THE LOVE OF FOREIGN FILMS AMONG NIGERIAN YOUTHS
By Victory Aduragbemi
Despite the huge financial, intellectual, and technological investments in the new Nollywood, a sizeable number of Nigerian youths do not hide their obsessive love for foreign films, especially Hollywood, Bollywood, and Korean flicks. This notwithstanding is against the backdrop of various schools of thought that condemned foreign films as the potent instrument of cultural invasion and neocolonialism.
The factors responsible for the undiluted affinity to foreign films by Nigerian youths may not be far fetched: The treatment of human interest stories; connectivity between casts and audience in the area of characterization viz a vis near faultless interpretation of roles; camera angling that tells multiple meaning in simple language of shot compositions; lighting with a full description of mood and tone with optimum immersion, impactful sound design and foley that add values to evolving scenes; location and setting that depict the real concept of make-believe; and massive promotion that penetrates almost every corner of where the films are meant to be watched.
This is why it is mostly observed that in Nigeria today, an average youth spends their leisure time in front of TV screens, laptops, phones, and even cinemas to see foreign movies. The genres of the most-watched foreign movies are those thrillers, crimes, romantic and, horrors. Foreign movies are strategically aimed at domineering the African culture and value system. These movies give the young ones the opportunity for observational learning and show models that they could pattern their lives after.
The youths are the most vulnerable because, at this point of their lives, they neither seem to be here nor there-hanging identity. Youths generally have been the most influenced by Western cultures. Though, these Western cultures are not all negative. The advance in technology has contributed greatly to ease the seeing of foreign movies among youths of today as they can easily download from the internet on their phones, laptops, and other audio-visual gadgets.
Movies are a form of relaxation and sometimes a form of bonding between friends, families, and loved ones. Foreign movies have always been highly rated for their intriguing storylines, plot, and setting. Foreign movies have a lot of times helped in increasing intelligence and ruling out ignorance as it may be. Every foreign movie scene has a way of increasing one’s IQ. It widens the mind and, sense of reasoning especially for youths who are open-minded.
Asides from increasing one’s intelligence, foreign movies educate and inform viewers about various disciplines, the field of studies, histories of geographical regions, and more. It takes viewers back in time revealing things youths never knew or would never have known, it rides well on the present and does a lot of calibration for the future. Movies like these are loved by youths because, it has a way of inspiring youths on creating beautiful presentations about life, education, and human behaviors.
Although foreign movies have their negative influence, the positive roles are admirable. They help in shaping and sharpening intellects, talents, skills, and arts. The more reason most Nigerian youths enjoy seeing foreign movies more compared to local movies in Nollywood.
Nollywood may need to learn more, do more and push for more to meet up with the standards of production studios as obtainable abroad, so that it can completely capture the youth market that is versatile, huge and mobile with lots of purchasing power for such social need.
Picture credits- internet
