To be on Zimbabwean Twitter right now is to have seen at least one or two passing mentions of the College Central YouTube show series, Wadiwa Wepa Moyo. My particular timeline is chock full of show references and names like “Biko”, “Tendai”, “Nokuthula” and “Tawanda”. Suddenly, I’m getting the impression that by now everyone and their mom, and their mother’s mother’s mama have watched and become downright obsessed with this Derby Bheta and Ian Msakanda production. Everyone except for, well, me.
Since the drama’s premiere last month, I have failed to watch a single episode, save for the 2 mins+ trailer. The synopsis of the show reads as follows:
“Two boys from the dusty streets of Harare, Tawanda and Biko have a dream of making it to play for Manchester United in the United Kingdom but everything changes when Tawanda falls in love with Nokuthula.”
While the premise reads like my kinda TV (couple that with an illustrious cast that includes Everson K Chieza, Tadiwa Bopoto, Dillon Mafukidze, Lee McHoney, and Ben Mahaka), I have not even tried checking the show, despite my colleagues’ persistent nudging.
Am I alone in my failures? Am I truly the only person on the entire planet who has no clue who Nokuthula is?
The terse answer, yes, and the particular severe FOMO attack I experienced this week made me wonder why I give such anxieties a place in my emotional portfolio. FOMO is hardly a novel sensation, but millennials have pushed the contagion to ridiculous levels. As someone in his late 20s and working in the media, I ought to have gained some generational and news immunity by now. Yet FOMO syndrome keeps creeping into demographics and professions that should know better, often at the cost of their long-term financial interests (the price of data is ridiculously high, guys).
While it can be a fun and bonding experience for people to come together around a cultural phenomenon like “Wadiwa Wepa Moyo,” I fear that smaller and equally worthwhile experiences will suffer.
Anyway, I don’t begrudge anyone the joy of a shared cultural experience like this recent show. I’m happy that lots of my friends are having fun debating, dissecting and devouring it, shifting our already bundled minds from the global monster that is coronavirus. Folks whose opinions I trust say the show was amazing, and I believe them.
Singer and a member of the cast, Lee McHoney tooted her own horn in a tweet, saying that they “created magic” with the show.
“Okay so Im loving the #WadiwaWepaMoyo series so far Smiling face with open mouth and cold sweat relatable characters, sweet and simple storyline and attention to detail Fire Originally Zimbabwean and my bestie @leemchoneyZim is in it too as Mai Noku(sic).”
Content curator @Am_Blujay echoed it by giving a thump up to all the twimbos who were acclaiming the show.
“Shout out to Zim twitter for hyping #WadiwaWepaMoyo its been a while since l last saw people saying something positive about anything made in Zimbabwe, keep up the positive energy(sic).”
Fellow blogger Faith Zvorufura said she “felt all kinds of butterflies watching #WadiwaWepaMoyo”.
Radio presenter Misred, who like me, have not checked the show, said she needed “to catch up” with it as it was “a cool moment to look forward to some Zim stories told in our languages by our young folks,”.
Although TV FOMO doesn’t usually inform my viewing these days, it’s rare that a show slips through my nets before I’ve at least seen a trailer or watched an episode or two. I guess I’ve always been the kind of person who finds more joy in discovering my own type of cool things that which speak uniquely to me than in bopping along with the No. 1 hit that everyone else likes. My greatest fear is missing out on the stuff I really like because I chased the crowd’s preferences.
But thanks to you importunate Twimbos, I’ve got that FOMO-feeling now for Wadiwa Wepa Moyo. It’s more than just a case of, “Hey, new show, I should watch that”. I’m more concerned that people will be talking about this web-series as one of the best shows of the year, and I’ll be shrugging, saying, “No, I haven’t seen it”.
So, yes, I’m watching it. Now…and I’ll also tweet about. For the culture.
Watch the trailer below;
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