28 January 2016

Movies, Race & Politics: Half of a Yellow Sun vs Beasts of No Nation

I just watched Beasts of No Nation, mostly because of the furore surrounding the fact that its most recognisable star Idris Elba, who I greatly admire, was amongst the black actors absent from this year's Oscar nominations. Apparently BONN should have received nominations for Best Picture or for Elba or the child star Abraham Attah, who was quite brilliant in the role of normal kid turned child soldier.

Idris Elba: A fine actor and a fine man

#OscarsSoWhite?

But I feel that the whole #OscarsSoWhite controversy is uncalled for. I think that African Americans are been entirely too demanding, I mean, what if out of 12 movies up for contention, the best five had white actors in the lead? Should a black actor be included in the running simply because of his skin colour despite not being good enough? Jada Pinkett Smith, the most vocal of the complainers never got any sympathy from me. Her husband Will Smith, although lovely, perhaps wasn't good enough in Concussion, a film for which Pinkett Smith feel he should have been nominated for Best Actor. I haven't seen it so I can't say.

Will Smith and Jada Pinkett Smith: Black Hollywood's power couple

But I just saw the whole hoopla as another way the liberal media forces people and establishments to tow the liberal line by instantly demonising anything or anyone - whether it be a social media posting or a comment/action captured on video or recorded - deemed sexist (against women though, rarely against men), racist, anti-Semitic, anti-Muslim, anti-transgender or homophobic and forcing everybody to never air an opinion outside the 'accepted norm.'

In American political terms, where once I was a Democrat who proudly attended President Obama's inauguration in Washington, as I've grown older I've become more Republican (minus the love of guns). Today I would call myself a Conservative Libertarian, so I feel free speech should apply to everyone without fear of sanction unless they threaten violence, and everyone has the right to be offended. But these days the 'Hallowed Six' of Women, Blacks, Jews, Muslims, Transgenders and Gays have achieved a status in the mainstream and social media where their causes are championed without prejudice and any perceived 'hate speech' against them is instantly jumped on and stamped out, with perpetrators insulted and banished. Where's the freedom in that?

Duck Dynasty Star: Fired because of his Biblical views on homosexuality


Celebrity Big Brother 2016: Winston McKenzie was the first to be voted out of the house to a chorus of boos when he spoke out against homosexuality. His angry, tearful house mates said they couldn't live with someone like him and there were numerous complaints from the public about his words. Now who's being intolerant?

The bad guys in this new order of things are Christians, traditionalists, non-Westerners, the older generation and the independent-thinking brave who are in disagreement with some actions of the Hallowed Six. Now I'm not advocating hate, but the freedom to disagree and air differing views about these groups. I don't agree with homosexuality, and being a Black woman, another may dislike me because of my race or sex, but we should both be allowed to hash it out without it being a crime, because that is life. I once had a long and heated debate about God on Twitter with a white, atheist American man, where I spoke about my faith and he said that if he ever met God he'd spit in his face. But in the end we politely signed off and I felt that I had benefited from the exchange.

No need pretending we all love each and are all okay with outlandish events like a man turning into a woman (see my post: Bruce Jenner and the Moral Decay of Society). And those who believe that the Bible is against such and such shouldn't be booed out of a public space. They should be entitled to their say and their opinions respected. You may ignore them or argue against them, but don't fire them, sue or imprison them or force them to apologise and recant their genuine opinions. It should be as easy to say 'I don't agree with homosexuality' as saying 'I don't like onions.' It's simply an opinion.

That's why I like Donald Trump. He's been so delightfully un-PC and counter-cultural in his Presidential campaign that I enjoy many of his utterances. Sure he lacks the diplomacy, tolerance or temperament to be a good President, but boy has he shaken things up and given those of us who believe what we believe a boost. Plus, watching him on many seasons of The Apprentice, he never once came across as a bigot in any way, and many others have stated that they've never seen this intolerant side of him, so I believe the promise of power has turned him into the worst version of himself. But I digress.

Donald Trump: He may be extreme but I like his fearless chutzpah

So the oppressed have now become the oppressor, a militant enforcement watchdog who clamp down on true diversity of opinion. They might still face hardships in the real world, but online and in the media they rule. This means blacks are always right and deserving of every accolade on a 50:50 even split with whites, despite being only about 13% of the population in America, less than 5% in the UK and not being well represented equally in every field simply because of lack of numbers or talent.

