Empty Movie Theatres
Banks don’t have a say in what kind of movies hit the cineplex. That is why I don’t use my movie points, offered by one bank. As you know, points are a ploy to make us spend, spend and spend. I also did not activate the black bank card I should swipe when I buy movie tickets.
I have a reason for seldom going to the movies and it is not the butter-free popcorn. It is the product that looks like chewed gum. Movies have not changed despite all the technological improvements. In fact, technology is the story in genres like action movies and Disney’s staple diet.
Outside that, stories are still determined by props (swords, guns, army uniforms, diner uniforms, cars, helmets, open concept office space, and New York).
The Sun is also a Star, the movie, based on Nicola Yoon’s novel is a good example of New York as a prop. The tourist places featured makes it an advertisement for the city because the author based it in New York City.
The book is about what happens to kids when parents are deported from the U.S. Therefore, we were hoping to see more of their anxiety about being sent back to the Caribbean. Not much, even their apartment is not well-lit.
Cinema moments were on the usual: love birds running around and dreaming. What is vivid in my mind is how the brother did not like Yara Yashidi’s character. That part of the story was well handled.
I hope the bank that gave me the movies card understands that there is no incentive for buying cinema tickets using it, because of how stories are told.
l Movies are still about four girlfriends.
l Movies are still about two cops with a love hate relationship.
l The opening scene is still someone brushing their teeth.
l There’s still a scene where the actor is walking in a crowded avenue.
l There’s still a bar or night club scene.
l There are coffee shop scenes.
l Cell phones take 80% of screen time.
Nigeria is the second largest movie producing country in the world. India has always been Number One.
Yoruba (Nigerian) movies have their own formula for example: wife does not get pregnant, mother-in-law threatens to bring another wife for her son; somebody loses his job and is injured in an accident, he goes to the traditional doctor who tells him that he was cursed by somebody he offended in his past; a village goes through one disaster or the other, traditional doctor says the local king killed his brother the rightful heir to the throne; house help seduces master of the house; woman gives boyfriend money to go to the U.S. with the understanding that he will marry her one day, he marries someone abroad, etc. etc.
What does that have to do with points on this card the bank gave me? Banks must convince their Hollywood friends to change the script, tell new stories and tell them in such a novel way that I’ll go back to the cinema. It worked with Black Panther, directed by Ryan Coogler and everybody got paid.
By: Nonqaba waka Msimang.
Comments