Yesterday, I put up a question on my Facebook status, You tell me: Was the ‘District 9’ movie insulting to Nigerians? I got no response whatsoever, and let me tell you, that was very unusual. My Facebook statuses never go without being replied. So I posed the question differently, Nobody wants to comment on the District 9 movie. What if I ask about your favorite position during sex then? Aha!! I am proud to say that I now have 23 comments … and still counting. Of course, I don’t really care to know of anyone’s favorite sex position – although I did learn of some positions, namely: the foggy style, the mirror of pleasing, the amazon, and the trapeze – but I got them talking about District 9.
Unfortunately, this post is not about sex positions either. Despite your preference, it’s about District 9. Read and digest carefully…as this is what we will be discussing on the talk show tomorrow morning. If you have seen the movie, then you know why it’s such a big issue. If you have not seen the movie, you’ve probably heard of it. If you have not heard of it, you’ll thank me later – hopefully.
So at some point during District 9, Nigerian gangsters were involved. The gangsters were headed by a man called Obesandjo, although the Nigerian critics of the movie swear that the man is actually called Obasanjo, and he was, of course, named after our former president whom we all love very, very much. Other complaints are listed below:
- The Nigerian characters were not Nigerian enough – or at all. I actually read this complaint on Funmi Iyanda’s blog. She’s quite passionate about it.
- Someone told me the writer and director of the movie, Neill Blomkamp is a racist.
- The Nigerians were portrayed as cannibals (because Obesandjo ate aliens).
- It’s unrealistic for a Nigerian gangster to have a female witch doctor because “we are too blatantly sexist.” This, too, I read on Funmi Iyanda’s blog.
- Nigerians were portrayed as scammers … and we all know that no Nigerian will ever, EVER do something that low!
- Nigerians were portrayed as people who are into paranormal, diabolical things. Again, we all know that we will never stoop so low!
- The Nigerian females were taking part in inter-species prostitution.
- The movie is owned by Sony – the makers of the ad that hit Nigerians below the belt. **gasp** It must be a conspiracy.
There are probably more complaints, but it’s past 12am, and this is all I have been able to remember at this time of the day night. In case you didn’t know, Dr. (Mrs) Dora Akunyili, our honorable Minister of Information, the woman who has been proudly rebranding Nigeria had the movie banned in Nigeria … because well … we wouldn’t want to corrupt our children with such filth! (My words, not hers). You’ve probably figured out by now that lots of Nigerians have boycotted the movie. It’s during times like this that true love shows. Who would have known that Nigeria loves Obesandjo this much???
Have I written enough to get you thinking? Good. The show will be LIVE tomorrow at 10am U.S. EST [3pm GMT/Nigerian time]. I have a wonderful, wonderful co-host, Nonso. He’s my go-to guy for everything comic-bookish and sci-fi. I have never met anyone who is this crazy about this stuff. So yes, he’s my co-host. I have a feeling that Dr. (Mrs) Dora Akunyili will not like what he has to say. Maybe she’ll call into the show??
Oh. It has come to my attention that in my quest to remain objective on the show, I have slowly but surely stopped talking on my own talk show. Crazy, I know. Apparently, all I do is take phone calls. Well, that’s over. Starting from tomorrow, I will talk… darn it!! I have a mouth, and it’s not afraid to speak. **Swallows gulp of spit** If anyone knows the SSS in Nigeria, please tell them not to capture me when I land. Tell them I did not mean whatever I am about to say tomorrow, but if they insist, tell them Nonso (my co-host) said it. I have his address, phone number, and picture.
To listen to the show tomorrow (at 10am U.S. EST/3pm Nigerian/GMT time), click HERE. Call 1.646.929.1905 anytime during the show (which lasts for 90 minutes) to join the conversation. E-mail radio@verastic.com with your comments and questions; I’ll read them out during the show. Also, please, please, please vote in the poll. It’s on the top of the right sidebar, and no, I won’t be able to tell who you are or what you voted for. Thank you.
Here’s a little piece of literature about Nigeria and District 9 that is sure to touch you – I’m not sure how. Click HERE to read.
And lastly, enjoy this video. Again, it’s something that is sure to touch you…. and I don’t know how either. Let’s reconvene tomorrow and discuss it, shall we? 🙂
Disclaimer: I am not sleeping with Neill Blomkamp. Neither has he paid me. I won’t mind if he does…. pay me, that is.
