About Me
- Funmi Iyanda
- Lagos, Nigeria
- Funmi Iyanda is a multi award-winning producer and broadcast journalist. She is the CEO of Ignite Media and Executive Director of Creation Television
Friday, January 23, 2009
JENIFA
I just woke up from a nasty nightmare about a party gone awry and people getting murdered whilst I conduct a meaningless interview with a drunken police officer that was trying to hit on me. I blame JENIFA. Last night, in a time honoured 6-year tradition myself and my girlfriends met Thursday evening to catch up on work, life, love and the purpose of existence. It's a no children, no husband, no boyfriend, no children, (oh l said that already) evening spent either at the one person's home, the cinema or a café, restaurant or bar.We usually have fun whilst we talk about our experiences good and bad at work, home and life. We are one another's cheerleaders and thermometers, we don't do gossip not because we are not interested in other people, we just unfortunately don't hate, dislike or envy anyone enough, clearly badly programmed females.
So yesterday, after talking about work, Michelle's inauguration dress (okay we gossip but surely the obama are the most riveting figures in the world now and ladies, yes boys you too, leave Michelle alone. God knows the sort of pressure she was under to look good on that day) we decided to watch the most popular film in Nigeria right now called JENIFA.
Jenifa is a triumph in word of mouth marketing and exemplary in the variety of people it appeals to. Everybody and their cat told me how brilliantly funny jenifa was so we sat down to a mountain of dodo, rice and fresh fish pepper soup to watch the comedy of the year.
Funke Akindele the star actress is brilliant and hilarious as SULIAT aka JENIFA the village girl on campus bent on becoming a bis gal (big gal). She has created new urban slangs and phrases that you will be totally uncool not to get. Suliat kan! Ayetoro kan! Mo donjasi re! bisgas! Gbogbo bisgas! Ousssss! Yes all those mean something and will be used on the street but only make sense when you watch Jenifa.
Akindele is the best part of the film, actually it is her acting and comic skills that makes the film and rescue it from being 3 hours (part 1 and 2) of torture. Of course you do have to pardon the usual poor production, poor sound, poor editing, poor translation and parts where damn it they just sod vexatious things like translations and continuity. My take on those normal challenges of Nollywood is that technical production issues can be overcome easily with better funding but the heart of filmmaking is a great story, a fabulous plot. All forms of media are really about different platforms of telling a story. That is the central and cheapest part because it only requires talent, which is priceless.
I wish the film Jenifa had stuck to its simple and good central plot of the village girl seeking to fit in on campus and had maintained its sense of humour through out. Instead it oscillated between fairly good comedy, badly done drama, ignorant propaganda and sub plots that suspend credibility.
As women our skin crawled at the many stereotypes of women. One of us is a doctor who had had a rough day dealing with the fall out of ignorance and the bad place women generally are in our society. An example was a very poor woman who had a collapsed uterus, which requires surgery to remove it preferring to die than lose the remote possibility of bearing a male child for her even poorer husband. She has 3 daughters already. This is one of her fairly good cases.
The journalist amongst us pointed out the lack of consequence for the heinous behaviour of the male characters in response to real or perceived ego denting behaviour from their women. There was the campus lover boy who pulled a gun on an aristo (sugar daddy) he caught his girlfriend with. He and his friends robbed the man at gunpoint; he eventually participates in the eye gorging and eventual murder of said girl friend. A really macabre plot, the cause of my nightmare and a moment of surreality in the film was the rave turned ritual murder orgy by a group of campus cult boys which was never reported or accounted for again even though many partying girls where murdered.
Excuse me, when did we transit into a horror film or is the joke on me? Finally, there was a scene where the fiancée of a repented, badly cut maxi Ankara (I can kill those dresses) dress wearing, mum in law to be approved girl condescended to forgive her abortion caused (as concluded by a retarded doctor) infertility by admitting he was a former campus cultist who had murdered many. Help me someone, murder, promiscuity, murder, when did those things become equal in scale of deviant and criminal human behaviour?
