Hollywood Block Busters and the Case of Africa
by Harriet Okwi
Africa as we Africans know is a place we call home. The
gentleness of the land, the beautiful animals, adorable
birds and remarkable culture of our tribes are just some of
the things one would appreciate about mother Africa.
However in the western world, when one talks of Africa, the
four things that run to their mind are war, poverty,
HIV/AIDS and malaria. Hollywood in my opinion is one of the
major perpetuators of this image.
Nearly all Hollywood movies in which Africa is made mention
of depict our continent as a war-torn God forsaken one.
Every movie that sells real big augments the western
perception of Africa.
So we are clear, there is a wide variety of examples
starting with the recent block busters of “Blood Diamond”
and “The Last King of Scotland.” Don’t forget “Hotel
Rwanda,” “Lord of War” and “Tears of the Sun.” All these
films were hit movies and they all show Africans
slaughtering themselves.
They also hint on how the continent is infested with
HIV/AIDS. In “Blood Diamond,” two prostitutes plead with
Leonardo Di Caprio telling him they don’t have HIV/AIDS and
in “Lord of War” Nicolas cage resists the two Naomi
Campbell-like girls for the same reason.
The last king of Scotland was of course shot on my very own
Uganda and we were all so excited about it. The LRA conflict
has already been hinted on in Casino Royale and we expect a
Hollywood exclusive on this one.
It doesn’t matter if these film makers are trying to
discourage the trading of blood diamonds or the trading of
illegal arms. A true artist can for sure tell their story in
a million other ways with out necessarily stereotyping the
African continent and making us feel bad about ourselves.
I am very much aware that these things for sure happen in
Africa but it is just a few felons and sometimes these are
conflicts that we are trying to forget. Rwandans for
instance are trying to forget the past, reconcile and look
forward to the future. We for sure feel terrible about the
blood shed but showing it every now and then is like combing
fresh wounds.
Besides every time these films are made we sell a certain
picture of our continent to the outside world.
“Phat Galz” tried to say something good about Africa but
it’s not surprising that it didn’t measure up to the
standards of “Blood Diamond.”
There is however a certain type of film that African young
people should be exposed to. African cinema (not the flared
up Nigerian movies) is a distinct kind of film that awakens
our consciousness as Africans. Prominent film makers in this
genre have been Sembene Ousmane, Souleymane Cisse among
others who carefully point out our setbacks and provide
solutions. . African cinema preoccupies itself with the
beauty of Africa, African politics, Africa’s relationship
with the western world, racism, women empowerment among
other things.
Of course Cineplex won’t compromise its standards by showing
this kind of film. Worse still our video libraries are
exclusively Hollywood and Nigerian. It’s probably only the
British council that has some of African cinema films in
store. African cinema works are also shown at no charge
during the Amakula-Kampala film festival. But Ugandans
prefer to pay and watch Hollywood’s latest.
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Harriet Shirley Okwi is a 23 year old filmmaker from Uganda.
mailto:harrietokwi27@yahoo.co.uk
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Copyright (c) 2007 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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