The disturbing trend concerning the rising prevalence of lewd content in contemporary African movies especially those in Nollywood and Gollywood was eloquently discussed by Nigerian, Tukeni Obasi on Reconnect Africa here. In the article, Tukeni discussed the concern we should all have with the mainstream launch of movies such as 2009′s Hearts of Men in a continent with a high incidence of HIV/AIDs. According to her, “the message of promiscuity is not one [we] need to hear [right now].”

CP-Africa agrees. The main problem with these movies is not necessarily in their existence at all, but in the permeation of extremely adult content into main stream content and in the marketing of the obscene contents as the movies’ main hook. India’s Bollywood has been able to produce engaging film productions while respecting cultural values and traditions in their mainstream movies. It is a tough line to straddle, but as they have shown, it can be done.

For instance the trailer to the upcoming Nigerian movie, Men in Love  in many ways follows the footsteps of Ghana’s Hearts of Men in its x-rated depictions. The movie might have a worthy theme/message it wishes to promote, but unfortunately, the lewd gimmick rears its ugly head once again as its predominant theme…Deliberate? Highly likely.

(For those interested, the trailer is available on You Tube here)

This piece is not an attempt at moralistic self righteousness. Perhaps there is room for x-rated content, but certainly not in mass focused movies.  (If these movies must be created, then they are better marketed to niche audiences that can fully appreciate them, not the general public). In any case, when they are produced, the obscene scenes need not be marketed as tastelessly to the general public as has been the case in recent times…Doing so bolsters the point that these scenes are put in simply as a gimmick for higher sales. True, sex sells, but is this the way forward? Brazen obscene marketing? Surely, there must be a way in which we can responsibly draw the line while keeping our audiences entertained…

Overall, Nollywood and Gollywood owe it to their home countries to develop content that is engaging yet respectful of mass audiences. Anything short of this is bad ambassadorship especially coming at a time when the world is increasingly beginning to take note of and appreciate our movies…

[Images via radarboy, bp2]

Update: Ghana’s Minister for Information working in concert with the Movie Union banned the sale of x-rated in the country recently. More here

- CP-Africa

lewd content in ghanaian and nigerian movies, Nollywood/Gollywood, which way?