And I’m back with a new webseries review... I had planned to tell you about "Brown Girls" which reached level 9 on my scale of 1 to 10 of coolness, but I will do that next month when my fangirling finally quiets down (although ...). Anyway, today I'm here to talk about "Chattabox".

“Chattabox” started streaming online in March 2017. The talk show format gives space to confront women’s points of view vs. men’s points of view on common subjects. The originality of the project is its "by the Caribbean, for the Caribbean" format. I should even say Afrocaribbean ? and more specifically the twenty-something Afrocaribbean ? On the one hand, you have:

Raena (24) - Antigua ; Stephanie (25) -Jamaica; Paloma (22) - Antigua; Kheri (26) - Saint Lucia; Ryann (20) - Barbados; Arah (26) - Antigua & Barbuda; Nickeisha (24) - Jamaica

On the other hand, you have:

Noel (27) - Antigua; Autarchii (23) - Jamaica; Darian (25) - Brooklyn from Barbados; Brent (22) - Saint Lucia; Alim (27) - Grenada; Jevaun aka Lord Tenor (22) - Trinidad & Tobago + Saint Thomas

I made the effort to write everything down to underline my main comment: the predominance of the English-speaking Caribbean. However, other languages are spoken in the Caribbean, not all potential spectators are perfectly fluent in English. I don't know the backstory of the project, so I would like to believe that it is more about the circumstances rather than a desire to deliberately keep non-English speakers out of the conversation. In addition, the absence of subtitles (as in many webseries) also prevents those who cannot hear from having access to the discussion. Afterwards, I would have other comments on the decor and the editing, but it's detail and it's only my opinion, so I won’t comment on that.

Generally speaking, I find the concept interesting, although I don't see a real guideline. This freedom is both a negative point and a positive point depending on the desired effect. The positive point is precisely this atmosphere of discussion between friends. We feel at home, we let go of the armor and we can make ourselves comfortable because we are surrounded by people "like us" who will understand our arguments without having to explain the cultural context. More than necessary.

The downside is to quickly fall into the banalities that a discussion with friends over a drink may be. The cast members have, in the end, quite similar, clear-cut and simplistic opinions on important issues for Caribbean societies such as colorism, domestic violence, the conflict between the Caribbean and its diaspora, "what is the essence of the Caribbean identity" ... Without falling into an intellectual debate with obscure concepts, the themes could be approached from different angles instead of remaining only on one aspect and give the impression that the conversation is going in circles. The richness that these different experiences of local Caribbean people or diaspora could have brought is somewhat diluted.

Since the beginning, the show manifested its goal to achieve longevity because it was always presented as "season 1". Season 2 is in the works, according to the weekend's Twitter poll. I can't wait to see the evolution. The basic idea is great, but it is clear that the execution requires special care to avoid the pitfalls I mentioned earlier which, in my opinion, do a disservice to the purposes of communication, sharing and entertainment.

For now, I say A + for the initiative, especially since it’s another step forward in the Caribbean representation that I have seen on social networks for about two years. After writing, podcasts, Caribbean voices also have more visibility on video platforms now. I'll give you an update after season 2.

Youtube Twitter: @ChattaboxShow Instagram: @chattaboxshow

This article was first published on May 7th 2017 on my blog myinsaeng.com. You can read the French original version here.

[English Review] Chattabox, enter a Caribbean chat