This 5 part mini series follows the life of a music artist Siyanbola popularly known as SHE, who obsessively engages in all sorts of nefarious activities in an effort to outshine other artists.
What worked?
Not much if I’m being honest. Camera quality was not bad, they had some pretty outfits, they did well with the award show because it actually looked like a typical award show in Nigeria and the stage performances were not too bad (If you ignore the poor lip syncing and the excessive auto tune), the songs were not bad either.
I must mention that they had a good storyline that could have turned into something really remarkable but unfortunately things did not really go that way.
What did not work?
Everything else!
After the first few scenes, I kept on waiting for things to get better but this series refused to rise above its headache-inducing level of cringe. When I got to episode 3, I had to take a break for the sake of self preservation, after which I resumed again and endured it till the end.
Acting and casting did not work for the most part.
Funke Akindele was over-acting. Her exaggerated mannerisms and expressions were very distracting. Someone else would have worked as the lead. Vee did really well for her first film, Akah’s delivery as Sisqo was okay and as for Waje, she was not bad but she could have done much more with a better script and with better direction.
Under the category called “I don’t know what they were doing”- we have Nancy Isime and Lateef Adedimeji. Their performances were very bland, I did not get it.
We saw some of Nollywood’s old actors but unfortunately, this series ends up wasting their time because Patience Ozokwor as the drunken master did not work neither did Mike Ezuruonye work as the illiterate brother.
Rachael Okonkwo as Adaeze (the main voice behind SHE) had an important role in this movie but her performance was just there, very unremarkable.
I want to specifically mention all the extras that played the roles of shocked spectators. They were terrible. Same look of faux shock with their mouths and eyes wide open every single time! it was screaming “waka pass“
In the same vein, I must say character development was also poor. Most times Nollywood movies would claim they were not able to properly develop their characters due to time limitations but even with a run time of over 5hours, this series still failed woefully in this regard.
For example, we only got a quick glimpse into SHE’s childhood but it would have been nice for us to know her story, how did she get there? Considering her peculiar condition, she must have experienced the devastating effects of prejudice and persecution especially while trying to shine in a toxic industry like the music industry. So why did she even decide to become a musician? How does one suddenly decide to become a professional troll? They gave us nothing, no context, no motivations.
As for Tito and Xcite, there was nothing for them here. They only existed to react to SHE’s actions.
As a result of this poor character development, the movie did not have any depth or personality. It was like watching Jenifa’s diary with no serious direction just the same thing happening over and over again.
However, unlike Jenifa’s diary, there was nothing funny or remotely exciting about She must be Obeyed.
Moving on, this series claims to want to give viewers a glimpse into the Nigerian music industry but I must say that it actually did not say anything new and insightful about this industry. A little more research would have gone a long way.
For a movie about music, I did not particularly like the singing scenes. How do you feature 2 amazing singers who can actually sing in real life and you don’t give them an opportunity to do their stuff? As for the person who was supposed to be the real voice behind SHE, not only was the lip syncing not syncing but the texture/timbre of the person singing was very different, it was like watching 2 people in 1 body.
Let’s talk about my biggest issue with this movie. Its portrayal of Alopecia was totally insensitive and unnecessary.
Alopecia is a disease that happens when the immune system attacks hair follicles and causes hair loss. Even though it is not life threatening, most people who suffer from this deal with a lot of emotional and psychological distress because they do not think they are beautiful or handsome. She must be obeyed is the first Nollywood movie (that I have seen) highlighting Alopecia and I don’t know why they thought it was alright to further perpetuate the erroneous stereotype that hurts how people living with Alopecia are perceived.
Why did they make extra efforts to make her look irritating everytime she took off her wig? Everytime she came on screen with that horrendous looking bald cap, I cringed. Because why did she have to eat like that or laugh like a mad woman or sleep like that or dance like that. It was totally unnecessary. SHE could have been a mean bitch, living with Alopecia and not be a disgusting person.
This movie missed the opportunity to educate people and create awareness about Alopecia. Even though it was a major plot point, the term Alopecia was mentioned only one time all through this 5hours series and it was just in passing, I’m sure so many people missed it and I am sure so many people did not understand it. Movies are tools for social awareness and social change, it is wrong to cause more damage to a demography that already has a lot to deal with.
Moving on, I must say that I had questions as I was watching such as how did she survive and how did she grow in the industry before she met Angela? I’m not saying it is impossible, I am saying it would have been nice for us to see.
She was already popular when she signed that contract. The voice and song did not make her popular. If all it took to be popular was a good voice and great lyrics,, the girl herself would have made it already
I don‘t know why Mike Ezuruonye had to be the illiterate brother because his parents did not sound like that, neither did his siblings or even his old uncle so why did he have to speak like a palm wine tapper? Anyway, that’s not the point I want to make. My point is, if he struggled to pronounce “CONTRACT” that was written on the envelope, Funke Akindele wants me to believe he was able to read a whole contract and understand the terms and implications?Ok
Anyway, the end was the final straw for me. How were they able to easily access the studio? It was not locked? Let’s not even talk about the fights!
To make matters worse, they ended the series with a cliffhanger then told us “She will be back”. Someone should tell them that SHE needs to stay wherever she is and not bother coming back anywhere! Because, judging from Season 1, I don’t expect much from Season 2.
I expect that in response to this review, some people will say things like “this series was not meant for everyone, this series should not to be taken too seriously, it’s not that deep etc…..but I say those are just excuses. This series is unmissably bad.
Overall, She must be an Obeyed was not a good watch for me. Its ill-concieved attempt to utilize Alopecia for mimicry, shows a lack of social awareness on the part of the entire production team that was quite offensive to me. As far as series go, She must be obeyed is strictly mediocre stuff. Lazy directing, bland performances, thin characterization, weak dialogues, threadbare jokes and plot sequences that fail to generate any excitement. It was an absolute waste of my time.
My Rating: 2/10
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Read the review of Inside Life here.
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