Eish! You probably thought Technext was going to tell you how to ruin Christmas. Nah, we are not like that. But if you regard the South-African television show “How to ruin Christmas”, you are on the right page on the internet now.
Besides, it is Christmas time again, and a third season of the show is coming to your screens, as with many other Christmas-loving directors and producers who are releasing films for you to have a Merry Christmas.
The first season “How To Ruin Christmas: The Wedding,” already showed you the distinction between two levels on the social strata: the rich (Twalas) and the simply almost comfortable (Sellos), and how a union between such families is usually a reach.
“How to ruin Christmas” is a South African comedy TV show with two seasons on Netflix – one released in 2020 and another in 2021.
“How to ruin Christmas” (2020)
Released: December 16, 2020
Episodes: 3
Director: Johnny Barbuzano
A marriage between Beauty Sello (Thando Thabethe) and Sbu Twala (Vincent Mahlangu) almost turned into a disaster when the bride’s sister, Tumi (Busisiwe Lurayi), was presumed to have toxic traits, and the lifestyles of the two families clashed heavily days before the three-day traditional and white wedding.
“I’m sure there is a perfectly logical explanation to all of this,” Aunt Grace (Rami Chuene) says in the opening scene of the three-episode first season of “How to Ruin Christmas: The Wedding.” She was referring to Tumi‘s misadventure in the pool the night before.
As Tumi wakes in the pool, a narration tells us what she is thinking: “I swear this is not what it looks like.” By the end of the first episode, we get the complete picture. Again, we hear her: “It’s worse.”
We would argue that Aunt Grace (mentioned earlier) was referring to all the shocking moments throughout the story.
This first season reminds you of “The Wedding Party” and how bad a wedding can be, especially if the families are overbearing and always want control.
Everything goes south before the wedding starts. Dress fittings are being done at the 11th hour. The towels needed for the cultural welcoming ceremony are missing. The groom’s brother and best man, Themba Twala (Motlatsi Mafatshe), is missing. At some point, it looks like the wedding might be called off and the bride price returned.
Tumi and the dysfunctional families stole the spotlight from the wedding celebrants, Sbu and Beauty, and even when they are involved, they are understood to have no control – a common phenomenon in many parts of Africa where families take over the activities of the wedding and disaster caused by the same families.
Issues here:
"How to ruin Christmas" exposes cultural and societal flaws, from superstitions and potentially harmful ideas to racial and ethnic tensions.
The rich only want to be united with the rich. In Nigeria, it begins with Mainland and Island conversations where the Islanders prefer to fight water bodies to build houses than live with the middle class or the poor.
In their marriage arrangements, they are particular about their wards’ choices, such that they force their kids to marry from another rich home. Well, ‘How to ruin Christmas” tells us that it is a general phenomenon.
Valencia Twala (Charmaine Mtinta) considers Beauty’s family to be undeserving of her own family’s class and wealth, even though she was not born into wealth.
Sometimes, it is an innate fear not to entertain a channel to return to the trenches.
Read also: ‘Fear Men’: The viewers’ review of “The Griot”
The anti-normative at loggerheads with culture – You would not argue that children African parents call ‘Black Sheep’ are the ones who step out of the norm and are open to exploring the world without religious or cultural biases.
Tumi exemplifies the ‘Black Sheep’, but the question remains as to what should be cultural. Tumi is not a hypocrite and is open to expressing herself as herself. She is like a free-minded pop-cultural person. Although the mishaps threatening to ruin Christmas and wreck Beauty’s dream wedding can be traced back to Tumi.
Like Khaya (Yonda Thomas), Tumi‘s friend, said, they are all “bystanders on the Tumi show.”
“How to ruin Christmas” (2021)
Released: December 10, 2021
Episodes: 4
Director: Johnny Barbuzano
“How to ruin Christmas: The Funeral” is emotional and entertaining. You are starting this season thinking everything has returned to normal, but you may be disappointed, and it is not Tumi‘s fault – it is just the cultural and moral hypocrisy that continues to smell here.
In “How to Ruin Christmas 2,” the Twala and Sello families meet again after a year to celebrate Christmas. The shared hope is that this Christmas will be less dramatic and more joyful. Sadly, someone from one of the family members passes away. Yet again, Tumi gets dragged into this tragedy.
“Trust me, I have got a PhD in bad ideas,” Tumi says.
We see the families deal with the loss, then there is still class and cultural differences, and love in four episodes. Amid the emotional drama, it is quite entertaining.
This season keeps the South African culture alive. The display of South African culture is also colourful to see, from the fashion to the traditions to the family values, and you could not be more excited than us.
Issues here:
Daughters-in-law are usually the target of mothers who believe their sons got married to a ‘gold digger’. Lydia, Themba, is the target here. And while she finds her voice later in the story, she has to endure verbal torture for a long time.
“Valencia is like a warden. She is making my life completely unbearable,” Lydia says to her husband, who does not understand her level of the pain.
Couples hardly communicate – We see a couple (Sbu and Beauty) trying to avoid communicating about their loss and having that grieving energy spill out into other, more toxic behaviours. Many times, that leads to separation and who knows what happens next.
How to ruin Christmas (2022) is coming!
Fans should consider this third season an early Christmas gift, especially because it is coming early, and the previous seasons have been broadly entertaining.
For season 3, the Sellos and the Twalas are coming back together to celebrate the incoming arrival of a new family member. No wonder it is called subtitled “The Baby Shower”.
“How to Ruin Christmas: The Baby Shower” is set mainly at a party in honour of Beauty and Sbu and the imminent birth of their first child. But the first part of the title of the movie does not change. So, we expect the rivalry to continue, damning secrets coming to light and other intense situations that would stop the merriness in their Christmas world.
Thando Thabethe and Sandile Mahlangu are reprising their roles as Beauty Sello and Sbu Twala, respectively. Also returning for the new season are Clementine Mosimane as Dineo Sello, Charmaine Mtinta as Valencia Twala, Rami Chuene as Aunt Grace, Desmond Dube as Uncle Shamrock, Motlatsi Mafatshe as Themba Twala, and Trevor Gumbi as Siya Twala. South African actor, singer, dancer, and TV personality Denise Zimba will be the new face.
Zimba’s character, Zama, is described by News 24 as a “determined slay queen” who is the source of some of the chaos you would see at the baby shower.
Unfortunately, Tumi, played by Busisiwe Lurayi, is not coming back because she died in early July at 36.
However, Okmzansi reports that Lurayi’s untimely death is not the reason for her absence in How to Ruin Christmas Season 3. Per the site, her role had already been written out of the show, as teased by an Instagram video from June that sees Tumi leaving the family group chat following her addition to the cast of a drama called Scandal!
Acclaimed for its sharp and darkly satirical writing, stellar cast, and refreshing representation of South African culture, How to Ruin Christmas 3 will surely keep you rushing your popcorn even before the climax.
Anticipate this one.
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