Me 1st Ke?! Now am officially worried! 1st on vera's blog?
havent seen the movie but heard so much hype about it, how everyone hates it cos they disrespected great Naija. dont know if i shd join the bandwagon and hate away, guess thats more patriotic.
maybe i shd just find the darn movie and watch sef. but dem too, why dem no name the Odebsanjo man Busch? or Clingston?!
na una know jare.
i really don like the fact that i cant listen on ur program!!!!!!!!!!
just not fair!!
i guess everyone is outta steam from talking about District 9…at least i am.
seen d movie b4 it was banned in 9ja….
tired of talking about it…
but didnt know sony owned d movie…
no respect pshewww
I'll try and listen to your show. Will be my first time.
District 9 was a very good movie. I do agree that the characters who played Nigerians were not Nigerian enough. But apart from that I find the movie witty and intelligent and of cos brave. I still dont like the portrayal of Nigerians in the movie but truth is we gave them the opportunity to represent us in that way in the first place. Time to clean up our house I'll say. I read Funmi's blog on D9 too and I only can say that she wasn't objective enough in her analysis.
I will like to say that I do not support Dora Akunyili's banning of D9 in Nigeria. It is art but I do understand her main reason.
I really do not know if you have been following the treatment of Nigerians and other African foreigners in South Africa – if you have, you would have been deeply offended at that movie. That movie is feeding into the hate that currently exists in South Africa against African foreigners on their land. A lot of Nigerians were killed last year in that country and a lot of suspected Nigerians (people who looked Nigerian but were not) were killed last year in that country because they are are supposedly defiling their land. You are igbo – so I will use this proverb, our people say that when you eat yam and palm oil, all your fingers will get stained (or something like that), criminals come in all races, colors and creeds. No, it isn't only Nigerians involved in such atrocities in their country even South Africans are.
I have always believed that there is a time for everything – now was not a time for a movie such as that. What they should have been more focused on is basically truth and reconciliation with African immigrants. Yes, I used that phrase!
Do you know how much more hate Nigerians have gotten world wide as a result of that movie….?
Abeg, there is a time to be objective and a time to stand for something.
Anyways, enjoy your show – will be in class, so won't be able to listen in. First time writing on your blog and yes, mr. shoes is very tall.
Of course some will say that we should just look at this as such a fun movie but I prefer to look at the impact of such a movie. Also, I don't think anyone should compare this movie with Nollywood because Nollywood is not sponsored by a huge recognized machine as this movie was…So I am with Funmi Iyanda on this.
Now, I feel better….. 🙂
im tired of people being objective about that movie i was offended even my friends who were not even nigerians were offended.its all good to be objective and ish.but that shit was fiction why would you use a real country's name in a fictional movie,it just doesnt make sense,i read that stuff you wrote up there and its not cos we love obasanjo so much but it was damn disrespecful,the things obasanjo did wasnt half as bad as the things bush did but did they call the man busch?nope.
and mind yyou they were calling the obansenjo or whatever you choose to italised to sound objective 'chief'.chief olusengun obasanjo.
please,im tired of all these so called civilised countries feeding us bull shit about ourselves and we come out and say 'i enjoyed the movie and try to stay objective'.think about the kinda of hate your daughter,your siblings are going to go through cos of one silly movie.
someone already asked me if we eat human beings in nigeria…now,they look at africa as a dark continent where we have no food no electricity.they are going to add the fact that nigerians eat human beings and are mean and evil people to their psyche.
but no oh,lets be objective and think about how we didnt like the so called obasenjo.its not about him,there is a time to be patriotic and stop thinking objectively.objectiveness has left us in the dark for too long.cos i bet you if this movie or any movie had said 'america',they would have stopped the screening of that movie so dont tell me shit about objectiveness.
Vera,I look forward to tomorrow's show. I did not comment on your fb status because I have a different take on the whole thing and have and will get chastised to no ends, if I air my views.
(Thank God for anonymity…I'm such a punk) I am wondering why everyone (Naija Leadership) has their panties in a bunch now that everyone is exposing our behinds. We scream giant of L'Afrique from today to tomorrow but we have shi shi to show for it. I refuse to see the movie because I am like the pretentious leaders, I won't support anything that remotely bashes my country. If our leaders had sense they'd take the hits that we've long been getting from our tarnished international reputation, Sony's ad and this movie and let it inspire us to prove all of them wrong…but you trust they will make mouth from today till tomorrow and then continue running the nation into the ground.
Let us stop for a second and look at the reaaaaaaal issue here, lets leave the racist screen producer/editor/writer whoever Neil is and let's examine why people can easily make all kinds of jabs at our dear country(and will continue to make jabs). I love and I am committed to my dear country and when I hear things like this, I know that the part that I think I am doing is not enough…I (as well as others) need to do more.
