Oh my goodness, it has been a roller coaster of laughter for me in the past two hours, and where else will I pump that energy if not here?

If you are a Nigerian-Korean fan, then it’s no news for you; we now have a Nigerian-Korean movie and it has been trending in both the local community and even the international community.

What keeps cracking me up is the reactions of Nigerians online, it’s been a long time coming but I've had a couple days of laughter because of the different reactions I have seen online.

While the majority of the Nigerian community is embarrassed for themselves, the Korean community is dishing out praises. However, putting all bias aside, shall we do a critical analysis of the movie? I will categorize this into two - Criticism and Praise, so come with me.

PS: I watched the full movie twice.

The Criticism

It would be an absolute lie if I said I didn’t cringe as a Nigerian when I first watched clips on the internet from the movie. I mean, most of the excerpts found online were both cheeky and embarrassing. Let’s not even talk about how the majority of the cast bastardized the Korean language, horrible in its own way! Like, there are numerous individuals who have learned the Korean language to the point of fluency that they could have used. Making a public call for casts based on set criteria is not a new thing in the media world, is it?

Another thing that could have been better in this movie was the name of the so-called Korean school, I mean, instead of the “Saint Paul Baptist School”, using a Korean name for the school would have been better and more acceptable, and they could have actually used someone more fluent for the role of the founder of the school, that was a major flop. He was an acclaimed lover of the Korean culture and language (a major reason for founding the school), right? The least he could do was to be fluent or know the Korean language to some extent.

Finally, I feel the costumier should have put more effort into making the cast look like actual high school students. I mean, that’s one thing we always praise the actual Korean stars for. A 30-year-old can effortlessly play the role of an 18-year-old faultlessly. Although I did not expect the casts of the subject to be as perfect as the actual Korean actors, I still expected some effort. It really seemed like every one of them was not ready to alter anything about their looks for the movie. Let’s not even mention the bearded male lead. In all, it could have been better.

The Praises

With all these things I thought could have been done better, did I still enjoy the movie? Definitely!

Although the spoken Korean of some cast members made me cringe, I must commend the ones who spoke the language effortlessly from the female lead to the male lead, especially the second female lead, and the classroom teacher. Some of them really did make the movie worthy.

It was nice to see them incorporate some unavoidable clichés in K-dramas into the movie. I mean the female lead and her family were so poor that they lived in a slum, but she could still afford some of the latest gadgets (cell phone especially), typical of a K-Drama storyline. The prom party wasn’t so bad nor was the acting, and I think portraying the Nigerian culture through the dressing too wasn’t as bad as people claimed.

I can’t be the only one who thinks the “OSTs” are cool. I mean, they were even thoughtful enough to put one. The ending scene had me awwwn-ing (is that allowed?). Anyway, to be truthful, it felt like it came out of an actual K-Drama.

Finally and generally, I know most of the Nigerian community criticized the drama because they felt the movie was downgrading the country and continent at large, but if we look at it critically, the movie was more of a cultural incorporation and it really had Nigeria in the spotlight. One thing we had always fought for as a Nigerian K-Drama community was being recognized for who we really are, and I saw that happen with commentaries from the Korean community. The movie even made it to the Korean SBS news. This might actually be an avenue to stop being referred to as “Aprica, a 'country' that always needs help' but rather seen as “Africa, a continent that has its flaws but is still doing well for itself.”

On a lighter note, dear Nigerians, you people are not nice. I mean, most people made comments just based on clips they saw online. So let me ask: Did you see the full movie? If you haven't, this might be a good time to actually see it, before concluding on how good or bad it is.

I'll be waiting for your review in the comments!