What is Sujata Said…?
I am an avid consumer of books, TV, movies, podcasts, and other forms of entertainment like plays, musicals and art (a newer thing for me).
After leaving Facebook in early 2020 (for all the reasons), I didn’t have a lot of regrets, but one thing that happened over and over, is people across personal and professional relationships, said they missed my recommendations of books, TV, movies, podcasts and other entertainments. I still hear from friends and mutuals “I hear Sujata Said we should read /watch/listen to XX.”
I still share recommendations, but I thought, with some kind nudging from friends, why not a culture newsletter? So here we are.
I hope you’ll enjoy and share this post and newsletter with others who might enjoy it as well!
What kind of culture are you going to recommend? Do we even have the same taste?
TV, movies, podcasts, books, music, art, and other misc culture that strikes my fancy or outrageously offends me! Check out my first post and if you think, “everything in this post is a hot mess,” then please unsubscribe!
My recommendations are based on what’s available in the United States, but many of these are available in other countries, just on different platforms or with a VPN to access it.
Why am I getting this newsletter?
We are friends, family and/or colleagues, or you’ve asked me for recommendations in the past. If you don’t want to receive this newsletter after reading it today, please unsubscribe, no hurt feelings!
Guilty Pleasures or Not?
For a long time I would describe some movies, tv and books I loved as guilty pleasures, I don’t do that anymore. I think that phrase is used to diminish entertainment, especially by and for women, and as short hand for “not smart” entertainment. So one thing you should know about me and Sujata Said…, is that nothing is too “silly” to consume. We deserve pleasure and joy in what we consume. I will however admit to hate watching/listening to things, and I’m sure I’ll share some of those with you as well.
If you know me, you also know I have opinions, and broadly I look at and consume culture with a race, gender, equity and justice lens. Expect it to come up!
How many emails are you going to send me? I don’t need more emails!
I hear you!
This week you will get 3 newsletters - probably the most ever in one week from me. Today’s newsletter includes 2022 TV recommendations so you can have things to watch over the holidays, 2 more newsletters will follow this week with 2022 movies, books, podcasts and other culture recommendations.
After this week, it will be an ad hoc newsletter - when the culture gods move me!
This week the newsletters are more robust, but in the future, they will be shorter!
So let’s jump into TV recommendations for 2022!
2022 Television Recommendations
Here are the shows that I recommend wholeheartedly. The first three are my top recommendations for the year, the rest are in alpha order.
Reservation Dogs (Available on FX/Hulu): Two seasons so far of excellence - all with some of the best performances I’ve seen across generations of actors! Focused on the hopes, dreams, challenges and fears of four young Indigenous adults on an Oklahoma reservation, I can’t tell you if I love Willie Jack or Cheese or Bear or Elora or the aunties or the uncles more! I root for them, laugh with them and at them sometimes, cringe at, and scream at them to the screen! Created by Sterlin Harjo and Taika Waititi, this show continues to shine while being ignored by establishment awards, which maybe is why they should not always be our measure.
Ms Marvel (Available on Disney+): Honestly SuperHeroes are #NotMyGenre. I don’t care about the universes, the origin stories, the easter eggs, NOTHING. I show up to support the more diverse franchises and have enjoyed them (Black Panther, Shang- Chi). So when they announced Ms Marvel with Kamala Khan as a TV series (and not a movie), I was like “why isn’t the Muslim lead getting a movie!?” Here’s the thing. It’s probably one of the best pieces of entertainment I’ve watched in recent memory. The lead actress - Iman Vellani- in her debut, captures wonderfully the confusion of what she is experiencing in school, with her parents, and with her new powers. And if this had been a purely coming of age story, it would have been great. But it’s a superhero origin story rooted in South Asia’s partition. And it worked and I did want to experience it no matter how immediate and personal the generational trauma was/is. And it works because of the amazing directors and writers, especially one of my faves - poet and author Fatimah Ashgar who wrote the partition episodes. And I won’t complain about anything that has swoon worthy Pakistani actor Fawad Khan show up on my screen again after being banned from working in Bollywood by the right wing Hindutva Indian Government. Also, I have listened to parts of the soundtrack every day since the episodes aired this summer.