The doctor amongst us cringed at the perpetuation of the erroneous belief that infertility is caused by promiscuity and abortions, she shook her head at the continuous assertion of the screen doctor that gonorrhea leads to AIDS. She knows the dire consequences of badly communicated or fear driven sexual education, which is the real culprit with sexual health issues.
l had a problem with the perpetuation of the myth of the girls making good only by direct or indirect prostitution and men's bad behaviour being excusable on account juju. No wonder a little shrimpet once asked my scrimp asked how a mummy can have such a home and buy so many things when actually in her own home, as is true of many homes, her mummy is the primary bread winner but the little one has been socialized not to associate those three words, women, work, actualization.
Most of our socially dysfunctional behaviour is not gender generated but an issue of poverty and breakdown of structures that regulate human conduct. It is a myth that there are big men who give women endless supply of money. On average most men and women in Nigeria are poor, the number of very wealthy men is small and they only give enough to keep the woman needing them whether she is wife, girl friend or concubine.
Most women l know work their asses off to support the husband and family whether in the market place or banking hall. There are a few exceptions to the rule but societies are not defined by exceptions. The younger girls may be easier to fool as their needs are less so the money required is not a much thus more men can take advantage of that, especially as both men and women have bought into the idea of expressing self worth only through the material.
Even then these do not constitute the majority and for those who are, it is not sustainable. I repeat it is not a gender issue, as most young men will do the same if the situation was reversed.
As to the argument that these films reflect our reality l say yes they reflect aspects of our reality, which is often magnified and distorted to grotesque proportions.
In any case, who says those stories of human elevation from Hollywood is the American reality. They take aspects of their reality, dress it up and present a vision of whom and what they aspire to be; the best vision of themselves even in the most brutally subversive movies. When last did you see an American film, sitcom or series that portrays the American army as anything other than clean, all conquering, all humane even when they maim and kill. Is this not the same army whose men news reports have shown to rape young girls in remote posting, and pee on prisoner whilst laughing and filming it? Do you see that in movies?
I do not advocate rabid senseless propaganda or the sort of censorship that murders creativity but please enough already with the ashawo woman, witch woman, juju woman, victim woman, and pseudo religious woman and give us a heroine to admire and love flaws and all. The tragedy is that handled differently that heroine could have been Jenifa, the all-conquering bad style icon of ayetoro! Suliat kan, Ayeetoro kan, jenifa kan, no sakin!! We have done it before; Baba Sala was nuanced, laced with irony and a little subversive especially with the stereotypes and a slapstick comic character. Oh dear! l see l have lost my sense of humour and become strident and incoherent exactly what happens with JENIFA, three unduly long, dazed and confused hours after the first scene.
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48 comments:
i saw the begining and end of part 1 and basically everything else i didnt need to see. i guess i saved some of my brain cells by doing that.
gbogbo bigz gals ni ayetoro
true, the things u pointed out are the same things we're used to seeing in nigerian movies, so much so that we are already numb to them.
if u remove the technical issues, and such, Jenifa did have a good plot and also a moral learning point that was connected to the story.
Although, i had to cringe when the doctor in the movie said STDs lead to AIDS, especially as i was watching the movie with american medical students!
You took the words right out of my mouth. I watched the movie as well because everyone was raving about it, and I laughed some but I couldn't help feeling mildly irritated at the disproportionate measurement of consequences. My friends advice that I shouldn't take it too seriously.
However, movies effectively pass subtle messages and enable stereotypes. Jenifa has entrenched some of the saddest stereotypes about our society and its young women.
This film is the bomb digity! lmaooo...but like r u serious.. soo u had a dream and ur blamin funke akindele?? ROTLMFAOOO..
When i criticised this jenifa film, some pple conluded that I simply dont appreciate our very own.
like I told, I hate it when films is about stereoptyping women, making men get scout-free in the evil they do. Or making film potray the fact that a woman's inability to have children must be as a result of her promiscuity or so.
I fault the film, I fault the plot and I was so angry after finishing it.
We can do better. We can start putting things in right perspective for our nation and not keep blaming women uneccessarily
she's excellent...but wait, which one is the "a mountain of dodo, rice and fresh fish pepper soup to watch the comedy of the year"
You are trying to get those of us in west hungry and jealous especially those of us who have no access to this sort of serious deliacy
Alas!! Someone else took notice.
