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Nigeria Bans District 9 | Pajiba - Scathing Reviews for Bitchy People

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The Object of Persecution is Persecution

Nigeria Bans District 9 / Steven Lloyd Wilson

Trade News | September 22, 2009 | Comments (33)

Remember the District 9 discussion thread in which there was some minor argument over the portrayal of Nigerians? Some said that the film should not have used the Nigerian gangs so generically since it implied that all Nigerians were sociopathic cannibals living off the carcasses of the weak, whereas the message was intended to be that humans in general (rather than Nigerian gangs specifically) were taint warts. Other commenters argued that from their interactions with Nigerian gangs, they felt that if anything the film showed Nigerian gangs in a more positive than realistic light.

Well, the Nigerian Minister of Information has banned District 9 and has asked Sony for an apology, citing in particular the naming of the film gang’s chieftain “Obasanjo,” after the previous president of Nigeria. Just to clarify, that would be the same General Obasanjo who once got pissed off enough at a musician that he had the army beat the man, beat and rape his family, and kill his political activist mother by hurling her out the window of a commune. Even the Jonas brothers don’t deserve that kind of musical criticism.

It’s still a couple of years until the Minister of Information works overtime helping oversee the most corrupt presidential elections you can get without actually only putting one name on the ballot, so I guess he doesn’t have much better to do. I vote (get it? see what I did there?) for Sony to not just not apologize, but to deliver free copies of District 9 to any theater in Nigeria with the balls to show the film.


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Comments

It's surprising that it didn't get banned in the United States for its heretical portrayal of movie audiences as "intelligent" people interested in "originality" and "quality".

Posted by: laredo at September 22, 2009 9:12 AM

but to deliver free copies of District 9 to any theater in Nigeria with the balls to show the film.

That will be some small consolation when the theater operators are themselves killed.

This isn't exactly a shock, and I'm fairly sure that whatever line in the sand might end up being drawn by those ready to throw off the yoke of oppression won't have "the right to see District 9" as its operating principle.

The Nigerians were singled out as being lawless cannibals. I can't believe that was even a point of debate. I'm not saying I agree with banning the film -- I'm just saying I understand.

Posted by: sansho1 at September 22, 2009 9:14 AM

Oh, brother...the Nigerian Gang Anti-Defamation League is going to have a field day with this...once again.

So, uh...as a US citizen, I should get upset every time a brutal and criminal asshole sharing my nationality shows up in a film? All that hurting in my widdle heart would stack up after watching any film with a gangbanger, mafioso, corrupt politician, serial killer, etc.

Sounds like the only voice that's linking D9's portrayal of Nigerian Gang Members to a representation of all Nigerians is coming from...um...Nigeria.

Aw hell...I said what we all already know, just like the movie Crash.

Posted by: laredo at September 22, 2009 9:36 AM

Tout comprendre, c'est tout pardonner.

I don't understand banning things like this. They're fictional characters! People can't be hugging teddy-bears and farting rainbows all the time. People are mostly horrible with flashes of indifference.

Posted by: Danny Smooth at September 22, 2009 9:41 AM

People in the U.S. who scream about censorship don't really have any conception of what true censorship is like. If your red-state town won't show, I dunno, the new Michael Moore, you can probably drive to the nearest big city and see it, or rent it on DVD, or NetFlix it.

I'm guessing that doesn't work so well in Nigeria.

BTW, the South African native I work with says the portrayal of Nigerian gangsters ruling the shadows in his country is accurate.

Posted by: , (TCFKAB) at September 22, 2009 10:11 AM

somebody needs to tell Nigeria that I've run through my life savings and I'm still waiting for that $3 mil to get deposited into my bank account. I was trying to help a brotha out, for godsakes!

Posted by: gunnertec at September 22, 2009 10:12 AM

As long as the Nigerian Prince (with whom I've been corresponding via email) makes me fabulously wealthy, I could care less about the movie being banned in his country.

Posted by: Spender at September 22, 2009 10:12 AM

Sounds like the only voice that's linking D9's portrayal of Nigerian Gang Members to a representation of all Nigerians is coming from...um...Nigeria.

Oh, I dunno, it hit me over the head pretty solidly. The gang and its leader were subhuman and vile, and "Nigerian" was their only character identifier. Ask yourself, what is a Nigerian to think?

Posted by: sansho1 at September 22, 2009 10:24 AM

On a more serious note though as a nigerian-american, I kind of understand what the gov't mean. It's not the same thing as having an american bad guy in the film, the only time ppl bring up nigeria is to either to make a nigerian prince joke, a comment about some oil crisis or rigged election or as the alien eating, prostituting gangsters of district 9 . Don't get me wrong, i still think was district 9 was the best movie i've seen this year but when i was watching the movie, my nigerian friends and i were wincing/laughing whenever the gangstas showed up.

Posted by: blackbird11 at September 22, 2009 10:28 AM

Right, blackbird -- you can agree or disagree with the ban, but you can't say it wasn't a rational decision.

