Feminist Aesthetics in Nigerian Home Movies

Abstract

This paper interprets two Nigerian films, Danger Signal 1 & 2 (2004), produced and directed by Teco Benson, and Reloaded 1 & 2 (2008) produced by Juan Amechee and Desmond Elliot, as directed by Duwa Imasuen & Ikechukwu Onyeka to reveal the main strong feminist’s ideology presented vis-à-vis the implication for women’s consciousness. The obvious feminist elements are suggested which lead to the recognition and identification of the demystification of patriarchal and hegemonic strands of reasoning. The demystification of patriarchy and hegemony in the two films here is viewed along the backdrop of the global women’s rights movement which brought about new ideas concerning patriarchy. The radical feminist ideology that can be read into the films is the view that patriarchy signifies the cultural and social domination of women by men. Thus, the films question why sexual inequality persisted even after women had won their rights and achieved legal equity. Using radical feminism as the theoretical framework, this paper critiques the two films portraying female characters that have enough education, courage, strength, economic autonomy, and foresightedness to sustain their quest to break through the walls of traditional inhibitions imposed on women. The paper, therefore, is to make a clarion call on film producers and related agencies to make it a duty, using the potency of film as a genre to propagate a desired feminist agenda for gender equity and equality, which negate patriarchy and hegemony.