Check out http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/6355269.stm for an accurate depiction of Abuja. I think the show got it right. Just because they didn't show modern Abuja doesn't mean they were misleading anyone. They were trying to show the character going through a transformation at that moment with help of the local population who were having some sort of boy-to-man right of passage ceremony going on.Additionally, to say that the show takes a paternalistic tone is to disregard all the moral lessons Teddy learns from the individuals he meets in each episode. For example, in the very first episode he learns that his motives for philanthropy are more selfish than he realized. He is told that by the African female doctor with a Harvard medical degree. How is that condescending to Africans?In the Myanmar episode, he learns from Mai Ling Wae (not sure if I spelled that even remotely right) that he needs to find his own moral path and that he needs to see the world as it is instead of turning away his problems.In the second Nigeria episode he learns from the guerrilla leader that even the most militant rebels can believe in family values and be motivated by helping their communities.Yes, Teddy is a "womanizer" with flaws, but that's what makes his character accessible. If you want to watch perfect people doing perfect things all the time then you'll have to find reruns of Touch by an Angel or Highway to Heaven (the latter I used to watch by the way). Audiences today what characters who are real. Who make us mad one minute, then make us cry the next. Teddy doesn't claim to be savior and he repeatedly indicates that he is not making a sacrifice at all. I think we should take him at his word even if his just a fictional character based on a real guy.
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