script writing, direction, concept of tinsel is literary a hot mess. The soap does not project the setting the are supposedly using which is nigeria. Nigerians like chinwe rightly pointed out, are energetic, have extended families that ‘intrude’ in one’s daily decisions in life and are also dramatic in a lot of sense. Now where is that portrayed in the minutest way in Tinsel. I do not watch that load of crap. Because of the advent of democracy and the opening of borders to nigerians, they learn foreign cultures and are so daft to portray it to the whole world as nigerian! That is crazy to say the least. I remember checkmate scenes, cast and crew till date. That is what I call nigerian and a good piece of work. Those supporting tinsel should please get real!!!
Na wah oh!!! All because of the Soap “Tinsel”. Like a good friend of mine will say “I no fit shout” lol… Don’t watch the show that much, wasn’t too impressed when I did the first time, So I can’t say much other than they could do better. Naija for life…
WELL WELL WELL,IF U DNT LIKE TINSEL U R FUCKED.THEY ARE POTRAYING NIGERIA IN A POSITIVE LIGHT,AND SOME IDIOTS STILL WANT SAME OLD STORY LINE AND SHOWING NIGERIA IN A NEGATIVE LITE.JACOBS CROSS AND TINSEL V TWO DIFFERENT PLOTS,WHILE 1 IS AIRED DAILY,THE ODA IS DONE WEEKLY.ELENU
Haaaaaaa!! Nigeria can so much condemn and not offer constructive criticism. Tinsel is cool and of course we can’t all like the same things. I believe u prefer the cultism juju-portraying Nollywood, good luck to u!!!
hahahahahahahaha,clap clap for the reviewer Ochu,its like you used my eyes to watch this Tinsel,loves scenes are the worst i have ever seen,it lways seems as if soji and telema were matched by thier parents and forced to date….for a beauty queen and actress in nigerian telemas clothing are the worst i have seen,believe me an average nigerian lady like me will not be caught dead in them,wat happened to borrowing outfits from Omowunmi Akinfesi(now thats a beauty queen that knows how to dress),coming to funlolas faces,they scare me at times and i always get the impression she is over acting,pls enough with the faces already
Tinsel iz da Bomb!!!. Funlola iz a PRO!. Teleme iz SIMPLE! (not an over proud celeb), not everyone lets money and fame gets into their head anyway. Why don’t u pipo opining 4 huge expensive costumes go to Governor Oshiomole (governor of Edo State) and tell him 2 stop wearing jumpers and Khaki and start wearing real expensive suit like Governor Udughan of Delta state?…TINSEL ROCKS MA WORLD front, back and center!!!
I agree with d author to a certain degree.their dialogue is forced n deviod of emotion.they r more interested in speakin good english.love scenes totally a no no.like their makeup though.well still better than d average nigerian soap
I think this writer is trying her skill in critic/book review. Honestly, there are more to creative critique than just picking a pen to write. You need to absolve your own emotion from the work so that as much as possible put out an objective view of the work. This writer is a bit inexperience but shows signs of becoming a good writer. But she needs to do more study and grow up a bit. In this write up I saw a lot of childishness and stuff that appeared like musings of an idle girl. Someone please find her something doing. I have my reservations about Tinsel but this piece is off it.
This article was written more than a year ago. As at then, I would have argued with the writer on their critism of Tinsel’s plot but today, I couldn’t agree more with all that has been written.