Critic, Reno Omokri has come hard at producer of the movie, ‘Gang of Lagos,’ saying it only de-market Nigeria and Lagos before the outside world.
Omokri, in an Instagram post said the purpose of a movie industry in any country was not solely to make money for movie producers.
He said the big picture was to market one’s country, saying that de-marketing one’s country through movies is like punching holes in a ship on which one is a passenger.
In his words: “On the movie Gangs of Lagos, the purpose of a movie industry in any country is not solely to make money for movie producers. The big picture is to market your country.
“De-marketing your country through movies is like punching holes in a ship on which you are a passenger. Who loses?
“Why did you wish to go to America as a kid? Was it not because of John Wayne and Clint Eastwood movies? Do you think America is really as glamorous as portrayed in movies? No. Hollywood markets America. It does not matter if the depiction is true or not (it is not wholly true). What matters is the damage it does to Lagos.
“TB Joshua was the single biggest reason tourists came to Lagos. The second is Nollywood. Now that TB Joshua is dead, we need Nollywood to market Nigeria. And Gangs of Lagos does the exact opposite.”
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Well, its your opinion and you’re entitled to it.
If telling the truth, is now interpreted as “de-marketing”, so be it.
As par American movies, like all things American, they never hid the truth!
Hollywood, never marketed American with deception, rather with the truth.
All American movies, never hid the fact that criminality is part of their reality, however; they always go a step further to state, via their movies that the government through her agencies (CIA, FBI), is always on top of the game; hence, do no crime, for crime does not pay!
Maybe, it could have been in the 70s and early 80s that events in Nigeria could have been hidden from the prying eyes of the world, no longer now!
Everyone knows us for who we are, and the earlier we began to tell our realities ourselves, the more serious we’ll be taken!
Must we always tell lies and ask people to go to court?
Let’s for once ‘tell the truth and shame the devil’, that is the mantra some of us grew up with.
Our so-called marketing strategies have failed us, let’s try something else!
Like what? You’ll ask.
….telling the truth!
Not doing the wrong thing and asking people to go to court!