Posted by: sansho1 at September 22, 2009 10:33 AM

Citing the Nigerian ban of District 9 as precedent, I demand all copies of Once be removed from circulation in America. That film has the gaul to portray all musicians of Irish or Czech descent as unmotivated also-rans who refuse to pursue success for personal gain and satisfaction. My proud Irish/Czech musical ancestry cannot allow for such outlandish claims to be validated by the continued distribution of this low budget independent film. The NJ chapter of Irish/Czech/Polish Descended Musicians Named Robert demands an apology from Fox Searchlight Pictures and the opportunity to boot Glen Hansard and Marketa Irglova on live international television for portraying their characters in a realistic fashion.

Posted by: Robert at September 22, 2009 10:34 AM

Robert, I like the way you think.

Citing both Nigeria's and Robert's precedents, I hereby demmand that all movies, commercials, music, text, jokes and television programming that depicts Canadians or objects that are commonly associated with Canada, in a negative, light to now be banned.

HIMYM will now have to be re-written so that Robin is not some crazy hockey fan and mall-pop sensation. Canadian Bacon shall be edited to remove any derogatory references or scenes. Blame Canada, as it is sung in South Park: Bigger, Longer and Uncut shall be re-written so that Canada is the saviour of the Free World (Terrence and Phillip can stay the way they are, it's accurate). Celine Dion shall be deified as she should have been long ago. Dog sled teams shall be the official mode of transportation for the NFL (Michael Vick has to walk). And finally; maple syrup shall be the required lube of all sexual activities. So I do declare.

Any breach of these requirements or violation of the imposed ban shall result in the convicted parties being executed by Canadian firing squad. Believe me, it takes a long time to die from frozen moose dung being thrown at you.

Posted by: admin at September 22, 2009 11:03 AM

That's funny stuff. False equivalencies, but still funny stuff.

Posted by: sansho1 at September 22, 2009 11:09 AM

It's not the same thing as having an american bad guy in the film, the only time ppl bring up nigeria is to either to make a nigerian prince joke...

Oh, Blackbird 11, I'll not have you denigrating my Nigerian Prince in such a fashion. He promised me that the deposit would be made as soon as he could type in my account number and password.
Any minute, now!

Posted by: Spender at September 22, 2009 11:14 AM

Believe me, it takes a long time to die from frozen moose dung being thrown at you.
-------------------------------------------------

I guess that depends on your fastball. I'm pretty sure if Rich Harden was hucking frozen moose turds at you (he's Canadian) you could be dead pretty quickly. Nothing like the high heater of Bulwinkle's ice cube doo-doo to welcome in another glorious Tuesday morning.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at September 22, 2009 11:25 AM

Wilson your preaching to the Nigerian government about censorship is at best laughable seeing as half the fucking school districts in American refused to broadcast President Obama's speech to school kids about the merits of hard work.

Posted by: Guess Who! at September 22, 2009 11:30 AM

Guess Who! makes a good point. Censorship where? Censorship how? Censorship here. Censorship now.

Seriously, I live in the liberal capitol of the world, and a teacher friend of mine said that the superintendent of her district said that all teachers were prohibited from showing Obama's speech. He's the fucking President of the United States, and he can't make a speech? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT?

Posted by: MM at September 22, 2009 12:02 PM

Maybe one day I can meet a vicious Nigerian gang member and ask him what he thinks about the film's portrayal of vicious Nigerian gang members. Like any other vicious gang member around the world, he'll tsk tsk and waggle his shame finger at me, chuckling to himself and sighing under the burden of knowledge that his staff were putting two and not three mints on the nightstand in my suite in his villa. Oh, gang members, will you ever get a fair shake?

Posted by: laredo at September 22, 2009 12:04 PM

Then you can take your dismissive, sarcastic tone to the Nigerian government and ask them why, in a complete absence of any positive portrayals of Nigeria in the culture of the First World, whose help via public and private donations to fight disease and build a functional economy they so desperately need, they've gone and gotten so gorram sensitive??

Posted by: sansho1 at September 22, 2009 12:14 PM

My ol' grandpappy used to say:
"When you throw a rock into a pack of dogs,the one that yelps is the one you hit."
Actually, it was Dr.Phil (yes, yes, I know, Dr Phil=hack), but it is still true. A broken clock is right twice a day, and the dude had a few good 1 liners.
Grandpappy used to look at me and say "Which one are you again?" Which is nowhere near as quotable or wise.

Anywhoodle, sounds like District 9 scored a direct hit on someone, if the yelping is anything to go by.
{squints accusingly at Nigeria}

Posted by: Lindsey with an 'e' at September 22, 2009 12:31 PM

That's funny stuff. False equivalencies, but still funny stuff.

Oh, I'm aware it's a false equivalence. The only time Nigeria gets into US news is when something really bad happens. I do not take the issues of bias and sweeping stereotypes presented here lightly and understand how blessed I am, as an artist, to be living in America.

Still, it is Pajiba, and I'm nothing here without my grandiose exaggeration and over simplification of issues to the point of trivialization.