Abbott Elementary (Available on ABC and Hulu): In its second season, you’ve probably heard the buzz about this show, and unlike other shows that get a lot of buzz (White Lotus I’m talking about you), this one meets the hype! Creator Quinta Brunson wanted to create something that multiple generations could watch together and she succeeded. It takes the workplace documentary we know from The Office and Parks and Recreation and elevates it. It’s funny, sweet, subversive, and is on the real real about our public school system, teachers, students and families in ways that really expand the conversation! The entire cast is stellar.
Mo (Available on Netflix): Season 1 of comedian Mo Amer’s self titled show was a joy to watch. If you know and love Houston, you will love this show, it’s so rooted in the city in specific ways that generic Texas shows aren’t. And in addition to family, economic and love life pressure, there is the very real impact of being undocumented in the US that Mo has to deal with - all with laughter and authenticity. I can’t wait for Season 2.
P Valley (Available on Starz): I came to P Valley because of the creator, Executive Producer and Showrunner Katori Hall. Like me, she is a Memphian and after seeing one of her plays on Broadway (The Mountaintop) a few years ago, I committed to supporting her work. It hasn’t been hard. From Tina: The Tina Turner Musical to her Pulitzer Prize winning The Hot Wing Kings, she brings it every time. P Valley, based on her play Pussy Valley, centers people working at and connected to a strip club in the Mississippi Delta. Race, class, family, sexual and gender identity and relationships are the focus, in only the way that someone deeply rooted in the American South like Hall can reflect. And the love story of Uncle Clifford and Lil Murda is one for the ages.
Pachinko (Available on AppleTV): The novel by Min Jin Lee is one of my all time favorites, a book that exposed me to the history of Japan and Korea and how it plays out to this day. Season 1 of Pachinko was engaging, I think thoughtfully adapted from the book I love, and has one of the best opening credits!
Queen Sugar (Available on Hulu and OWN): This series ended a few weeks ago, so it’s not NEW in 2022, but I’m still outraged that not enough people know the show or have watched. Created by Ava Duvernay for OWN network 6 seasons ago, Queen Sugar has an emotional and visual aesthetic that remained consistent through hundreds of only women directors that Duvernay hired for each episode. The family stories are relatable and the cast is superb. You won’t be disappointed in starting this show and having it in your life. I’m sad that it’s over.
Sort of (Available on HBOMax): This show is created by and stars Bilal Baig, the Pakistani Canadian creator. The lead character, Sabi, a non binary millennial trying to figure out their place in this world and in their Toronto life. Sabi is one of the kindest, most lovely people on TV. I want to know them, be their friend and hug them. The cast of friends and employers and family is something to watch as well!
Starstruck (Available on HBOMax): Season two aired this year. It’s a 30 minute romcom, so much British and New Zealand banter, it takes on realities after the final kiss, and it loves those romcom tropes, using them and/or disrupting them! New Zealand comedian, actor and creator Rose Matafeo is the lead and her co-lead Nikesh Patel was one of only three good things about Mindy Kaling’s reboot of Four Weddings and A Funeral a few years ago (him, Guz Khan, and the soundtrack) and I now watch everything he does. They have been renewed for season 3 on HBOMax so watch the first two seasons and enjoy!
The Bear (Available on FX/Hulu): Do we need another show about a white male chef who can’t manage and yells at people, especially the BIPOC staff on his team? NO. The Bear seems to know that and turned that trope around in my opinion. The yelling, power, race and class dynamics are still there but they are NOT left to take over everything and be accepted as correct, normal or appropriate. There is also the beginnings of a grief story that will be interesting to see in season 2. It won’t surprise you to know that I think Ayo Edibiri stole the show. I am not on board the Jeremy Allen White thirst train but to each their own!
Are you telling me you didn’t like Bridgerton Sujata?
Oops! As an avid reader of historical romances, I of course watched and loved season 2 of Bridgerton. The series it’s adapted from is not the best of the genre, and there are plenty of think pieces on why Shondaland picked it vs many other stronger series/writers. But, the TV adaptations are better than the books, and while the diverse casting has brought some of the best characters (Queen Charlotte, Lady Danbury, Kate Sharma, Will the boxer), the writers haven’t really dug deep into what it would truly mean for these brown and black folks to be a part of high society….having said that, I’ll leave you with this. Nothing more romantic than your partner knowing your name and pronouncing it correctly. It’s a low bar!
I’ve missed getting your recommendations ! I also really loved the opening sequence of PACHINKO though was disappointed at some of the changes made to the plot from the novel. Still eager to see where they take it in the second season, though.