I recently watched a Ghanaian movie, (one of my favorite pastimes – they keep me informed with what’s new in Ghana and of course they always have me laughing my ass off LMAO and shaking my head SMH). It was titled The Game. Apart from the fact that I was a bit clueless about some scenes in the movie after watching it, (which is usually the case with most of the African movies I have seen), all in all, I would say it was a good movie. Thank goodness it was missing ‘our’ usual ghost/juju/witchcraft elements that are characteristics of ‘African’ movies. Nevertheless, these were replaced with gambling, guns, assassins and sex – sounds like a script from some kind of James Bond movie, doesn’t it? Shoot.., I was perplexed by the sudden gun fight in the middle of an Accra intersection in broad daylight in one scene and the leather wearing female assassin in another! But one thing is for sure… I did enjoy the movie! Now don’t get me wrong, I did not enjoy the movie solely because it had a western flair to it (hey…what can I say… sex and guns definitely tramp ghosts and Bala the juju man) but it was the twists and turns and the suspense in this movie that got my ‘one-thump-up’ score. Mind you, the writer did go a tad bit overboard with the twists and turns. But I have realized that is characteristic of Ghanaian movies – they emulate western movies and sometimes go way overboard with the plots. In no way am I a movie critic or out to diss Ghanaian movies – I’m just voicing my opinion here.
The Ghanaian film industry has definitely gone a long way from the times of Obra and Osofo Dadzie (not to date myself) but you will realize that the storylines and film fabric nowadays is so different from back then. My personal chronological analysis ( for lack of a better word) of the Ghana film industry starts with an era of comedy; when laughter and entertainment were synonymous in our film preferences and taste. We saw productions like Obra, Osafo Dadzie, the Jager Pee series, Idi Koko series, Six Lovers of Melody and concert party series. Soon after that, the industry delved into the ‘Wealth and Status’ era and we saw productions like Inspector Bediako and Ultimate Paradise. Then came the era of western overhaul with the M-Nets and western reruns and TV series. Fast forward to recent times, it is refreshing to see we are back to FUBU (For Us By Us)! African movies are now in vague and terms like Nollywood and Gollywood (Nigeria Hollywood and Ghana Hollywood) are becoming commonplace. Although the caliber of movies, scripts and actors can definitely do with a facelift, I will still give them their props for the effort made thus far.
My current addiction to African movies is in actual fact fuelled by my quest to find similar film productions like The Perfect Picture. Now there’s a movie!!!! That is one of my favorite Ghanaian movies…actually I stand corrected…it is my favorite Ghanaian movie, which has now become my margin of comparison for other African movies. This is me to Farok, the owner of the African supermarket every time I visit, “Do you have any movies similar to the Perfect Picture?” Of course he takes this as an opportune selling moment to get me to purchase another copy of Perfect Pciture and six other titles he swears by! It takes a lot of restraint and will power not to purchase the Perfect Picture each time since I have only seen it like ten times already and have two copies of it! So why do I like the Perfect Picture so much? Duh! It’s all in the name…PERFECT Picture! Okay honestly…., the production quality for one, the storyline for two and of course it does not hurt that I think the actors and actresses are the bomb!!!! Okay…okay… I will be a liar if I don’t add the fact that I think Chris Attoh is to die for and that I have a huge crush on John Dumelo and the other chocolate delight who lost his pants in the movie!!!! But really, I think the casting of actors and actresses in this movie was perfectly done.
Another reason why Perfect Picture is famous in my books (a reason most people will agree with silently, but not so openly admit) is one hell of a love making scene! By ‘Ghana standards’, it is very hot and steamy and definitely gets a black child blushing…you catch my drift! This actually brings me to my main reason for writing this post (after a full page of rumbling, I was never a fan of summarizing). It seems that after the making of the Perfect Picture, the love scenes have gotten raunchier by the second! At first Ghana movie watching was a family affair – the occasional two second fake kiss was all one had to worry about and even with that, two seconds was too short a timeframe to really feel uncomfortable. Post Perfect Picture, these sex scenes (note my change of diction – from love scenes to sex scenes) could even make a ‘lady of the night’ blush! So as I was watching the movie ‘The Game’, with friends and family, one of these extra raunchy scenes came up and caused an uproar on how far and vivid the scene was. Being me, I just had to push the envelop a bit, so I pointed out to the ‘complaining’ bunch that had it been a western movie we were watching, there wouldn’t be this much opposition or outrage. What makes us judge or complain when we watch our fellow African entertainers acting sex scenes? Is it too close to home, or are we still operating on what we are culturally used to – that is sex being a forbidden topic – or in actual fact do these actors really go a bit too hot and heavy in these scenes? My thoughts? (Now you know you are going to get my opinion if you like it or not…hey it’s my blog!) I think all three reasons are true. Here is where I get a little ‘frank’ so don’t say I did not warn you! An African couple going at each other is a little too familiar and too close to home. It could as well be you screening one of your private session! (Hmmmmm). I also think a lot of the resistance to watching African sex scenes is innate and bores down to our culture frowning on overt sexual relations. So no matter how ‘open minded’ or how much western influence you have been exposed to, the inner indigenous African in you will struggle a bit with these scenes. On the flip side, our African entertainers are not making it any easier on us either by going over and beyond the call of duty with these sex scenes! So back to my comment about how African movies can go way overboard sometimes in their emulation of western culture. Sometimes, it feels like some of these African entertainers are trying to compensate for being left behind in the sexual revolution and they are playing catch up! A friend once asked me if I could handle it if my man starred in such roles – my answer was if his job required it, then who am I to complain. Nevertheless, it is easier said than done. So does this mean half of the entertainers in Africa are single? (Uh huh…do I hear ‘Meet Market”) Really a lot of these decisions come with the territory and it is really up to the couple to really discuss and set expectations before making long term commitments. However, it is easy logic… if you are the helpless jealous type, then I think dating a hot actor/actress might not be wise – simple and short!
Anywho, my quest continues…finding African movies that are worth my time. Any suggestions???
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