Not every movie with a Black lead will be Oscar-worthy, and even white people are snubbed by the Academy Awards, like Leonardo DiCaprio, who has never won despite being in many brilliant films in recent times. It happens. And remember when Lupita Nyong'o won a Best Supporting Actress award in 2014 for like, 10 minutes of screen time in 12 Years a Slave? Or when Jennifer Hudson won the same award in 2007 for singing in Dream Girls? Wouldn't you say the Academy was working hard to recognise Black talent that some say were undeserving? And also, a black woman has won Best Supporting Actress in 2007, 2010, 2011, 2012 and 2014.

Or how about when, in 2002 Denzel Washington won Best Actor for Training Day, the same year Halle Berry won Best Actress for Monster's Ball, yet some Black people were grumbling that despite the fact that in the majority of his roles he depicted fine, upstanding men of honour, Denzel was only recognised by the Academy after playing crooked detective in Training Day, and as for Halle, she got the gong after debasing herself by rumping with the white man who executed her Black husband in Monster's Ball. (I must admit, that sex scene she was in was really raw and she was fully naked when most actresses of her calibre are usually partially covered.)

Aren't they so beautiful? Oscars 2002, the best year for African Americans

Sure I also agree that Angela Bassett was robbed of a Best Actress gong playing Tina Turner in What's Love Gotta Do With It?, but Jamie Foxx was outstanding as Ray Charles in Ray, I mean so outstanding I forgot I was watching Foxx at all. He absolutely deserved the Best Actor trophy for that in 2005. So guys, it's not like the Academy never acknowledges black talent, it does, but it can't please everyone all of the time, especially not a belligerent minority who demand accolades every year.

I feel African Americans want to have their cake and eat it too: they continue the Blacks only BET, Soul Train and NAACP awards, stating that they need to celebrate themselves because the mainstream doesn't, yet no award can be all-white these days without backlash. They expect representation in mainstream award shows, but you can't segregate yourselves then come out to play when you want. Will Smith's former co-star on The Fresh Prince of Bel Air Janet Hubert stated it so hilariously on this video.

This Oscars Equality Fight would be commendable if it were occurring at a different time, but in today's Zeitgeist where everyone on the internet and on TV seems to be drinking from the same Kool-Aid of being anti-establishment, anti-tradition and anti-religion, and where political correctness polices everyone's words at pains of losing your job and reputation, I think it's all just more bullying by the Liberatti to get us all to accept freedom and inclusion without boundaries, rules or absolutes.

Beasts of No Nation

Apart from wanting to see Elba in a role many have praised, I also wanted to support the rarity of a Black Brit with West African parents doing so well in Hollywood. But at first BONN held no interest for me: I dislike war films set in Africa where all the ugliness of the continent is on gory display. Films like Hotel Rwanda, although brilliant, left me with a desolate feeling towards Africa and its many issues. I want to enjoy a film without feeling sad about what it says about my people.

Beasts of No Nation: Featuring breakout child star Abraham Attah

I've also met Elba at a movie event once, and he's as charming in person as he appears on screen. So I watched BONN, having previously heard of but not read the book which was written by Harvard-educated doctor Uzodinma Iweala, son of Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Nigeria's former Minister of Finance. Despite her controversies as a politician, I did some research on Okonjo Iweala's family; turns out both herself and her husband, all four of her children and even her parents were Harvard graduates with PhDs aplenty. Talk about generational pedigree!

Harvard Alumni: Uzodinma Iweala (centre) Author of Beasts of No Nation with his mum Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and dad Ikemba Iweala 

BONN was set in an 'unspecified West African country', and I immediately thought that it must be Nigeria. I assumed Iweala didn't want to specify because he didn't want the book to be unfairly pre-judged because of the country's negative image. So I was surprised the film was set in Ghana with mostly Ghanaian actors. I wondered if Ghana was an easier country to film in or Ghanaian actors better to work with.

The young boy who played Agu (a Nigerian name) was really good. He wasn't wooden or obviously 'acting' like the Nigerian kid actors I've seen, he was very real in his emotions and the part where he meets Elba's Commandant for the first time and tells him about his family's massacre was very touching. His fellow child soldier companion Striker was also a gem, that kid never spoke but he moved me immensely with his pained eyes.

Beasts of No Nation: Director Cary Joji Fukunaga, Abraham Atta and Idris Elba

Elba was good too, but not fantastic, and probably not Oscar-worthy. I like him best so far in Daddy's Little Girls, and I've just started watching Luther and he's great in that too. BONN's director, Attah and the story were commendable, but all were snubbed. I'll support the case for racism being behind its omission  in the Oscar contenders, if not for the fact that Netflix, the makers of the film, decided to stream it on their platform at the same time it came out in the theatres, which violated an industry rule. Maybe that was why the movie was snubbed. Either way it's a massive shame.

