Whether it is the Mr Bones comedy movie franchise, Black Panther, The Woman King, and several Hollywood films centered on African history and lore, these titles and more have been executed to a certain degree of excellence that has inevitably introduced African literature and culture to the global cinema stage. Nonetheless, certain flaws remain prevalent in these movies one cannot help but identify.
After an Afrocentric Hollywood blockbuster premiere, foreign critics and moviegoers would praise the directors and actors for their authenticity and commitment to portraying an underrepresented Africa. However, Africans back in the motherland cringe at these movies because they are embarrassingly funny, while others are straight-up offensive as they re-enforce negative stereotypes Africans still struggle to overcome in real life. This begs the question: before production studios, networks, and Hollywood screenwriters begin works on African-centric movies, do they examine who exactly these films are made for? Is it for their self-amusement or self-praise? Is it because the “Hollywood think tank” is running out of ideas? Do they produce these films to receive academy nods? Is it to appease and school the black demographic in the US and Europe on their own history? Or is it to represent and elevate the African culture and experience genuinely? Who knows. But if it is the latter, Hollywood can still improve on its execution of African films. Here is how.
Get the Accents Right
Nothing is as cringe when an American or European actor attempts and fails at an African accent. For example, in The Woman King, the opening prologue narrates a folklore about the Oyo people, a Yoruba tribe in Western Africa. Seeing that the Oyos are Nigerian, it should have cost nothing to hire a Nigerian voice-over actor to render the prologue as it sounded far from a Nigerian. For a film aimed to represent Nigerians, it missed their distinct accent from the very first scene.
Another point worthy of note regarding the use of African accents in Hollywood that filmmakers frustratingly fail to understand or even acknowledge is that not all African accents sound the same. The Nigerian English accent is hugely different from the South African accent. The Kenyan accent sounds nothing like the Ghanaian tongue. If this is common sense, why would two characters of the same tribe have different accents?
One would assume this is a no-brainer. But the idea that all Africans sound the same stems from a racist, elitist notion that Africa is just one country with many villages and tribes, not an entire continent with 54 countries with 3000 ethnic groups. Aside from ruining the realism, inaccurate accent degrades the acting performance of the actors. Even when the actor’s facial expressions and mannerisms are excellent, if the accent is a miss, it waters down the scene’s impact on the African audience the film is supposed to speak to.
Incorporate African Languages
For a film set in the pre-colonial era, The Woman King and other Afro-centric films demonstrate their lack of awareness or outright laziness to ensure cultural accuracy and authentic representation using the English Language. Yes, the use of international language may pose a barrier to the film’s marketing and viewing experience; however, it would not hurt to sparsely incorporate the specific native tongue(s) of the African country the movie is set in. This is a feat MCU’s Black Panther excels at. Although most of the dialogue is in English, director Ryan Coogler sees that the Xhosa language, which is of the Nguni ethnic group, whose traditional homeland is primarily the Cape Provinces of South Africa, is incorporated into the script. By doing this, it enriches the film’s authenticity and adds a more unquantifiable depth to the characters and stories, making it feel like what it claims to be, African.
Be Progressive
Remaining in a hut mentality, Hollywood filmmakers cannot imagine an African story in a dystopian setting. Black Panther: Wakanda Forever was a huge cultural success because it depicts African countries’ technology, natural resources, and geopolitical potential in these modern times. Hollywood must stop dwelling on times when all Africans did was hunt with spears, fight with machetes, and stare at the sunset. Enough of primal stories that push the harmful stereotypes that Africans live in huts and other false myths. Hollywood should commit to telling modern stories set in modern times that will promulgate Africa’s growth and progress.
Hollywood can explore many more cinematic themes and plots with Afro-centric stories rather than constantly rinsing and repeating the “once upon a time royalty” cliché tropes. And for Black Hollywood, slavery, segregation, and civil rights-themed movies. Yes, historical storylines are ever-relevant; however, it is time to start looking forward. For inspiration, it is time to start focusing more on the future and less on the past. It is time to halt obsessing over Africa’s history and shift our focus to Africa’s future.
Collaborate with African Filmmakers and Actors
In addition to The Woman King‘s awesome fighting sequences and revealing plot twists, another factor that makes this historical epic a winner despite certain flaws is the presence of Jimmy Odukoya, who plays Oba Ade, the film’s major villain. Seeing a Nigerian Nollywood actor play the prince of the Oyo Empire brings so much truth to the film and scores major points of the Nigerian audience. This should be a precedent moving forward: collaboration with African actors, directors, and studio executives of the African country a Hollywood production aims to center its film on. Regardless of the level of research done to create these African films, it does not hold up the presence of African actors, directors, and other crew members on set. These individuals are the ones who actually understand the assignment.
Once upon a time, people of color appearing on television was an impossibility. But today, Black people such as The Woman King leading woman and EGOT winner Viola Davis, and other actors, thrive in an industry accused of being discriminatory against Black and brown people. Today, we now have films telling diverse stories with all creative freedom. This is worth celebrating. Many notable figures have played crucial roles opening doors, breaking barriers, and ensuring Hollywood is as diverse as it can be.
However, what is worth doing is worth doing well. Hollywood filmmakers must begin to make more conscious efforts to accurately make Afro-centric films that Africans will enjoy wholeheartedly. If that is too much of a task, by all means, Hollywood should leave African stories for those who can and should tell them best.
