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Chewing Gum: the Netflix gem you ought to be watching

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The British television sitcom Chewing Gum is exploding right now. The show recently won the BAFTA for Best Female Performance in a Comedy Programme and Breakthrough talent for star and creator Michaela Coel. The series first debuted on E4 in 2015, then Netflix picked it up in October 2016.


‘Colourful life’: Michaela Coel in the second series of Chewing Gum. Photograph: Mark Johnson

The show began as a one woman show written by Coel called Chewing Gum Dreams, which tells the dramatic story of a 14-year-old girl. The television series transforms that girl in to 24-year-old London shop assistant, Tracey Gordon. Her restrictive, religious family and upbringing frequently clashes with her interest in sex and overall curiosity for the world, creating awkward, hilarious, and ludicrous situations for her and her friends.

Coel says she made it a point to use bright colors, and to film during the summer. The estate that the characters live on is meant to be for the working class, but Coel was adamant that it not be depressing. The characters contend with lack of money and opportunity, they’re diverse, and they’re genuinely interesting.

The bright colors and brazen language in Chewing Gum prove to be a charming advantage for Coel. In an interview with The Guardian, she said:

I enjoy making people uncomfortable. For me, I don’t want to write a show that doesn’t make people uncomfortable. I don’t think I know how to write a show that doesn’t make people uncomfortable.