Half of a Yellow Sun

So after watching BONN, which is based on a book about war written by a Nigerian and starring a UK/US based African in a lead role, I compared it to Half of a Yellow Sun by Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie set in the 60s during the Nigerian civil war. I'd read the book years ago and liked it. I mean, I love Adichie, as noted by my many posts praising her brilliance. But unlike BONN, HOAYS was a mess.

Half of a Yellow Sun

The controversy surrounding casting Thandie Newton as Olanna and Anika Noni Rose as Kainene, two Western women playing Nigerian characters was never a problem for me. Both are capable, recognisable actresses and when a major International movie studio is financing the film, you can't realistically cast Nigerian actors in lead roles. They don't have the bankability and they're not as good. Nigerian home-grown actors are, 99% of the time, terrible by international standards, and the handful who aren't were in HOAYS, namely Genevieve Nnaji and Onyeka Onwenu who did well in their supporting roles as Ms Adebayo and Odenigbo's mother respectively. Onwenu's particularly luminous performance was rightfully praised in all the reviews I read that mentioned her.

Chiwetel Ejiofor can do no wrong in my eyes. I've loved him and followed his work and wrote profiles about him for years, my favourite of his roles being the brooding, dignified immigrant doctor in Dirty Pretty Things. He was good but not great in HOAYS, as he mostly reacted to Newton, whose 'angry-Black-woman' shtick is becoming all too familiar in this and roles in The Pursuit of Happyness and Crash, although she was brilliant in the latter.

But alas, the problem with HOAYS wasn't really the actors, but the direction by UK-based Nigerian Biyi Bandele. He was the wrong guy to helm this movie and they really should have given it to a well-trained, tried and tested and capable director, preferably an American.

Biyi Bandele: Good at directing MTV Africa's soap Shuga, but not an international movie

Upon reading reviews of HOAYS, it struck me how often many stated that 'the book was better,' and agreed with me that those who have not read the book will have no way of understanding the film in its fullness. It lacked context and omitted many important qualities of the book. With BONN, I'd never read the book yet followed the film, there were no huge plot holes and no character felt underdeveloped. But in HOAYS, village boy turned author Ugwu, one of the three main characters in the book was rendered unimportant in the film despite the fact that his coming of age story, his turn as a soldier, his love for Odenigbo and his family and his carnal desires were highlights of the novel. Also Richard, the shy white Brit had far too few lines and was a bit of a pathetic observer in the film, when he was much more endearing in the book.

The physical differences and animosity between twin sisters Olanna and Kainene was not depicted. Kainene's dry wit, aloofness and envy/hate of her sister was fascinating to me, yet none of it was addressed, and the fall out from Olanna sleeping with Richard was mishandled. Many reviewers thought the film was like a soap/melodrama at points, and that the savagery of the Biafran war, which was most memorably represented by images of malnourished kids with kwashiokor was absent. I agree.

Anika Noni Rose as Kainene and Thandie Newton as Olanna in Half of a Yellow Sun

I watched the film and after 20 minutes, I was just waiting for it to be over. The love scenes between Newton and Ejiofor was too much, and Newton was a bit too shrill for me; Olanna in the book was more centred and well-rounded. Whereas BONN carried me along and although it was brutal in places, it felt like a 'real film by a real film maker' and not some honorary project. I wonder what Adichie thought of the film. In her latest book Americanah, she thanked Thandie Newton in the acknowledgements which I thought curious. But after watching HOAYS, I understand now that they must have hit it off during the film.

Now that Lupita Nyong'o has bought the film rights to Americanah and plans to play the lead role of Ifemelu herself, I'm a bit worried that this book too will be a disaster on the big screen. But the key to the success of Americanah the movie is simply a good director and a great screenplay that will capture the fire and fierceness of Ifemelu's thoughts on race, racism and America. Adichie's books have to be rendered well to do justice to her brilliant writing.

Nnamdi Asomugha, Concussion and Fela

I saw in the credits that one of the executive producers of BONN was Nnamdi Asomugha, the NFL player and husband of Scandal actress Kerry Washington. That was a nice surprise, as it turns out he's more than just Washington's husband because the second-generation Nigerian has also won awards for his philanthropy and charity work around America and Nigeria. Good for him.

