Why Nollywood makes 'bad' movies for the cinema

chibumga izuzu

May 24, 2017 12:40 PM

The release of badly made movies in the cinema is an occurrence that isn't going away anytime soon and this is because, Nigerians like bad movies.

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Considering how much of my time I have spent watching bad films in a cinema, I have questions - Why do cinemas screen bad movies? How do cinema owners decide which movie to screen?

Over the years, terrible movies have received a theatrical release, denying impatient viewers like me the right to use a TV remote and skip boring and horribly made scenes.

I recently went to the cinema to see a movie which was badly written, directed and edited that it left me aching for a couch and a control device.

The release of badly made movies in the cinema is an occurrence that isn't going away anytime soon and this is because most Nigerians like bad movies.

Cinema owners are just like every other businessman, and the major goal of those who sanction cinema movies is to make profit.

If they don't make profit, they get out of business. They don't particularly care how 'good' or 'bad' you think a movie is. Their accepted definition of a great movie is from a business perspective.

Based on the content consumed by the largest number of Nigerian audience and a look at the top grossing movies in recent years, certain genres are considered popular and successful.

So, a horrible but expensive and star-studded film will get a theatrical release if it has what it takes to rake in the money.

Most film distributors encourage filmmakers to produce comedy films because of the return generated by the genre at the box office.

If a 'horrible movie' grosses 1 billion, isn't it because it's good and people love it? Except, the definition of a 'good movie' is subjective, and tons of moviegoers in Nigeria like bad movies.

People go rave over inane and unoriginal productions because they haven't seen better. They haven't watched enough good films to know that there's something better out there.

They teach themselves how to enjoy bad movies, and they consider these bad movies the standard.

Also, some people aren't interested in a film that challenges them. They would rather settle for those that offer easy laughs, nostalgia and sentimentality.

Why watch "The Arbitration" when you could watch "More Than Friends?" Why see "Get Out" when there's "Think Like a Man?"

There's nothing wrong with producing a comedy movie or any genre of one's choice. But, it doesn't make sense that cinema owners decide to screen bad movies, take up our time and finance, simply because they consider the movie 'profitable.'

We have bad or inadequate cinema movies because that's what Nigerians want.

As long as we continue to troop in to see movies with terrible production, direction, acting, writing, and production value, cinemas would keep catering to our needs.

chibumga izuzu