ON Friday, Winky D released visuals for his song Happy Again which has been a darling of many, save for one, author and film director Tsitsi Dangarembga.
In a tweet, Tsitsi professed love for the Gaffa’s music but threw a spanner by citing that, in her opinion, Winky D’s “white girl fixation is becoming problematic.”
“Just had a look at Winky D’s Happy Again. While I love Winky D’s music and his charisma, in my opinion, the white girl fixation is becoming problematic,” tweeted Tsitsi.
This was following the Happy Again video whose storyline is centred around a love interest who is a white woman and another one MuGarden that featured Gemma Griffiths.
This sparked controversy on Twitter as many Tweeps were of the mentality that the author of Nervous Conditions was on a smear campaign against the Gaffa.
There was a back and forth conversation as the award-winning Tsitsi would stick to her guns and not back down on what she had earlier said.
Brooxy posted, “. . . I think this was just an unfair judgment of character. Your profiling is just baseless, it’s just one video for crying out loud. Winky D is a brilliant artist and Happy Again is a beautiful song with an awesome video.”
Another Tweep, The Baking Nurse commented, “With all due respect, and if I’m not mistaken, these are only two videos. As for Gemma, she was a feature.
Maybe I’m not learned enough, but we can’t call two a fixation.”
In response to these and other tweets, Tsitsi said, “It is stereotypical casting of white desirability. Yes, Gemma was a feature, so that is different. Nevertheless, it was a lead.
Now we have another white woman lead in a relatively short space of time. True, it does not yet merit being called a fixation, but it is the stereotypical casting of white desirability.”
As a film director, Tsitsi had a suggestion to what should have been done for Winky D’s video to avoid being “problematic.”
She wrote, “A different storyline if the white actress was to be cast, or casting one of the black servants as the princess, setting it in Great Zimbabwe, Kingdom of Congo, or Benin. I see lots of options.”
The video which has amassed a lot of views on YouTube has been a bone of contention for many entertainment lovers with people having diverse views on it.
— Chronicle
