Ayo Shonaiya.
So I just saw a post on Linda Ikeji, about an Instagram post by a Nigerian TV personality, saying that she ‘cringed and sank’ into her seat at the cinema when she was watching the film Concussion (starring Will Smith as Nigerian Doctor, Bennet Omalu). She also said Will Smith showed “disregard for (not) incorporating Nigerian mannerisms into his acting”. What a load of tosh! (And I mean that in my best British accent).
And she’s not the only one ‘complaining’ about Will Smith’s accent in this film, I have heard some rumblings among Nigerians since the film came out. Are we missing the point here? This is a $35m film made in Hollywood, with arguably one of the Top 5 bankable actors in the world (black or white) playing a positive role about a well educated Nigerian doctor, who researched and discovered the link between banging heads in American Football and a fatal disease called Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), and whose work has saved lives of retired NFL players, AND all we see to complain about is the lead actor’s ACCENT?!
Will Smith.
This Instagram rant was made by a TV Personailty in Nigeria, where her industry, Radio and Television, is full of fake American and British accents, and even some far out tongue twister accents that God knows where they got it from. Am I the only one laughing at the irony here? This is our problem really.
We complain that American TV and Film often depict us as fraudsters and jokers like “Prince from Nigeria” who wants to marry 10 wives, then when you have a big film like this portraying one of us (Concussion is a true story by the way), not only in a positive way, but a good hard working man that has achieved a lot academically …Read More
Source:: The NET
