CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background of the study
Over the years world views have continually detected the moral disposition of the world’s people. This is true for Nigerians and other countries. This comprehensive view is the fundamental cognitive orientation of an individual or society, encompassing the entirety of the individual or society’s knowledge and point of view (Wikipedia 2013)
Olu and Iduaja (2007) noted that, with the mass production of visual images made television, cinema, internet, etc, the world has eventually become a global village sharing different world views in common.
There is a common belief in Nigeria, that home movies negatively project the culture of
Nigeria. That is why Frank Aig-Imoukahude in Opubor (1995) confirms that, “Many Nigerians have complained of the poisonous content of films shown on the screens in Nigeria. A great number of people have criticized the nation’s television for featuring materials which have contradiction or erods, the quality of life and undermine the people’s values and norms. What is needed are films for self projection for presenting the fact of life in Nigeria.
Home movies is a blanket term used for prerecorded media that is either sold or rented for home cinema entertainment. The term originates from VHS era, when the predominant medium was video tape, but has carried over into current optical disc format like DVD and Blu-ray disc and to lesser extent into methods of digital such as Netflix. The home movies business distributes films, telemovies and television series in the form of video in various formats to the public. These are bought or rented, then watched privately from the comfort of home by consumers. (Wikipedia 2014)
Moral behavior is an action that produces good outcome for individuals as members of the society. It can be applied to the whole global society. Morals are principles that are learnt about, the difference between right and wrong. Empathy and other forms of social awareness are important in the development of moral sense. Morality embraces a person’sbeliefs about the appropriateness or goodness of what he does, thinks or feels. Childhood is the time at which moral standard begin to develop in the process that often extends well into adulthood. The history of home movies has it that actual recording and presentation of actualities started with the Lumiere Brothers experienced on December 28th 1985 when they achieved this by recording the “break Time” in their factory. Dosumu (1995) averse that “ when the brothers Louis and August Lumiere unveiled their cinematographer in the basement of grand café in Paris on December 28th 1895, they no doubt felt satisfied that they found a new medium of recording and presentation of actualities. Recording activities is what a documentary does and that is what Lumiere Brothers achieved by recording “Break Time” in the factory. The impact of the film medium on market has been great and varied: carrying ideas and aspirations beyond cultures.
The development of films in Nigeria started with the colonial experience. The first film shot took place at the Glover hall Lagos, on Monday August 12th and lasted for 10 nights Messrs.
Bolboa of BorceoniaSoain shaved the film under management of the Nigerian Herbert Macaulay. Nevertheless film production started rather late. According to Balogun (1987),Obe was considered the first to have made a standard film production in Nigeria by making mute film for the health department in the year 1936.
In 1947 the Nigerian government established the federal film Unit. The unit produced many newsreels, and documentary films in the fifties, the film industry in Nigeria was dominated totally by foreigners and foreign films.
During this ere, film shows were done in cinema halls, village squares, schools and church premises among other locations. This public show of films, made it possible to show only films that were of “high technical quality”. With the advent of video cassettes, video compact disc (VCD) or the digital video disc (DVD), the old culture of going to the cinema centre’s and public arenas for film shows dropped. Children and adults sit indoors glued to their TV sets. Then the area of home movies was born. Movies in English, Pidgin English, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba flooded the market on daily basis.
It is pertinent to draw the attention of the Minister of Information and Communication Mr. LabaranMaku, to the arts and industry in Nigeria. Only a fool will argue that the country’s art and culture industry is insignificant in the nations rebranding.
It has been established rightly that the movie industry of Nigeria (Nollywood) is the biggest in Africa and also comes third after Bollywood of India with the United States of America’s Hollywood in the forefront.