If only Nigerian men can understand that not all hard-working single naija chicks with their own cars n drivers n all what not, is a "prostitute", then and only then will we attempt to move forward.
In the words of Obama "Yes We Can" move forward and change our minds & thinking.
Poverty of the mind is a sin
I love this post. The movie was fun but the underlying issues are still there.
You make me proud to be a woman.
It is true that male characters are allowed complexities and the madonna/whore dichotomy very much dictates the way women are seen and portrayed in Nigerian movies. Perhaps we should have a movie production company where more educated Nigerian women are directing and producing films? Even among the rubbish heap of terribly mediocre actors and actresses, we still have the Joke Silvas and Bimbo Akintolas. They're as good a place to start from as any....
ive decided not to watch this movie. Not because i dont like Funke Akindele ...i actually do. ive loved her since the days of Bisi in "I need to know" but because i dont want to be subjected to those issues you so aptly mentioned. That said, from your post the only question that comes so strongly to my mind is that why would Funke Akindele a lady who first appeared as the darling bisi in I need to know a series focused on Sexual and reproductive Health issues amongst Nigerian teens put together or even starr in a movie with this kind of Plot?........... She should know better ........... i'd have understood if the heroine suliat had been some other yoruba film star.....but her...???????????
Haven't watched the movie yet. I don't speak Yoruba and I hate reading the translations. For one thing, I know they don't translate everything. Secondly, the production was aweful, so I just couldn't get thru it, but I saw a little bit of it anyway
surprisingly Funke wrote the story..alas! and the miseducation continues...
i think a lot of commenters arent getting the message. I dont see how the movie entrenches any stereotypes, and i dont see how the movie had disproportionate consequences.
there are girls who do the things those girls do in the movie, and the movie does an ok job in identifying the consequences of such actions.
@standtall: the girl was promiscous, and did have many abortions, its not a far stretch if she couldnt conceive as a result of that.
the problem i have with it is the obviously false information the doctor gave, and the fact that the movie doesnt do a good job in tying the loose ends associated with the other minor characters.
when she was talking with the tailor, I couldnt but laugh...
oga sura "kin tin" as whats your own.
This girl is a star...
i would be her friend if possible. I would even marry her
The hype surrounding jenifa was too much to have ignored it,m I'm not even Yoruba but I was determined to see it, sub-titles or no sub-titles. It did live up to the comedy hype, but i wasnt really surprised by the overall quality because nigerian movies are like that.
all in all, really funny movie, i even had to blog about it. my friends blackberry id is even gbogbos bigz girlz, lol.
Funmi cut the gal some slack. Do you realize that the "financiers" or "marketers" actually dictate how or what they want to be portrayed in a movie. They force the script writers to make unnecessary amendments to the script. Funke Akindele tried but there is room for 1 million improvements.
@Iyaeto: it shows how backward our film industry is. If dictation that amount to zero and bad portray of a gender is done by marketer and financial. But really, a good script that balances itself out need no dictation
I watched Abeeni by Tunde Kelani and I saw that the film was somewhat thorough, I wonder if the financial or the marketers made it so
everyone is talking about it. i finally got a copy and satisfied my curiousity.my rating? it was ok, it did make me laugh after all!
the movie is ok and i enjoyed it and I think d girl had a point. I am a univeristy student and d problem with most girls now is to fit in. he rpoint was tryin 2 prove d assertion dat the greatest pont any individual can get to is the point where dey be themselves. cleary, the charcater jenifa did not get the point and she got the consquencesof her actions. while i am against stereotyping women, the movie was saying the truth and we cant deny d fact dat dat is wats up now. as for the production...come on..it is a nigerian movie...d nigerian movie industry still ha sa long way to go...it is not up 2 20 yrs old..trust me hollywood did not gorw overnight..it took yrs...dey are getting dere...
PS: funke akindele rocks! and Jenifa wa s donly Nigerian movie i saw last yr
I thought I was the only one who was completely confused by the entire movie. I watched Disc A of Part 1, and laughed my eyes out. I got confused after the Disc B, and my mom watched the rest of the movie for me... I think. Very poorly done drama definitely.
