Traditional Rites, Values and Taboos n African Evangelical Films

Abstract

The richness of African culture is unarguably seen through her filmic projections, particularly with people who may not have had a one-on-one connection with African people of any decent. Consequently, traditional rites, history, totems, and taboos in many African movies are not merely alternate or auxiliary filmic elements; they often reveal Africa's holistic culture regardless of the auteur’s perspective. The exhibition of traditional rites and values, cultural elements, totems, and taboos function in the placement of African aesthetic identity, and they may sometimes reveal the extent of research in filmmaking toward preserving African Culture. However, the beauty of African people and their cultures becomes obsolete through conscious culture abandonment, denigration of branded values, totems, and taboos, or misrepresentation of the traditional rites in promoting and projecting Christian values. This study examines the presentation of identified traditional rites, values, and taboos in Christian movies and the implication of such depiction vis-à-vis the cultural history and reality of the Nigerian people. This perspective not only questions the place of creativity by the filmmaker through content analysis by the ethnographic import of the selected movies, but it also queries the extent of damage done to African culture in the process. The study's findings show that Christian movies sometimes attempt to downplay the significance of these forms. The study, therefore, suggests that to promote Christianity, African culture, value system, history, and people should not be the least protected in any African film.