By Nseobong Okon-Ekong
‘MTV Shuga In Real Life’ a documentary which is set to air on May 24 and 27 on MTV Base takes a deep dive into the lives of real life people with striking similarities to those we see on screen. The 30-minute special will chronicle the lives of these real individuals as they go through the struggles portrayed in the hit series. The programme is targeted at creating more awareness on subjects relating to sex, rape and consent.
According to the producers, the objective is to influence certain behavioural patterns and change the narrative that people are still getting raped on daily, guys still can’t tell when no means no and young people are still having unprotected sex without a care in the world. The programme, it is believed, will show enough for people to really grasp the seriousness of these issues.
MTV Shuga IRL is arguably one of the television series or movie to take such a honest approach to the problem. There is no acting, no script, no false depiction, just real life stories of people dealing with these issues.
In this season, the drama portrays a young girl being sexually abused by older men at a party and a young woman trying to make a career in music only to be raped by a senior figure in the industry. In ‘MTV Shuga IRL’, a young woman caught in the world of transactional sex tells her story of being drugged and abused.
Some of the issues the documentary addresses are unprotected sex, transactional sex, female education and the myths behind contraceptives.
One of the highlights of the documentary was seeing people who have been caught up in transactional sex turn a new leaf and change their lives for the better.