@ Stand Tall -The Activist:I'm not a Funke Akindele advocate but you have not compared like for like. The Laha productions that worked in conjunction with the baba agba himself Tunde Kelani knew he could deliver so he was given a freehand besides Laha productions is based in Republic of Benin(I think) so the modus operandi might be different from that of the Idumota marketers.At the end of the day, most of us watched JENIFA to know exactly what the fuss was all about.
You make fantastic points Funmi but may I say this - Yes a greater percentage of Nigerian women (even the working ones)depend financially on men in Nigeria than I was used when I lived abroad. Maybe it is the society, you know, lack of opportuinities and what not. We need educated and creative filmmakers who can capture the complexities of our society in a manner that is befitting. Bless you for at least calling our attention to Jenifa.
I'm the only Naija in London that's never watched a Naija film. Naija stand up comedy, okay but not Naija Ogbaaaaanje movies!!! I refuse to watch ANY Naija film. I like my peaceful sleep. I don't want any nightmares :)
Part 1 was good and Part 2 went the way of most films with part 2-milking the sucess of part 1 (except in Naija part 2 of a film is actually one film split in 2!). I love Funke Akindele, I love Suliat and Jennifa warts and all, and I have found THE BLOG!
I saw the movie and i must say that i laughed my eyes out, i agree the story line is a bit twisted but i also see where funke akindele was coming from, when i was in Uni, it was a crime not to be an aristo babe, even if u where from a rich family, all the gbogbo bits girlz were all aristos and i didnt need to be a Big Girl or an aristo babe cos i was contented with what my parents gave me. I was openly regarded as a small girl becos i was not doing runs and could not afford to spend 500k on gold. If i didnt have my head screwed on tight, i would have become an aristo babe too. There are a lot of girls from well to do homes, middle class homes and even poor homes that can live on what their parents give them but in order to fit in and be regarded as a "Big Girl" tend to become prostitutes or rather aristo babes. I so hate the terminology, "big girl or small girl". In order not to deviate, runs or aristo or prostitution or whatever they call it, is a major epidemic in Naija Uni's and its only when u re in uni that you can fully understand how it has eaten deep into the lives and mentality of girls.
A friend of mine just came to the UK for her Masters and its shocking how she wants a man to pay for everything she buys. It's a big crime if she uses her money to pay for something and you know what, this is the mentality of most Naija girls.
So you see what i mean when i say i see where Funke Akindele is coming from.
WOW! THIS REVIEW OF THE MOVIE IS SO ON THE MONEY!
i cringed several times watching the 2kobo doc(who obviously had no idea what he was saying) talk. People tend to underestimate the power of the media. There are hundreds if not thousands of folks who actually bought into the whole Gonorrhea leads 2 AIDS crap & some other medical blunders that were thrown in just to fill up the scene.
With that said, part 1 was beyond hilarious but they lost me @ part 2...as most naija movies do anyway.
u r ryt 2 sum xtent(d issue of STD leading 2 AIDS) bt i fnk u were 2 mean on her.Pls lets drop the issue of feminism.the movie actually mirrord d happenings in d society n @Adunni - i dnt fnk u read wat she wrote at d end of d movie.Funke Akindele is da BOMB!!!!!!!!!! PLS lets giv it 2 her.She tried
insightful, critical and beautifully expressed as usual.
funmi, you echo what i have been saying forever. i'm tired of nigerian films demonising women who work hard and are independent. this jenifa story brings back memories of films like "working class girl." if movies really echo our reality then we have a serious problem.
i have a feeling that the change will really come when we have more female gatekeepers in the industry.
as for your friend the doctor, has she ever written to any of these filmmakers to tell them what they're doing wrong and offer her professional advice? such actions will make an amazing difference.
oh and btw did she tell the desperate mom-of-3 that it is actually her man who's the 'blame' for the lack of a son in their marriage?
n-a
I enjoyed watching the movie especially the part 1...the Jenifa character was the highlight of the movie, very good comedy too.
