Hello everyone! Happy new month 🙂 I hope the new year has been good to you and yours so far. Well, apart from January not wanting to end though lol…but we thank God it’s finally February. Many birthdays too! ^.^
Anyway, the reason for this piece is besides all that. I’m angry today actually. I usually get these emails about top stories, or interesting stories on Twitter. I mostly ignore them, cos I don’t really care these days. But I’m never one to shy away from controversy, and this particular story looked promising. It was a YouTube video actually, it was tweeted by popular Nigerian female actor (correct, I don’t like the word ‘actress’), Omotola Jolade-Ekehinde. In the video, another popular female actor, Stella Damasus, expresses her grievances and anger towards a comment made by Ghanaian filmmaker Leila Djansi. I really didn’t know what to expect when I clicked on the link, and when I saw the 12 minute duration, I thought I’d just exit the page as soon as I got the gist of the story. But when I started the video, however, I was beyond furious. The beginning of it all- Leila Djansi in an interview said the new filmmakers should be distinguished from the rest of the Nigerian film industry (nicknamed Nollywood) and they should be called Independents because of the negative connotation that comes with Nollywood. According to her, it would be like naming your son Hitler. First of all lol. Secondly, Hitler was a great leader, misguided and terrible FUBAR, yes, but he was a great leader…but that’s another controversial issue for another controversial day. Lol. Besides,we get the negative connotation Hitler gist, and that was terribly uncalled for. Now Stella goes on this very detailed rant about why Miss Djansi should please shut the fuck up. And I agree with Stella 100%.
If you know me, then you’ll know that I will always always take a jab at Nollywood whenever I see a movie that should not have even been allowed to exist. I’m not even going to act like I don’t think Nollywood does nonsense at times, cos the truth is that they do…too many damn times sef lol. Just like our idea of magnificent art at age 5 was drawing jargon on mummy’s kitchen wall. Are you now going to say because some 20 years later, and you’re now an art graduate, you want to make sure you are distinguished from the 5 year old kid you used to be? Madam Djansi, who studied in America, did you not watch older movies, and see some whack ass gunshot scenes for example in some noir films, or even those terrible punching effects. Have you ever heard Steven Spielberg or Martin Scorcese ask to be distinguished from the industry that produced those movies? Instead, are those movies not still celebrated because of the great visionaries, brilliant minds, risk takers behind those movies? We’ve seen better gunshot scenes than when Peter O’Toole got shot in Lawrence of Arabia, but do we say oh, let’s differentiate that industry from the industry that produced Die Hard? Everyone understands that advancements were still being made, even till date, people are still searching for better ways to do things. Madam, why don’t you make yourself useful and do that too?
It is good to be educated. Good to be able to improve yourself, and return to improve the society that brought you up. But don’t you ever make the mistake of bad mouthing or demeaning that same society that you owe your very existence too. Yes, I’ll use a similar analogy to the one Stella used, cos Africa is very keen on family. Your parents strive, and work their butts off for you to do better than they could ever dream of. They will give their all for your success in a heartbeat. It might mean they have to go without food or water or decent clothes, but as long as someday, you will be better off than them, they will delight in their toil. Then you finally become big madam/oga, and return to defecate on them, because you are “enlightened” now, and you no longer want to be associated with the poverty that they connote. This child is nothing but a bastard devil baby, who will roam the earth to never find fulfillment. No curse. A child with a good head will come back to improve her/his parents’ lives because she understands the sacrifice they willingly endured so she/he could be, and do better.
We may criticize and bash Nollywood all we like, but it still doesn’t change the fact that because of the seemingly silly movies, mistakes, whacky scenes, editing and production flaws many have made, we are now seeing better quality films being made. You will ask what about stupid movies like Blackberry Babes, or Azonto Babes, or Brazillian Hair Babes, or Kukere Babes, or whatever other God-awful titles there are out there. My question is this: isn’t that part of our story? Do you not go to campuses and observe girls who are actually like those wayward characters you see in the films? Are those stories not close to home? Lie and deny and kid yourself all you want in your high chairs, but the truth is those stories are not THAT far fetched. You want to see a high speed chase in a Nigerian movie? Lol, ok. Why should it even happen? How many high speed chases have you ever seen in Nigeria? Okay, or even heard of? How many?? So why should we take a thing that is not ours and then try to force it into our stories? Even police shoot outs, how many have you ever witnessed? Is it not true that we value our lives more than anything else in this world? For ‘gossake’ what is police shoot out? Somebody cannot come and die o jare, don’t kid yourself. On the flip side, that juju, that Babalawo (native doctor/shaman) that you see speaking and arming that amulet or charm, casting that spell…hell, some of you even have these cults or covens or herbalist in your very own families. We see you at deliverance services 😒What of that woman carrying the bowl with the sacrifice in it? Eskisss (excuse) sir, didn’t you just see a real life bowl of sacrifice at that T-junction? If nothing else, with regards to the nature and ideas of the stories, Nollywood wins for realism. Because those stories are as close to, and whacky as our real lives, and the different characters we encounter are.
Now, with regard to the disappearing scenes, or the special effects, even plot development and script sef, we do have a long way to go. And it is a VERY long way. But how old is this industry for heaven’s sake? And how old is Hollywood in comparison. Seestra (sister), Hollywood wasn’t built in day you know, and even your great achievements are passable B movies at best in the eyes of The Academy, just so you know. The African film industry is still growing, and believe it or not, you have not outgrown it, don’t kid your disillusioned self to think you are too big for Nollywood. There are concepts known as process, work-in-progress, growth, and development aunty Leila. Don’t sit on your high chair, with your fancy equipment and spew idiotic rubbish about men and women who have labored with bleeding hands to make it possible for you to even be able to know that you can express your thoughts in film. Do not for one second even try to imagine that in some parallel universe, that Nollywood didn’t make you, and isn’t still making you sef. Aunty, you can speak all the English in this world, with your eye glass that’s even asking for independence from your face, but Fuji House of Commotion over you, any day, any time. There are some of us who genuinely want to help grow Nollywood, don’t sit down there and think because you have “arrived”, you have license to operate without common sense. Career anybody le ku any fucking time (anybody’s career can die any fucking time). And it’s not even in a place like Africa that you’ll be burning bridges you haven’t even finished constructing, but that’s by the way…
Fellow Africans, Nigerians especially (everyone else is welcome though), let us address the issues and challenges we face, and proffer sustainable solutions for positive growth and development. One critical Wole Soyinka is enough abeg (please). We need more people saying this is how we move forward, not people trying to show us how wrong and bad we are. You think we don’t already know that? Please, refrain from actions to dabaru (scatter, confuse, etc) us any further.
Kind regards,
Madam Controversial
P.S:
Click on the link below for the video containing Stella’s comments on Djansi’s statement. Gotta love aunty Stella ❤️
Stella Damasus- You Have No Right to Insult Nollywood
(Photo Credit: Yahoo Search, http://www.terangaweb.com
Chocolate Flavoured Girl 