Comments on: Ben Stiller “To Spread Goodness” in Nigeria

By: rotimi

rotimi — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 18:29:55 +0000

Personally a lot of the movies highlighted above never do proper research about Nigeria before they start using it in their movies..the most disappointing for me was Sahara..the cars and outfits the people wore showed that the producers etc knew absolutely nothing about what they were talking about..tears of the sun could be shown more forgiveness cause it was supposed to be like a post civil war in the future type thing so with that said..i guess they were free to do what they wanted..xmen was stupid..now regarding this 419 thing..I HAVE ABSOLUTELY NO PROBLEM WITH INTERNET SCAM BEING SHOWN IN THEIR MOVIES…when Russia was still involved very heavily in uclear bombs..they were represented as such,the arabs are represented the way they are because of what a lot of them have done,the colombians and italians are most times shown as drug dealers or corrupt cops..take it or leave it..we are known for internet fraud..when it reduces the buzz will reduce..since 9/11 and the new anti terrorism lws..i know how many movies have come out showing that arabs are always the first suspects when there is a problem on a plane..i think it is good plain fun and we should only see it as such

By: fesh

fesh — Wed, 10 Feb 2010 05:39:37 +0000

actually, wolverine (the village shot) was done right here in vancouver, BC, Canada…i saw the set…dunno what y’all is talking about it being shot in Nigeria and such

By: Bridget Oti

Bridget Oti — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 00:36:21 +0000

omg get over yourself. the movie will bring comedy into such a bad rep. just like comedians joke about racism-it brings light to something so bad.

By: sleepy willow

sleepy willow — Sat, 16 May 2009 18:09:18 +0000

I agree with $poh. As a Nigerian, I am still embarrassed to tell people where I come from because of 419 fraud cases and because of aggressive Nigerian men (usually older) who try to talk to me and my American friends (we are 19-20yrs) . 7 years ago, Americans didn’t know what 419 was, but now, its everywhere. I even hear some Americans say “Oh, so and so is shady, they are Nigerian” or “Will go to Tanzania, but probably not Nigeria, its too dangerous and they are a bunch of crooks.” This new Ben Stiller movie shouldn’t be celebrated, as it will only bring further embarrassment, shame and discrimination to Nigerians abroad. Highlighting the causes of 149 won’t help either. Poverty exists everywhere and the focus will be about the ‘scamming Nigerians.’…And the Title ‘Jungle in Nigeria’- wow, that’s really sad- its 2009 people! Last comment- was anyone else pissed about the movie Phat Girls? It portrayed Nigerian men as loving obese women. No respect to Monique, but even though some Nigerian women are curvy with hips etc, we are not that large and all men here don’t like that. In fact, in my family, all the women are slim. And the part at the end of the movie where the maid can’t speak English? What?!

By: GamGam

GamGam — Mon, 11 May 2009 22:21:14 +0000

Bla Bla… i love Wolverine and Stiller! lol

By: $poh

$poh — Mon, 11 May 2009 15:06:48 +0000

I can bet the end result of this film is going to be detrimental to the image of nigeria. I wonder if we should be celebrating this impending disgrace or making sure it addresses both parties equally? At least its a greedy person(foreigner) that will drop 100 to get 1000 in exchange. They hope to make profit that’s why they invest and then get duped.

By: enrique

enrique — Mon, 11 May 2009 13:55:13 +0000

Gosh. Someone actually said ‘This scam stereotype we are saddled with’.

Saddled with? Stereotype? Has that person lived in Nigeria in the past – gosh what – two decades?!?!?

I understand folks are involuntarily supposed to take up arms in support of country. But a little though, a little perspective is necessary. Lets not be children, which means irrational.

By: yay

yay — Mon, 11 May 2009 04:47:42 +0000

You forgot the new Wolverine movie…

By: Abeni Ebony

Abeni Ebony — Sun, 10 May 2009 13:21:51 +0000

this was a pretty informative article….great work BellaNaija

By: jegede sokoya

jegede sokoya — Sat, 09 May 2009 14:22:12 +0000

and he will forever be a fool

By: Kizzle

Kizzle — Sat, 09 May 2009 12:40:50 +0000

it said “jungle of”. they edited it.