I also agre with bumight, the stories are not far fetched, the movie depicted the real things that happen on our campuses, girls in shools do all sorts to live up to 'bigs gal' and a lot also bow to peer pressure, my only problem (like Funmi rightly observed) was that the movie excused the men. The men encourage these girls, married men act irresponsibly and what of the cult boys in school that kill and steal?? ..the movie was silent on them.
I also agree the movie had a lot of very loose ends, and I was suprised Funke akindele (after all the HIV & reproductive issues drama she stared in I NEED TO KNOW) could have a whole doctor give such false information on a very popular and sensitive thigns as how to contact HIV.
I also agreee that we should do more movies that give us heros, models the soceity and girls can look up to.
In all, I think she tried, in some years time, I expect she would be making better movies..that can be compared with the likes of TUnde Kelani's.
the movie was funny.great for some light fun..even the great hollywood produces some of those.
For the critics u r overthinking.
thanks bumight'funmi u really do make me proud to be a woman but really i think we nd u to join in the crusade to tell our young ladies on campus dt u dont v to be bigs,the situation is really bad,and hei funke was talkin bout campus girls here and nt the workin class girls,i tell u it s bad ,i love love women but the truth has to be told ,maybe it s the circle of ladies u move with dt does nt allow u to c what s really hapenning ,dt s nt to excuse d men folk though,in most cases if they dont ask,we dont give
Real nice movie..i rolled on d floor at the begining wen she was catwalking around in her Pjs n boots...Totally hilarious...
The fun part of the movie however didnt take away the somwhat confused storyline! Still i give it 2 Funke..She might not be d best script writer but she is a genuine actress...A little more exposure n she'll b reaching 4 the skies...To me She's got POTENTIALS. Suliat Kan..Aiyetoro Kan...Bigz Galz!!! Sweetest Edo Sister Kan!!!!!!
I have been trying to write a review for the movie for quite some time but just could not bring myself to.
I felt the movie suffered from what I would like to call many-unresolved-storylines. Like most nigerian movies, the plot starts out on a strong platform and then falls off into mini plots that only serves to confuse the viewer. I have a theory that this is because the scripts are probably not developed by one or two writers but by quite a few people who chip in and feel that their ideas have to be included.
In the movie credits, the producers included a by-line that indicated that the initial theme was about AIDS and I wondered why they did not start out with that from the beginning?
To Bumight: Yes, there are girls who live the way that those girls are portraying in the film but are you not tired of being shown stereotypes where females who pay attention to their wardrobe choices are only doing so because they want to fraternise with older men with no sense of propriety or responsibility?
Or that risky sexual behaviour is the only method that STDs are transferred?
Or that when there is infertility, it is the woman's fault and because of multiple abortions she had in her youth?
The movie did have strong comedic moments but its plot disintegrated into a collection of stereotypes and misinformation.
funmi & co, i think you are just over reacting, this film was actually not meant for the intelligent minds....UNFORTUNATELY...it was meant to be hilarious!......HILARIOUS IT WAS...save your critiscisms for more serious issues.....all we needed from your watching JENIFA was just a LAUGH......laugh it off and calm yourselves down from the serious issues.......
come'on guys! This is just a story; moreover in our society (and others) this things happen. There is definitely a message in the film plus the humour of course . . . Cass ya, see ya, byes . . . In fat, where are my BANCERS?
For goodness sake what happened to enjoy good comedy for enjoyment sake: stop being uptight; loosen up and ENJOY! AZ IN . . . azually!
hello Funmi
glad to have found ur blog, I'm shocked I didn't know of it earlier, having been a keen New Dawn fan and all...pls keep up the good work...need I say u r one of my mentors and u make me proud 2 b Naigerian?
As for Jenifa...she was superb...I very much prefer part 1 to part 2 as they seemed to lose the plot in Part 2...but in the 1st half of part 2, I particularly liked d scene where Izomudia's (Tracy?) mum and uncle went to pick up her stuff...d uncle was just 2 funny with his twisted yoruba...uwaka? instead of awon kan...