Kerry Washington and Nnamdi Asomugha

His involvement in BONN reminds me of how one Nigerian, Ayo Shonaiya spoke up against the shade many Nigerians threw on Will Smith's Oscar Contender film Concussion, which is about a Nigerian-American doctor Bennet Omalu who uncovered the truth about brain damage in American football players. A positive Nigerian character in a sea of negativity, yet what irked many Nigerians was the fact that Smith's Nigerian accent was poor. Unlike Elba's Commandant in BONN, who did not only do the accent well but also the mannerisms and the 'ahs' and 'ehs' exclamations that punctuate the sentences of West Africans. He was a believable African (well, his parents are from Sierra Leone and Ghana) but Smith wasn't.

Will Smith with the real Dr Bennet Omalu

Shonaiya stated that Nigerians should ignore his accent and be pleased that a powerhouse like Smith put his resources behind this film, just as Smith along with his wife and Jay Z put their mettle behind the staging of Fela! on Broadway when the rich Nigerians that were asked to finance it refused.

I saw Fela! at the Sadler Wells theatre in London and it was a great show, although I was irked that the actor playing Fela wasn't Nigerian, but a Sierra Leonan-American Sahr Ngaujah whose pidgin English was poor. I too fell into the trap of focusing on the unimportant and ignoring the blessed magnitude of the respectful homage paid to one of Africa's biggest, best and most important musician by other Blacks. It's sad how during the major anniversaries of Fela's death, there are tributes in London museums, music venues and in newspapers and radio, yet nothing of note is done in Nigeria to celebrate the icon.

Broadway poster for Fela!

That powerful African Americans and British Blacks are in a position to finance and bring the stories of Africa and Africans to a larger audience is something to be proud of, who cares that they don't speak pidgin with the inflections of a Lagosian?



*I think an apology is in order to readers of this blog for my long delay between posts (seven months!) It had to do with many things, not least of which was my personal disillusionment with my Fulani heritage due to private experiences and the systematic, criminal and murderous actions of some Fulani herdsmen/young men in Nigeria. More on that soon, once I figure out how to address it all... 

13 comments:

  1. Beautifully expressed thoughts. I wholeheartedly agree. Welcome back and look forward to more of your posts!

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  2. I am exploring this subject as part of a report I need to do on possible careers I might choose. Thank you for your post it has valuable information on this topic.
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  3. Welcome back!I'd missed reading your blog. I agree with you so much especially on the moving from Democrat to Republican though I can find no love for Trump. Not even in his Apprentice days. Narcissism never worked for me. The intolerance you speak of I understand. You've put it well. Kirsten Powers has written an entire book on the phenomenon.
    As for the movies, spot on. I haven't run into many people who've watched Dirty Pretty Things. Chiwetel is a brilliant actor. I love Lupita but his performance was more deserving. Also Ifemelu's description is rather far from Lupita's appearance. But oh well. I think I agree about everything else. Glad to have you back and can't wait to read more about your identity conflicts. It feels so familiar even before reading it.

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  4. Hey Yanang, it's been a while. Thanks for putting me on to Kirsten Powers, I'd actually read her interview on Christianity Today months ago, so it's cool to note she's written a book that I think I'll like to read.

    Glad you like my post, but of course even if you didn't agree with me I'd still value and welcome your opinion :)

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  6. I have really enjoyed reading your blog. I found it while I was looking for blogs written by Hausa people, as I work with a Hausa family and wanted to learn more from a personal perspective. I appreciate what I have learned from you and your unique tri-cultural experience.

    Moreover, as a movie fan, I was interested in your take on HOAYS and BONA.

    I disagree with you on a number of issues, but more importantly, I AGREE with you that we need to be able to have disagreements respectfully with a genuine ear for listening. I am a gay American man, and I have sensed also the contemporary untouchability of the six sacred cows that you cited - including the one that I am a member of. I think that people need to be mindful and respectful of others, regardless of whether they are members of a dominant/established/traditional group or not. Labeling anyone who disagrees with you a bigot does not make for meaningful interaction. I feel quite frustrated by the current flip-flop of intolerance now reflected in academia, pop culture, and politics against anything perceived as establishment.

    That said, the one point I would urge you to consider is Trump! I wish that we could re-elect Obama to office, but I will vote for nearly anyone over Trump. It is arguably the most influential position in the world, and he is a hothead demagogue/narcissist with no political experience. He may offer a counterpoint to the current cultural upheavals, but he is also going to have nuclear weapons at his fingertips.

    But thank you for creating this blog. I hope to read more from you in the future.

