There are past Nollywood movies that have included progressive narratives to some degree. Saying this, my mind conjures images of Patience Ozorkwor as an MD in Women in Power, 2005. I recall Genevieve Nnaji running her own business, playing the major character in Silent Scandals, 2009. What distorts and reminds viewers that the movie is just regular ‘ol Nollywood is the way Genevieve’s character is portrayed as being uncharacteristically callous. This is almost a joke as anyone who has ever worked in a typical Nigerian office has gotten accustomed to a continuing presence of over-the-top male figures who expect the most out of each employee while offering very little in comparison. To say the truth, I am not opposed to women in power being cold or setting strict boundaries in professional spaces. Such must be expected as a result of the territory. I am opposed though, to bosses who err on the line of outright abuse which is what Genevieve largely represents in this movie.
We can conclude that Nollywood movies have not been bereft of progressive themes, but they have managed to twist these themes to fit their own agendas at the very end. Take for example Emotional Crack, 2003 where Stephanie Okereke experiences abuse at the hands of her husband and then meets a queer woman who she becomes involved with. They both fall deeply in love with each other, to the obvious horror of their family members. In the end, she has to give up her lover and stay in an abusive marriage where the violent partner makes (empty) promises about becoming reformed. It is important to note that stories such as these which do not necessarily fit society’s heteronormative standards have been displayed in movies from the start, but otherwise demonized thoroughly. I long to watch a Nollywood movie where our stories are being brought to light to be appreciated, rather than ridiculed.
A good way to envision such a progressive film would be the ‘Ife’ movie by Pamela Adie (to be released completely online) because it features lgbtq themes that are criminalized in Nigeria. Since media poses restrictions, it is a wise choice to release the movie online and bypass the homophobic influence rife in the Nigerian film industry. Another much-needed theme would be to see fat people in mass media; enjoying their lives, dressing the way they prefer to and possibly having a wide range of lovers. For fat women, being leading-ladies; even in heterosexual tropes where they are the proverbial beautiful woman loved loudly by the main male character would be symbolic and revolutionary in and of itself since such stories are scant. Younger fat girls’ will be provided a sense of belonging and it denounces the expectation of fatter women as being perpetually miserable because of their weight. I long to watch a Nollywood movie where disabilities and disabled people are not made out to be jokes or indicative of a spiritual curse. I long for Nollywood movies where abled characters do not play disabled characters or where femme presenting masculine folks are portrayed and have their very identities bastardized by cis, heterosexual men in real life. Where sexual assault (pre-dominantly against women) is not treated as an expected occurrence in society and survivors do not go on to marry or love their perpetrators.
It is important to note that movies like these will keep being made as long as it is the abusers themselves in places of power who get to control and co-sign for the most part what we see on TV. This begs to question; how do we tackle this system at its very root? How do we push content creators with progressive themes to the top of the ‘food chain’?
The very foundation of Nollywood movies is to ridicule, be insulting towards and degrade bodies that are not thin, abled, in most cases light skin and/or classed. It is important to not diminish the effect of mass media as most people are exposed to all forms at very young ages, it shapes our thought processes and is in fact, where we pick up the majority of our biases. Of course, in homes where families are progressive there is a direct commitment to ensure that their children are able to decipher harmful stereotypes, what these stereotypes mean; or rather how these stereotypes shape their very existence and the way they move in the world depending on identities. These folks understand the harm consuming such media poses but in all honesty, many Nigerian families are unfortunately not set up that way. It is clear that the general consensus or society at large supports and endorses these tropes from older Nollywood movies as they still make their way onto current films.
