Review: My Child Teenage Mutant Azanians – Pilot Episode

The disclaimer alone says it all. No one should watch this show! The absolute derision and idiocy of it is not something that any mature adult wanting to portray a socially acceptable demeanor wants to have anything to do with. Employing overt sexual references and despicable foul-mouthery, Ladies and ma’ gents this is definitely NOT one for the kids. Having said that, I laughed my fucking ass off too often while watching for my liking. The pilot episode, which aired on Comedy Central Africa on December 11, tells the story of the aftermath of a botched space exploration program from which hybrid creatures are created through the mischievous deeds of a silly chimp, let out by none other than our favorite South African entertainer… sorry…Politician, Julius Malema. We join the cast on their first day at the Nelson Mandela school for Gifted Mutants and are immediately introduced to a sick and twisted cast.

The characters which make up the show are the rather perverted and deranged professor Afronaut who set up the school; a short, fat and seemingly sexually frustrated and confused pink bunny who literally rocks out with his cock out (or is it a bum?); a little fire-breathing American, bible-bashing crocodile-ish thing; a half blonde, half skunk creature apparently adopted by Madonna, a springbok that was fused with a Durbanite and a plethora of other fully weird creatures and characters. The students are sent to sexual orientation camp instead of orientation camp owing to an administrative error by the deranged Professor Afronaut, having been too concerned with his own schedule. At the camp the students encounter strange goings on such as facing confusion with regards to sexual preferences, being taught to use a condom by Nataniël and an axe murderer peppering the woods with the skulls of his victims. The show uses many South African references whilst also appealing to an international audience, walking the thin line between being exclusively South African and internationally appreciated. The creators seem to have gone to great lengths to include as many of the cultures and characters that our beautiful country has to offer. That in itself is not, by any standards, a small feat to accomplish. The debut episode of My Child shows a very creative take on life in South Africa without giving 1, 2 or even 3 flying shits about anybody’s delicate sensibilities other than a warning which correctly advises “If you are easily upset, odds are you are going to be *%#@ing offended by watching this. We suggest you don’t.”

The pilot episode carries plenty of promise for future episodes. Keeping in mind that I have probably seen more weird shit than your typical South African, this might not be “the weirdest shit I’ve ever seen” but it did come very close. Their irreverence, imaginative character’s and a solid attempt at an interesting enough plot make’s it a good contender for joining the ranks of South Park and Animal farm as it has promised to do. Purportedly the first of its kind on South African, or even African, television and still in the crowning phase of being a part of mainstream entertainment we will have to wait and see how far this one is set to go. Being proudly South African myself, I hope that we will be seeing the success of this great show not only here but spreading its gross wings abroad as well. With all the hard work which has been put behind getting My Child to this point, I will certainly enjoy watching their journey from being a television noob so to speak to becoming one of South Africa’s very own worldwide pop culture phenomenon’s! If you’re interested in catching this and upcoming episodes from where you are, please let me know in the comments and lets see if we can get some international support for this superb little-show-that-could! Confused about some the terms I’ve used? Also use the comments below to sharpen your South Africanese!