Hello LALI readers. Not too long ago, I was thinking about our beloved Ghana, and all the achievements we as her children can display like medals of honour. Afterall, was Ghana not the first sub-saharan african country to gain independence from the British Colony? And can we not boast about never having a civil war? And have we not welcomed great political and historical figures into our country such as Maya Angelou, James Baldwin and Barack Obama? The list of achievements is simply endless, and I could have sat there for hours on end, smugly ticking them off. It makes you proud doesn't it?
It seems we have so much to be happy about, yet we have allowed our film industry to evolve into a tatesless, cheap, over-sexed monster. Yes, I'm talking about you, Ghollywood! (Gosh, I hate that name!) I know most of the time art imitates life, and it's not as if I don't know that people don't have sex in Ghana. But I don't really need to see a campus babe performing fellatio on a randy sugar daddy to get the gist of a film. Once upon a time, our films were authentically known for being family friendly. Now, I'm finding the industry's shift to soft porn totally overwhelming. And the swear words too! The writers need to know that the word "fuck" does not sit well in a sentence of Ghana English at the best of times. I practically have to watch a film alone first before making the decision to watch it with others!
Personally I blame the Film Censors Board for not adequately giving the films their rightful age rating (or for allowing these films to be distributed at all!), the smarmy producers such as Abdul Salam Mumuni and Socrates Sarfo (Yeah. That's right.I said it!) And the desperate actors and actresses that are so willing to play in these degrading roles. (I think I will hold off from naming and shaming here. It could be someone's son/daughter!)
Let me not be unfair, there are a few writers/ producers who know how to deliver a great film. (You go Shirley Frimpong Manso and Leila Djansi!) And let me just throw in here that Life and Living It, written and directed by Shirley is one of my fave Ghana films)
Here are the top three films that go on Afrocentric's Ghollywood Wall of Shame.
1. The Heart of Men
2. Hot Fork (Even the name of this is just embarrassing)
3. Kiss Me If You Can
Can Ghana's film industry, please, for Heaven's sake, spare us the details? We don't need to see it. And can we please return to a time when our films were not cringe worthy and porntastic?
5 opinionated people have something to say:
Hmm... Ghallywood is something else. It's even more amusing how the producers boldly and proudly defended these movies in the media. I haven't watched any of them. The eyesores that were trailers, etc. were enough!!!
Yes Etoile. I don't blame you for not bothering. There are some good ones though. Check out all the Sparrow Productions Films.
CO-SIGN OH, CO-SIGN!!! I totally agree with everything you wrote. Having been out of GH for so long I am used to the days when MODESTY was they mantra of our movies, when the most you would see in a (few and far between) love scene was shadows or feet rolling around in bed. It was even unlikely to see a kiss in our films.
Now we have thrown all that modesty out the window... African people I meet in my travels used to give me a certain respect when they heard I was from Ghana, just mentioning my nationality let people know I was respectable, virtuous and dignified. I can honestly say it’s not the same anymore. Anyone can see the filth these producers are putting out there on youtube and all over the net. It's disgusting that actors are even considering such roles, let alone doing them.
Seriously, Ghanaians, WTF?! Is this the image we want to sell to the rest of the world. I bet Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and all the Greats of our country are not only rolling in their graves, but burrowing to get across the border for greener, cleaner, less perverted pastures under which to rest.
I heard an interview where some idiot justified the kind of movies we are seeing these days by saying we are keeping up with the times, catching up with Hollywood or some other rubbish along those lines. Someone answer me this, HOW MANY GHANAIAN ACTORS HAVE BEEN ASKED TO STAR IN HOLLYWOOD MOVIES AFTER ACTING IN GHOLLYWOOD PSEUDO-PORN?! HOW MANY GHANAIAN MOVIES ARE PLAYING IN CINEMAS OVERSEAS?! Spare us the stupid excuses! Ghanaians have obviously been misled buy this whole “sex sells” rubbish, what happened to plot and solid story lines?! Gratuitous, unnecessary sex scenes do not make up for TERRIBLE ACTING (YES, I went there!). We need to reevaluate all this because the reputation we are cresting for ourselves by making, promoting, supporting and distributing so-called movies is not one we should keep!
IKnowWhatImTalkingAbout,
Wow! I can see I'm not the only one fustrated by Ghana's obscene movie industry. It's just plain embarassing if you ask me.
you are so right about the F-word not sitting right in Ghanaian English.
it's not even vulgar - it just sounds WRONG!!! it doesn't belong there!
Post a Comment