I'm definitely a fan of urs and will make ur blog a daily tonic (even though I guess u r 2 busy 2 update regularly)...well, see ya, catch ya, larer!...lol
I finally saw the movie, "Jenifa". The beginning was funny, but I wish they followed through. My problem with Nigerian movies is, they all have the same story lines. Can we deviate from the typical voodoo, prostitution, dominant manpower, adultery etc. I understand, they are trying to portray what is really going on in the society, but at the same time we have to break out of the stereotypes and cycles. Nollywood still has a long way to go. Working on their acting skills, having a good writing plot, and good sound or volume system. So far the best movies I have seen is, "Onitemi", and "Break up", based on the few I have seen. The actors in "Onitemi" were brilliant, a good story line, good setting, and the message was clear. Doris Simeon is a natural beauty, and talent. There are many Nigerian actors who have high potentials, but unfortunately the Nollywood industry doesn't bring it out. I guess Funke Akindele is the face in Yoruba movies, just like Genevieve Nnaji is the face in many Ibo or English movies. I'm hoping we can have upcoming good writers, directors, producers, and actors who are professionals and know what they are doing, so we can start producing quality instead of quantity.
well i watch the movie is quite interesting and very funny though lack of proper arrangement and actor forgetfulness of the character, i even write a lyrics about it which i called the wannabies.is both the mixture and yoruba and english language.although weje later confess they were playing around with the play anyway its show how talented they were cos the movie is a hit one as the general saying , just dont say haaa!!!!!!say hauchi!
True True!!! after hearing so much about the film, I borrowed a copy and sat down to watch part 1. I'm not a Nigerian movie fan, infact I dont sit down to watch any movies and of course I was disappointed!
It could have been done better and the stereotypes were alarming. I keep telling my friends, I attended a Nigerian university and all that rubbish that was portrayed "I DID NOT SEE"! Of course I have no intention of watching Part 2.
Hmm, your analysis was very interesting. I watched part 1 but I haven't seen part two. I thought Funke Akindele was hilarious sha
As a comedy, part 1 passed but for the last scene. Part 2, as "nollyusual", was an unnecessary addition.
funmi , OMG i think that was a wonderful critique of the movie and if only these nollywood guys would come up with intellectually challenging and intriguing movies,i have vowed not to go near them. i only went close to jenifa cos peeps kept going on and on about it and it was very funny i must tell you but they failed to pass the message across properly. we have youngsters seeing these movies and it seems okay to them to do all these things. i am a medical doctor too so i understand the frustration your doctor friend was going through when she heard that Gonorrhoea leads to AIDS. i have heard worse! Nigerian movies need help.
i am waiting for Nollywood's version of PRISON BREAK a series that has got Wentworth Miller starring as Michael Scofield and Dominic Purcell starring as Lincoln Burrows!
:-)!!!!!
I see where you are coming from Funmi but truth be told these are happening things, and yes it has become the norm when making naija movies to unfailingly identify these flaws but to give Funke some credit which btw, i think she deserves, this is something that happens everyday in our blessed country and if we do not point it out who will?
Asking them to stop making movies addressing such issues is asking them to follow in the likes of hollywood movies, and that is just not our style. I have seen naija movies that try to be all westernized and honestly speaking they are not doing a good job! I do not like juju movies a lot but at the end of the day even in this 21st century people still resort to such stupid things.
I remember the days of the older naija movies and i compare some of them to these new movies and i just want to puke! I am sure there are people that learned a thing or two from watching JENIFA bad as we think it was. Left to me if the prostitution, ritual killings and cultism prevailing in universities won't stop then we should not stop addressing them. On the other hand some movies about the "ideal woman" should be made, no doubt. But we can not resort to painting everything rosy just to suit our ego. we have to keep making corrections to the not so ideal woman by exhibiting her flaws as well!
BTW I was a firm believer in your show LOL! I'm mad it stopped :( Your blog is also awesome :)
ha sulia kan ayetorokan, what really amazed me about this movie is the fact that shaki(ireti osayemi)who was also in the act went scort free.
i think we should give kudos to whom it due,Funke deserves one. we all know that there's something special and hilarious abt dat movie.To me i have found a new of calling those "bis girl" we know them, hahaha.