Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay are Behind OWN's "Queen Sugar" and You Should Be, Too

It39s simply one of the best programs on amp8211 no qualifiers Please don39t minimize it as just one of the best Black shows or as just one of the best shows by women Yes it is about a Black family and celebrates the fictional Bordelons39 strength and culture Although there are male stars and a male showrunner it could also be seen as a women39s show since Oprah Winfrey network CEO Tina Perry OWN president and Ava DuVernay creator and executive producer are the bosses Plus DuVernay has only hired female directors throughout the run of the series most of them making their debutAs wonderful as this show has been from the pilot to last week39s episode Queen Sugar exists far too low on the national radar Black Twitter knows how magnificent it is As someone who has covered television for a couple of decades I have never felt more strongly about a show being underappreciated As someone who recoils from pat labels and easy categorizations the best the worst that engine of superlatives that drives social media on a drunken frenzy allow me to justify thisI find myself urging people to tune into OWN on Tuesdays at 8 pm Before you start watching this season do yourself a favor and watch from the beginning Discover who these characters are why they are at their current crossroads Learn about farming sugarcane on the bayou Learn a little something about a family that may look different than your own And as you do come to realize how much like your own they areIf there is a matriarch in your clan and find me a family without an older woman who knows what she is doing she39ll remind you of Vi Tina Lifford infuses her character with the quiet confidence of a woman who has lived She survived an abusive marriage David Allen Grier gave a chilling turn as her ex and has since created a wonderful life The love between her character and Hollywood Omar J Dorsey is the sort most people hope to experienceVi is the sister of the patriarch Glynn Turman who died in the pilot yet his profound influence reverberates in his three children and grandsons Those adult children Nova Ralph Angel and Charley Rutina Wesley Kofi Siriboe and DawnLyen Gardner respectively have layered lives separate from the others yet entwined because of their rootsThat39s just it about Queen Sugar if you have a family you can relate This series continues to tackle the lifelong issues of sibling ties and rivalries and what it means to be a family It is also very much about today Even though the first episode of this season had already been shot when COVID hit DuVernay made a bold play She decided to rewrite this season with showrunner Anthony SparksToo much had happened in 2020 especially to Blacks to blithely continue as if it were just another year DuVernay needed to address the issues of the past year police slaughtering Blacks under the ruse of protecting communities a virus felling thousands of Americans each day an election that would either plunge this country into further chaos or start to course correct and the racial reckoning This season the Bordelons deal with it all starting with February 2020 Remember when we would hear snippets about some new virus and no one even knew its name The show returns us to this recent history that feels so long ago by nowThis is the sort of show that seeps into your bones if you let it If you watch a couple of episodes perhaps you39ll read Natalie Baszile39s novel of the same name DuVernay used those characters as a jumpingoff point but changed them made them her own and added Nova the crusading journalist who is not easily pigeonholedSure some of us have never been on the bayou or know anything about farming Well how many people know much about space yet they clamor for every Star Trek spinoff Watch Queen Sugar and you will learn More important you will love these characters and be entertained and involved which is why anyone watches a drama right Especially a family drama Think of how we embraced the Pearson family right from the start of NBC39s This Is Us There is simply no way to watch this show and remain dispassionateIf you needed a show for Black History Month or Women39s History Month then use that as an impetus to watch Know though that Queen Sugar is for every month It is the right show for now as we watch the Bordelons struggle and help one another through the pandemic If more people gave it a chance Queen Sugar would be celebrated the way The Sopranos was All viewers need to do is tune inNew episodes of Queen Sugar areamp160telecast Tuesdays at 8 pm on OWNClick the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay are Behind OWN's "Queen Sugar" and You Should Be, Too

Author

Publish date

Channel

Archived in

Jacqueline Cutler

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

More Videos:

SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE MEDIAVILLAGE CONTENT | BECOME A THOUGHT LEADERSHIP CONTRIBUTOR

Oprah Winfrey, Ava DuVernay are Behind OWN's "Queen Sugar" and You Should Be, Too

Enjoying This Commentary? There's More to Love

Jacqueline Cutler

TAGS:

FEMA and the Ad Council Encourage AANHPI Communities to Enhance Disaster Preparedness in New PSAs - Ad Council InSites

Cookies