You mention Naija and all people can talk about is 419, italian prostitutes, bad leaders, corruption, failed state(that one hurt me to type) and poverty (amidst other things)…the list of Dr Akunyili(I hope I spelt that right) worries should be what the Neil something/Sony are saying, our "house" is a total mess..the jabs won't stop till we get our act together.
God bless you for this opportunity Vera.
++the least of Dr Akunyili(I hope I spelt that right) worries should be what the Neil something/Sony are saying, our "house" is a total mess..the jabs won't stop till we get our act together (even if it is small).
Nigerians were portrayed as scammers … and we all know that no Nigerian will ever, EVER do something that low!
uhh….have you ever scammed anyone in your life?just wondering.nigeria is a country of about a billion people,and let me tell you only about one% of that number actually scam people,would you want that number to be a representation of you?
seriously?so you are absolutely okay with the fact that people look at you and think of scams?
these people should not define the millions of innocent hardworking nigeria that try everyday to be good.this movie just braded the whole nation regardless of who it is as scammers.noone is ever going to make the calculation of…uhhh…these people are actually not all schemers.
so everyone in nigerian or from nigeria,that is you and me, and every honest person we know is being branded as a scammer just cos a bunch of people screwed up.seriously?
Nigerians were portrayed as people who are into paranormal, diabolical things. Again, we all know that we will never stoop so low!
tell me a country in africa that is not into all these juju stuff cos thats what i assume that you are banking your objectiveness on.why single out nigerians?i have southafrican friends, i actually have a friend who is doing her Alevels there so i can also tell you that they do ish like that.
lets leave africa for a second…how about louisiana that is in the so called first world country?they sill do all these charms?oh,yeah i forgot, they are americans so we cant consider them.
now,everyone is capable of such things..so again i ask why single out nigerians?in a fictional movie showing aliens.
the Nigerian females were taking part in inter-species prostitution.
i wont even respond to this.
it was a fictional movie about aliens..why single out an entire country in all its entity…'the nigerians'..are you kidding me?'the nigerians?'.
thats you and me.
forget the people who are actually doing this ish…when they say 'the nigerians' thats you and me.
Ok I saw the movie and it was horrible. Not because of the Nigerian references but because I thought the movie was just poorly written and directed, and BORING.
As for the references to Nigeria- honestly, I think Nigerians are over reacting (Please, don't kill me o!). This debate about the image of Nigeria has been going on for decades. Ok so the government bans Sony- ha I laughed! Big damn deal! Why not address the issues that contribute to this image at the root? What is the Nigerian government really doing to combat the issues that lead to corruption? Oh wait, they're too busy contributing to those factors. Have they never heard of leading by example?! Well I'm glad Yar’Adua and Co. found time in their busy schedules to "deal" with Sony. Next.
Ahah Leggy u comment is not long atall o!
lol
And district 9…lol, glad i dint watch such movie with so many critics..lol @ the fact that they called him "obasenjo", i dint even hear that part when i was being gisted.
Naija as scammers??…tooo low???LOL, now vera u got me there!
Ofcourse alot of naija pple these days are scammers, I kind of not take offence to that particular one sha…I mean lets call a spade a spade, afterall that is y they have songs like "Yahooze and Maga Don Pay"
oh oh, my comment is now getting long…ok peace out!
and visit me on my page!!
Vera, Dr Mrs Dora Akunyili, you mean?. She is not Mrs Dora Akunyili. Hope error is noted.
Uche
i happen to be one of the people that saw the movie once it came out, before it gained all this fame…went to the cinema to see Harry Porter but was late & then decided to see the only movie i was in time for, & that i hadnt even heard about…call me slow, but i didnt even notice that Nigerians (or Nigeria) were/was being dissed. i felt it not, i only said that it was a poor representation of us with respect the characters and the acting, nevertheless i was with some video/graphic design friends that thought the graphics/picture was water tight(ish)…i didnt notice…until i heard that our honourable Minister was hurt by the movie and that image it gave to Nigeria as a nation…& like i said to people that cared to listen, it was just a poorly done SciFi movie set in Africa. Dr.Akunyuli should focus on other things, such as 'rebranding' the nations, whatever that means
More talk on D9, abeg people it's not that serious now?
definitely agreed with Myne Whitman.
Honestly now, guys it's really not that serious. The movie has come and gone, and it has made it's money.
I don't know about the director being a racist, afterall if he was a racist why would he use black people in the movie? Wat evidence is tehre to support him being a "racist". U might label him a naija hater, but to call him a racist is flat out stupid
Ok…I watched the movie….and here is what I think…
1. As a Sci-Fi movie – The movie was BAD! It was as if they stole bits and pieces of actually good Sci-Fi movies and combined it into one crappyly shot movie.
