My beef with Ghanaian movies:

I’m sure people have written about this before but with the school of domacles circling around my head I’m now playing catch up:

Too slow: Way. Too. Slow. I thought I was the impatient one until my neighbor said she does the whole skip, skip forwarding thing with them too.

Ghanaians love to wax poetic: I know we've got some top brass actors and top notch movies out there but some of the Ghanaian movies I’ve seen just don’t appear natural. Or maybe it’s got something to do with the scripts. Ghanaian actors love to wax poetic in their movies, aba. Too much "the winding arms of justice will soon encircle your nefarious activities” blaa blaa "the sea of my love will never make your thirsty" etc. Abei. People don’t speak that way in normal life. Nigerian movies are the bomb because those folks say it like anybody would. Their girls even speak pidgin English and nobody tries to show they have a university degree in performing arts. Spare us the literature folks.

Boring storylines: I used to think people were complaining unnecessarily when they said this until I started watching the movies myself. Ghana pple, I beg change lanes small.

Too much sex: I guess someone whispered somewhere that “sex sell” so looks like everyone’s going on a sex spree. However we also know there are many movies out there in the world that have done well with powerful stories and limited/non-explicit sex scenes.

LAFA be what: Why o why can’t Ghanaian actors speak like Ghanaians. When people go to watch a Ghanaian movie they want to hear Ghanaian accents. Movies are not just for fun or entertainment. They’re cultural. We know how America has exported its brand globally not by being Britain or Europe but by being simply being American. One of the things I love about the Nigerian movies is that everyone maintains their Nigerian accent which makes it even more hilarious. I wish every actor in Ghana will speak exactly the way they speak in private both in terms of accent, tone and language. And as a bonus can we have a little more pidgin in the movies too?

We have a lot of great potential but we’re stifling under the weight of Hollywood, Nollywood and Bollywood. Time to let the albatross go folks and let our imaginations fly.

If you disagree, please holla and let me know of any great Ghanaian movies to watch.

Peace out!