The Imperfect Lens: Cinema, Culture, and the Numbers Game -By Onabanjo Abel

Movies are a representation of society, whether a flawed society or a ideal one. Movies will always critique, talk about, teach, instill, influence, and sometimes ridicule aspect of our existence. Regardless, no movie can fully capture reality because they are taken from an imperfect, fragmented or flawed whole to create a (questionable) piece. No movie is ever perfect. Perfection in a filmmaking is a distant dream.

When people get mad about cultural representation in film, I just laugh because you are doing exactly what the director and the crew wanted you to do: engage the film and in turn promote it. How do you expect a one-hour movie to aptly portray a culture of over a thousand years?

And besides, just because a movie reflects controversial aspect of a culture doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist. Or the entirety of the narrative is false. Such issue may exist, even if they are not predominant. Many cultures attempt to conceal their flaws from public scrutiny, which is why modern cinema often faces backlash.

With that said, the film industry isn’t entirely innocent. They also have roles to play. Gone are the days when playwrights and directors cared and prioritised accuracy in cultural representation to avoid misinterpretation, misrepresentation or ethnocentrism. However, these days, modern cinema cares about numbers. The focus has shifted greatly to numbers since numbers mean extra income and revenue—numbers of views, numbers of followers, numbers of trends that market their products, numbers of online streamers, and numbers of partners vying to support the product. In the end, the playwright is pressured to finish the script within weeks. The director is pressured to shoot within two months. With tight deadlines and financial constraints, little research goes into ensuring historical or cultural accuracy. In the end, it’s all about profit. Numbers!

The audience has a part in this. Tribalism has run deep in the Nigerian audience. We bask in and tolerated the misrepresentation of other cultures but turn into Hercules on the keypad when ours is brought under the blade of dissection and scrutiny. We demand highly simulated and fast paced movies that will condemn us to the edge of our goddamned seats from prologue to epilogue, yet we clamour when fact and fiction are mixed to suit our ever-demanding taste.

Even the so-called historical representatives have changed priorities. Many of them view history from the perspective of commercial gains. When you commercialize the history of your people, what do you expect? Back then, historical representatives used to collaborate with producers to create accurate historical narratives, and due credit was given. Those days are in the past now. Movies demand money. Writers would rather consult Google than historical representatives or expert. For instance, I would rather burn an extra 2.5 GB of MTN data for ₦850 than pay ₦5 million for a historical consultation. What used to be about honour, heritage, and preservation has become a business transaction.

In conclusion: Movies will never be entirely true or accurate. The audience cannot tame their appetite. Writers will always be rushed. More time means impatient partners and more funds wasted.

We all have to keep patching things up.

Onabanjo Abel: Creative Writer | Blog Posts | Website Content | Copywriting | Scriptwriter| Playwright