2. THe storyline was the WORST I have ever seen. The characters were excruciatinly BORING! and they were not sympathetic at all. Even the Aliens were a bit unsympathetic…ok I kinda liked the aliens but the creepy Cat food….UGHHH…MADE NO SENSE!!! The plot was soo sloopy and disgusting.
3. As a satire on Aparthied – The movie producers exploited the apartheid theme in such a horrible way. At the end, the white guy needed to save the Aliens. They obviously couldn't do it themselves. Like SERIOUSLY! Did they read any history at all?
4. Nigeria played a sysmpathetic role to the Black South Africans during Apartheid in the OAU and to represent Nigerians in that light was historically inaccurate.
5. Calling the main guy obesandjo or Obasanjo is Unneccessaryly inflamatory. I am absolutely irritated by this sort of thing. I mean come on.
I am Nigerian and I don't commit fraud and I am a responsible global citizen and whether you like it or not Sony and this movie continues to propagate the Single Story of Nigeria. Nigeria is and will always be a complex story one that Sony can never hope to understand.
wow..some emotions running here!
Thank you all for your comments. I have read them all and put them all into consideration for tomorrow's show. I was going to respond individually, but Vera is soooooo flippin' tired – that's the honest truth. I don't want to leave the comments without replying.
Thanks, all!!! Tune is tomorrow.
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/verastic
10am U.S. EST / 3pm GMT/ Nigerian time.
E-mail radio@verastic.com if you have questions/comment. Thanks, all!!!
You know me i must mark register tommorow. I MUST definitely be in the "shat" room.
I have my own opinions on the movie (which i haven't watched) but all i'm going to say for now is it's really not that serious as to actually ban the movie.
Aunty Dora should face the real issues we have like why are my 14 & 15yr old brothers are still at home because federal secondary schools are on strike.
Funmi sounds like she is related to Obasanjo. I share her sentiments though, Nigerians are not the only bad guys around.
Vera what happened I cant into the chat room again
Just wondering….did anyone watch the movie "the informant" that came out a few months ago?
Also a movie that dis-tastefully mentions Nigeria(ns)…totally unwarranted.
Banning or no banning….it's a simple as this: "All these people should respect our country & our people just as we respect theirs".
I tell you this is not helping the bad image we already had, I lived with a kenyan in my first year in Uni, u cant imagine that her father sent her a very long email when she found out that her roommate is a nigerian and the pastor of the church(mostly populated with nigerians) she attends is a nigerian too.
I once joked with her to come to naija with me during summer, the reply she gave made me almost forget my hand on her face, telling me she is afraid of Nigerians. I was like what the hell, so this idiot lived with me for a year and went to a "nigerian church" and still thinks all Nigerians are bad. I wondered what would have been running tru her mind during that one year. Definetly, maybe I or the pastor might voodoo her, scam here or even eat her. She must have been sleeping with her eyes half shut at night. As Kenyans dont drink human blood themselves ptchew…****looooong hisss****
But for real we really need to send AMADIOHA + SANGO to shut those pple up. or what do u think?
I just listened to your show, and mennnnnnnnnnnnnn, I was boiling!!! Wowwww!!! I believe from all the comments on air, that we have believed other people's story about us. I heard people say it was not a big deal!!! Really? Tell me, have you ever been asked if you lived on a tree? Or have you ever been told by a foreigner that they would love to go back to Africa to see all the animals? If you have, you will understand why people are so upset. It wasn't just district 9, it was the depiction of nollywood in time agazine, it was the sony advert, it was one too many jabs at a country that is struggling to rebrand itself.
Honestly, after your show, I felt you, naijabloke and Nonso actually felt that it was okay to diss Nigeria. Yes Dissed Nigeria as Funmi rightly said.
To me, this feeds into very negative stereotypes about the African Continent in general, and Nigeria in particular.
I heard some babe from England say kini big deal? It is a big deal. For the president of a country to be insulted is a big deal.
I feel at the end of the day, the white guys are laughing at us. For decades they have told us what to believe about ourselves, and guess what? Now, we are actually starting to believe it.
Omo i have overtyped jare, wait Vera until people start asking you stupid things, they you will understand the big deal about District 9.
Sorry I sound so angry, but i can't help myself. Bye.
I am totally with Leggy on this one. That stupid movie just denegrated my green passprt thye more. What rubbish! The Nigerians? The audacity to even use our former president's name. That is utter disrespect. Will they try such on other jurisdiction?
I am glad they banned the movie in Nigeria, fiction or no fiction. We don't need the angst it will generate among the public.