Nollywood Film Plots

December 24, 2007, Heritage Hotel, Oshogbo, Nigeria

Plot elements of Nollywood films–

  • Male honor, public humiliation
  • Gifts among family members, particularly from men seeking daughters in marriage
  • Sin of sex outside marriage
  • Evil of non-Christian devil magic
  • Overriding importance of marriage and marriage into “good familyâ€?, to the point of parent-forced marriages going awry, children escaping arranged marriage for love marriages
  • Evil aunt taking care of orphaned nieces, abusing them over her spoiled daughter
  • The wealth and vice of the big city, the modern ways in conflict with tradition
  • The prevalence of fraudulent activity (419 law, FCEE agency to counter fraud)
  • Bandits and violence
  • Foreigners as bandits, negative influence on Nigerians who travel abroad
  • Submission of women, women like children, only to serve and comfort husband
  • Domestic violence and abuse
  • Value of foreign education in business
  • Importance of flashy car, especially Mercedes (sensual car cinematography)
  • Pregnancy and miscarriages, but little of early childraising
  • Lack of funds for life-saving medical treatment
  • Hysterical grief of women at loss of loved one
  • Tendency to pair lighter-skinned women with darker-skinned men
  • Importance of forgiveness for past wrongs

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