The Film Blog: Omoni Oboli, you must be joking

First off, we feel it pertinent to mention that we operate separately from YNaija.com. Our focus is different. We do different things.

As such, we don’t automatically align ourselves with YNaija reviews. Sometimes we even disagree with them completely.

It’s important that we say this. Just to be clear. Because we are clearly dealing with people who are so shallow in thinking that we can already anticipate what their response will be.

000-12Yes, that is exactly what it looks like. Omoni Oboli, “first lady” as she calls herself, attacking a writer for a short paragraph on her (let’s just get it out of the way now so there are no doubts about where we stand on this,) utter abomination of a film. On this issue, we are in complete agreement, Omoni Oboli’s film is terrible.

But that’s not even why we are here.

Now, we are not in the business of gossip, and we are certainly not interested in sullying ourselves with the kind of behaviour that Ms. Oboli is clearly looking to engage in. But this silly act on her part is symptomatic of a larger problem facing the film industry, which is what we are concerned with. And Omoni Oboli has presented herself as the perfect scapegoat, so a scapegoat she will be.

It is mind-numbing that supposed grown adults in the film industry in Nigeria cannot take criticism.

It is appalling. What is wrong with these people, seriously? Why is it that anybody who attempts to engage on even the most remotely intellectual level with their material, is taken by filmmakers to be a hater?

It’s the same nonsense we saw with Oreka Godis, throwing a hissy fit because of a negative review, ignoring the fact that we ourselves have never shied away from showering her with praise.

That’s the same way another one of them questioned the right of film critics to comment on his work, as, in his view, they “don’t know even nothing”.

Omoni Oboli claims she’s an “amazing writer,” but before we even dispute the veracity of that bold claim, we have to ask if it is the Okafor’s Law script that she was accused of stealing, that she thinks makes her a great writer. Or the script for Being Mrs Elliot which she also allegedly stole? We ask not to shame her, but because she was silent on those issues, and we think it’s important to encourage her to speak up in this manner the next time someone accuses her of theft. Our focus is, as we said, on the industry, and we think it would be to the betterment of the entire industry if people responded properly to such issues and focused on bolstering public faith in the integrity of the industry, instead of ignoring them and lashing out at people who dare to think properly about films.

And if, we also have to ask, Ms. Oboli is so certain in her talents as a director and producer, why not take comfort in that? If her greatest reward is truly the love the “hundreds of thousands” that make up her “Omonifam,” why not celebrate with them, instead of crying that one writer somewhere doesn’t like her films? The same writer who, in 2014, highlighted her promise and expressed his eagerness to see more from her?

Is this what she learned from the “different film festivals” where her films showed?

If, after all this success she speaks of, she is still so insecure that negative reviews can rile her up so, does she not have a bigger problem than reviewers not liking her work?

We can only hope she gets the help she needs.

Update: So that you don’t say it’s only us, other people who have seen her work have thoughts as well.

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cool good eh love2 cute confused notgood numb disgusting fail