There exist several media outlets for the
promotion of talents in Anglophone Cameroon. There are TV shows, entertainment
websites, radio shows, show-biz magazines and so on. They exist to promote
those talents of people who strive to make a difference in their spheres of
influence. Be it designing, editing, film making, acting, comedy, music, arts
and craft, dancing, there must be a great deal of promotion needed to exhume
these talents and bring them out to the world. Now comes the difficult part;
what are we promoting?
In this modern age, we as Anglophone
Cameroonian entertainers need to understand that the time has passed when
people used low tech equipments to shoot movies or music videos. This is the
age of High Definition (HD). The world of technology is fast advancing, so we
too need to cope with that blurry pace. It’s either that or you remain an
amateur.
I am happy to see that some people have
embraced this future and are working towards a constructive provision of
entertainment. However, it bothers me to see movies or music videos done with
poor video and audio qualities, yet these so- called entertainment promoters
continue to shine the spotlight on these ridiculous works of art. I am not
trying to ruffle feathers here, but I believe if you are an entertainer or
musician or film maker, and you are feeling uncomfortable reading this, then
step up.
Allow me illustrate my point with movies.
Oh God. Where do I begin? The uninteresting plots, the terrible video and audio
quality, the bad language skills, the mediocre acting talents, the horrible
directing, the atrocious editing, the dreadful packaging (thanks to PRINCO
CD’s), and the awful marketing... the list is endless. Allow me tell you about
the invention of movies.
Movies were made to entertain the people
and let them be acquainted with things they never would have imagined. Then
came the onset of informative movie making, which set to recount societal ills.
The Nigerian film industry abused this privilege and passed it on to
Cameroonian film makers who have sucked it dry. Now, the imaginative skills are
left to the Western film makers, who thrill us with spectacular movies. Too
bad. Shame to us.
We all know about HIV/AIDS. We all know
that jealousy doesn’t pay. We all know that wickedness is evil. For Christ’s
sake, TELL US SOMETHING NEW!!!!! I have
watched over a thousand American movies and over 100 African movies. We Africans
are the best...in the world of boring movies. We should create our own
characters. Being African doesn’t necessarily mean being backwards or
primitive. We can come up with a compelling story about our heritage.
After the movie has been hastily done,
there comes the packaging. This is where I often weep. In order for movie
packaging to succeed in Cameroon, the owner of PRINCO CD must be killed! The
cheapness and availability of these CD’s have made it almost impossible for
some ‘movie makers’ to provide a presentable packaging for their products. They
present you with poorly designed posters and CDs and pester you till you buy
them.
In the end, the inevitable happens; they
get top class promotion from these show biz media outlets, and they will be
contented that they did a great job. Nonsense. Arrant nonsense! Now, they
develop premature celebrity status and give themselves a false status in the
society. We should understand that whatsoever we promote from Cameroon never
ends in Cameroon. If we promote mediocrity, the whole world will continue to
look upon us as a confused set of people.
Promote something that will make the whole
world understand that we have emerged from the dark clouds of ignorance into
the bliss of constructive entertainment, a change that will separate the bad
seeds from the professionals. If we must promote, let us promote the best. You
know them. Unfortunately, they don’t make a lot of noise, like empty vessels
do.