By: Hhhhmn

Hhhhmn — Sat, 09 May 2009 05:08:15 +0000

I highly doubt that is a correct quote because the only good things Obasanjo is really known for are: his policy banning foreign goods, the scheme to repay Nigeria’s debt, accusing countries that keep Nigeria’s stolen money of aiding corruption and the nationalization of many companies. The 60/40 rule(Nigerians must own majority share in any foreign company) was put in when he was first president.

So as much as I’m not a fan of his, I really believe that misquotes can be harmful. What is the source of your quote and in what context was it used please?

By: wordsmith

wordsmith — Sat, 09 May 2009 02:55:33 +0000

we are not amused.

By: Olivia Ziani

Olivia Ziani — Sat, 09 May 2009 01:37:18 +0000

I agree with those that are offended at the ‘scam’ stereotype we seem to be saddled with. However, as we continue to evolve ( Fashola of Lagos)is a good example of what positive changes we can achieve…), even the so called Hollywood will also grow with it. I just hope they’ll use 9ja actors and actresses and transfer the technical skills, workable distribution framework and professionalism our movie industry sadly needs…..Anything to create jobs cos that’s the root of all the crime, brain drain, sucking up to stupid leaders.. etc in 9ja. A good example is the india movie industry-Bollywood…back in the day, all Hollywood referenced was their ‘juju like stories (snake girl? lol) and now see how technically advanced their movies are…I actually go to the theatre to watch their really good movies and Pixar/Dreamworks/Disney et all are all finding a footing there….the ripple effect is enormous.
Its kindda like our independence….i still wish we got it in 1980 as against 1960, just so they would have put up a rock solid infrastructural system for us before leaving…Imagine Yar Adua not understanding that he NEEDS to fix energy ASAP. We would have been competing with India for outsourced jobs but instead……….thank God for Fashola, hope dey!

By: egg

egg — Sat, 09 May 2009 00:21:41 +0000

this just reminded me why obasanjo was/is a fool

By: Paul Usoro

Paul Usoro — Fri, 08 May 2009 22:29:34 +0000

I have to say, the scene “shot” in Nigeria for X-Men Origins kinda disappointed me. The accents were so fake and I didn’t appreciate that they made Lagos look like some refugee camp. At least they had the decency to get someone to speak Igbo. It was the worst part of the movie for me (and I thought it was pretty good movie). I’m yet to see a movie that presents Nigeria in a good light.
We’ll just have to wait and see what Ben Stiller is bringing to the table. I’m not holding my breath sha…

By: Tko

Tko — Fri, 08 May 2009 20:11:19 +0000

Many times movies reference pop culture and naija and scam are high on the radar. If we want movies that show us in a positive light then we need to make those movie and market them to other cultures so we can influence how they see us. A simple spin on the Ben Stiller movie is to have the guy come to Nigeria looking to the person responsible and then he falls in love with a beautiful Nigerian and decides to stay. Yes he was scammed but if not for that he would never have found the love of his life. If we want to be perceived a certain way we need to take control of our image and not hope someone will be so kind to us.

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Fri, 08 May 2009 19:32:54 +0000

‘into a jungle in Nigeria’

By: PoisonIVY

PoisonIVY — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:59:15 +0000

Damn…it is finished…talk about feeding a stereotype..it just HAD to be about a scam.

By: damola

damola — Fri, 08 May 2009 18:18:44 +0000

When the shot Traitor, Body of lies, all they could shoot about the middle east is the fact that they are a terrorist group.. now they are doing the same to my dear Nigeria.. can’t they shoot something about Fashola chaning the face of Lagos, or must it be scam?.. enough of this crap.. America is full of more scam than Nigeria.. rubbish