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    1. Hi Paul, I'm glad you enjoyed my blog, and I'm glad that we can agree to disagree on important issues without resorting to insults :)

      I must say though that I actually agree with you regarding Trump. I wrote this blog post in January, back when Trump was a belligerent, off-beat, crazy wild card who nobody thought would even make it past March talk less of being the Republican nominee. He was cool then, but now after the race-baiting, riots and his continued inarticulate utterings devoid of depth and diplomacy, I'm as horrified at the prospect of a President Trump as you are. I can't believe he's gotten this far, I really can't. I now actually want Hillary to win so we can return to political normalcy, even though I don't actually like her.

      I thought about editing this post to remove my praise of Trump, but I believed the words I wrote at the time and always stay true to that, I'm just grateful your comment came around and gave me an opportunity to explain myself.

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  7. What a great blog. Its inspirational and mouthwatering all at the same time.
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  8. Hi I am Ugandan and I can give some perspective about the homosexuality issue in regards to precolonial Africa. In my nation Homosexuality is not accepted and is a taboo people get killed and the government have made it illegal. The problem I have with your post is that I have recently learned of the prevalence of Polygamy in Africa and my country especially. As well as the general situation of black men that sleep around and don't commit avoiding marriage at all costs.

    Thus in my country Polygamy is common regardless of religion, Christian or Islam. How can an African in a polygamous marriage claim Christianity then hate on homosexuals, Jesus did not advocate polygamy? Double standards, now the next thing in this argument I wanted to present is a well known historical account about one of the Kings of my ethnic group The Kingdom Of Buganda. Kabaka Mwanga 2nd, please read the account of this Kabaka(King) to see a new perspective on homosexuality and precolonial Africa:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mwanga_II_of_Buganda

    Read that story and the reason the Kabaka rebelled against the British East Africa company and the Christian Missionaries who were converting members of the Royal court to Christianity at the time.

    Realize that the older Kabakas at that time didn't want to be converted to either Islam or Christianity at the time. The British used Christianity as tool to colonize. Today among the youth we have read this fact and many are resentful to both the British and the Christian faith.

    But on the whole black men/women are not some perfect little Christians. They fornicate, they have boyfriends and girlfriends and they have sex. So the religious argument falls over. Why do black people resort to the Bible to denounce gays when they are not saved, have committed and are committing adultery whilst in relationships where they are not married. Many Black men want to avoid marriage at all costs until they are older and thus fail to commit.

    So this is the problem do not use Christianity to denounce gays unless you are righteous in the eyes of god. Most black people go to church as a cultural thing for the fellowship etc. So using the religious argument is a double standard. And Christianity was used by the Europeans to colonize in the first place. They introduced the taboos associated with Christianity, so this argument is flawed.

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  9. Hi Duge, I think I responded to most of your comments on the Bruce Jenner post. Again you seem to think that Polygamy is a sin on par with homosexuality, but I don't. Of course adultery and fornication is sinful, and Black men that refuse to settle down is also a big worry, but none of these behaviours is on the same level as homosexuality, because they are deviant behaviour from the norm, whereas homosexuality is abnormal in and of itself. The behaviour of a cheating man, an immature man or a polygamist can be corrected, but a gay/lesbian person is harder to transform, as the error has seeped into their psyche so that they align their identity and personhood with their sin. Of course with God, all things are possible.

    I go to church to worship God, and I believe that I am righteous in the eyes of God, not of my doing but because Jesus died for my sins so that I now wear His righteousness. I am covered by His blood. So based on my faith I do denounce gays, because yes, the Bible says it is wrong. But even apart from the Bible, muslims and the irreligious can and do denounce homosexuality too, because it goes against the natural order of things. A man having sex with a man? A woman having sex with a woman? They don't even have the tools to accomplish the act and have to borrow/improvise/artificially enlarge body parts to force their desires. And to what end? Their pleasure ends there and can never have the possibility of the fruit of procreation that is granted to heterosexuals. I don't agree with hating or punishing gays, but I refuse to condone it.

    Christians would be the first to admit to their imperfection. The Bible, which originates from the Middle East, introduced the taboos (God's laws), not the Europeans. They merely spread the gospel. So your argument is flawed.

    Is your issue with the Bible itself or that the white man brought it to Africa? Because I for one I'm glad that they did. Oh, and Jesus did not advocate homosexuality or transgenderism either but you're OK with it, and not with Polygamy, when Jesus' earthly ancestors (and probably extended family) were polygamous?

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