‘Queen Sono’ gets slammed for casting African lead who is not 'black' enough, fans criticize 'colorism'
The streaming network recently dropped its first ever original series all the way from Africa. Netflix South Africa’s flagship project ‘Queen Sono’ starring Pearl Thusi in the titular role, garnered huge appreciation even before it released. People from all over the continent, and other countries had been eagerly waiting to see an original show from this part of the world, and from the moment it released, the series has earned quite a huge fan following.
Watching Thusi in the lead role turned out to be inspirational for many. The actor is a popular face of South African entertainment industry and is recognized in many other countries across the continent. Seeing her in the lead role as the badass secret agent/government spy, have made her fans very excited. However, there are some people who found that casting her in the lead role was not abiding to the country or the continent’s social sentiment.
One user on Twitter, who watched the show seems very disappointed at the casting choice and comments, “Anyone seen #QueenSono on Netflix. This Intro literally says an AFRICAN NETFLIX ORG FILM. I’m “YEAH REPRESENTATION” whole cast and setting in Africa with dark people and the leading lady is trademark “lightskin” girl stereotypically cast in American film nowadays... and I’m just…”
Criticizing how some characters are portrayed in the story, another viewer says, “#QueenSono a supposed "African" heroine is not even black. Her Intel guy who is black is portrayed as dumb as a rock. Basically the lighter you are the smarter you are. The #colourism is disgusting. #FauxBlack #QueenSonoNetflix”
Despite the show has sufferred criticism on one front, as we mentioned earlier, the reviews and feedback on this brand new spy-thriller series are largely divided.
If there are people feeling calling out representation of people in the show, others are going gaga about the cast, crew, direction, and production values. Here’s one such fan of Pearl Thusi, who finds the character and her story relatable. She says, “Dear Pearl Thusi, In the history of South African Film this is the very first time I ever relate 100% to a black female body on screen. You are everything that the middle - upper class modern day black women in South Africa is. #QueenSono @PearlThusi #LettersToQueenSono”.
‘Queen Sono’ is currently streaming all six episodes on Netflix.