However a cursory look at the content of our home movies brands is good enough to keep well intention tourist and visitors out of our shoes. Over 90% of movies released in Nigeria, display perverted and negative impression about the country, where violence and afrocentric sciences of juju and ritualized killings dominate the scene. Also most moves are seen as pornographic because most of the actors and actresses appear nude. At times one wonders where the imaginations of the script writers spurn from; as a result of the kind of bizarre make-belief movies they produce. Even young Nigerian growing up under the influence of these images is bound to develop negative virtues about his environment and people. It is, therefore, necessary for Mr. LabaranMaku to put it in motion to correct these notions and bring some forms of sanity into the industry. As Husein (2002) lamented “we need time to achieve this (sanity) because a lot of damage has been done already. Here is an industry where a fellow is probably because he cried in a movie and drew the sympathy of viewing public or she appears nude in a movie.
One would ask “does negative influence of home movies bring about moral behavior change?” Opubor et al (1995) answered this by saying that “of all the media of communication the motion picture has perhaps the most universal appeal and impact; a film can rise above the limitation of language, and culture barriers by power of visual images, its use of music and sound effects and can succeed in conveying much the same message to audience of heterogeneous backgrounds.
According to Lippman (1922) he states that, “People act on the basis of pictures in their heads rather than in accordance with reality of the world outside”. It is envisaged that at the end of the study, the outcome will help in formulating and packaging home movies for Nigerians by reducing the negative theme in the Nigerian home movies.
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Movies are veritable tools of mass communication which cuts across national and cultural boundaries with wide and fast disturbing networks internationally. It is obvious or crystal clear that the moral behavior of students can be influenced positively or negatively as a result of Home movies.
Therefore, the question this study seeks to know the trends and effects of negative themes in Nigerian home movies.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The study has the following objectives
1. To know the various home movies Nigerians have access to?
2. To know how Nigerians watch home movies?
3. To examine the level of exposure of Nigerians to negative themes in home movies?
4. To evaluate the influence of Negative themes in home movies on the moral behavior of Nigerians?
1.4 Research Questions
1. What are the various home movies Nigerians have access to?
2. How often do the Nigerians watch home movies?
3. What is the level of exposure of Nigerians to negative themes in home movies?
4. What is the influence of Negative themes in home movies on the moral behavior of Nigerians?
1.5 Scope of the Study
This study is limited to be studied under the content of four selected Nigerian home movies; ZOZA, BEFORE THE RAIN, THE DOGS MEETING, STREET FAME. Due to time and financial constraints, the researcher could not go the extra mile to incorporate to watch all the movies that produced in Nigeria.
1.6 Significance/ justification of the study
The study will help researchers with the information on the effect of negative themes in home movies on behavior of Nigerians. It will provide relevant materials for students and other researchers undertaking similar research.
1.7Operational Definition of Key Terms
TRENDS- conceptual: A general direction in which a situation is changing or developing. Operational: the fast development of negative themes in Nigerian culture.
NEGATIVE- conceptual: power to affect somebody’s character belief or action through examples, fear and admiration.
Operational: absence of expression of positive character of Nigerian culture by Nigerian home movies. THEMES-conceptual: The subject or main idea in a talk, piece of writing or work of art. Operational: they are the negative themes portray in Nigerian home movies
CULTURE- conceptual: improvement of mental faculties refined taste or judgment high intellectual and aesthetic development. State of intellectual, artistic, and social development of a group, type and degree of civilization. Social group characterized by a specified level of material achievements.
Operational: the way of life, belief systems, habits and practices of the Igbo.
MOVIE- conceptual: motion pictures, cinema or films of substance for taking a photograph or a ribbon of celluloid or the like prepared with such a fine coating for taking instantaneous photographs for projection by cinematography. Operational: the home movies- Zoza, Before the rain, Street fame, The dogs meeting.
ASSUMPTIONS That the Nigerian viewing public both adults and youth watch local movies. That the youth as well as adults could unconsciously imbibe what they see especially the negative aspects as current and old practices of the culture. That Nigerian home movie tends to influence the culture of Nigeria negatively.