I stand by my edict. Show me one positive portrayal of an Irish musician in the scope of cinema that isn't limited to "But he's a good person." We're normally showcased as drunks or the scourge of society. We refuse to take initiative in our own lives, escaping into a fantasy world of possibility through music but never acting on it. For crying out loud, the closest I can think of to a genuinely positive portrayal is Johnny Depp as the Irish pirate/musician in Chocolat and his goal in life was to sell beads and torment women over his favorite variety of chocolate. Not exactly high praise.

James Joyce hit these notes for years, screaming out with stories of Irish people unable to actually do something with their lives. Why hasn't the media expanded beyond this hopeless, drunken Irish image?

Don't even get me started on Czech and Polish portrayals in the media.

Posted by: Robert at September 22, 2009 1:40 PM

Did this fucking guy just call himself an artist?

Posted by: Guess Who! at September 22, 2009 2:15 PM

My tone was just described as dismissive...AND sarcastic...on Pajiba.

I'm going to start calling myself an artist too.

Posted by: laredo at September 22, 2009 2:37 PM

An artist dwells deep within each one of us. Unless you are already an artist, or an Irish artist, or an Irish Czech Polish musician/artist...whatthefuckever. Stereotypes have long existed in cinema and popular culture and all the PMRCs and Tipper Gores and Nigerian Buzzkillians are not going to change that. How about you try to change your image from within and stop perpetuating the fucking stereotype then?

Or you could just rig another election...

No white person can dance. At all. It's impossible. I saw that on TV once.

Posted by: John Denver's Wingman at September 22, 2009 3:47 PM

Blah Blah Blah...Nigerian Email Scam joke...blah blah blah blah...Nigerian gangsters living in South Africa aren't technically Nigerians anymore...yadda yadda yadda...Everyone does it but that doesn't make it right...whine whine whine...Tits.

There. Does that about sum up the whole of this thread?

Posted by: alphawhiskey at September 22, 2009 4:51 PM

I read they are also pissed off about the new PS3 commercials that make reference to the Nigerian Email Scam. Coincidence that bother District 9 and Playstation 3 are Sony owned? Hmmm...

Posted by: TylerDFC at September 22, 2009 5:17 PM

I happen to be a Nigerian living in Nigeria, ive seen district 9 and think its a good movie. The movie makes us look bad but hell, we've already got a bad rep. If there were ever to be a district 9, Nigerians would be there but we would most definately not be engaging in cannibalism or alien prostitution. And concerning those scam mails, anybody thats taken in by them is a fool &deserves to be conned. I think the minister who happens to be a woman called Dora over reacted by banning the movie and askin for an apology. Thank God (without topus) for bootleg Dvds. And FYI this news is over a week old.

Posted by: Naija Boy at September 22, 2009 8:30 PM

Guess Who?

It's not the same as with Obama's speech. When the kids got home, they could turn on CNN and see the highlights, they could turn on a PC and watch it online, they could read about it in the newspaper the next day, if anyone under 35 ever still picked up a fucking newspaper.

FWIW, I happen to agree with you that the speech SHOULD have been shown in every classroom. I disagree with those who kept it out. But censorship? Seriously? The fact it WAS kept out of some classrooms was a big fucking story the next day. I wonder if the Nigerian press is carrying exposes on the government's efforts to keep "D9" out of theaters.

Posted by: , (the commenter formerly known as bucdaddy) at September 22, 2009 11:41 PM

I saw D9 and I can't remember any canibalism. When was there canibalism?

Posted by: missh at September 23, 2009 6:38 AM

Hey Naija Boy, if the South African experience is anything to go by Hollywood movie coverage starts off with your citizens making occasional cameos as horrendously stereotyped villains (and they always get the details badly wrong - a German accent instead of an Afrikaans one, or a bloody Malawian speaking swahili as the main gangster, for heavens sake). And then many decades later, you have slowly infiltrated their subconscious, and you make a blockbuster movie which demonises Eritreans, or something.

So what I'm trying to say is, in a couple of years, gravy!

Posted by: saartjie at September 23, 2009 8:54 AM

None of this would have happened if we'd figured out how to make lightsabers. Get to work.

Posted by: Lucas at September 23, 2009 8:08 PM

This article that has been written here, as well as a large majority of comments, are a portrayal of insane stupidity.

Sony has no right, whatsoever to disgrace a whole 4kin movie with that sort of slanderous referral. Why Nigerians? First it was the PS3 adverts, and now this? Where's the beef? Did SONY lose a contract in Nigeria. You people should open your eyes before bullshittin us.
Nigerians form a lagrge chunk of Sony retails. If SONY gets banned in Nigeria, they'll hate themselves for it.

The world continues to label Nigerians as corrupt, whereas the most corrupt are citizens of the USA. What do Nigerians do, that they don't. USA, is the father of corruption. The abnormalities in past elections did not brand Bush corrupt to his people, so why should Obasanjo be portrayed in that fashion to the world?

My advice to you people, is to eat with your mouth closed, so you don't spit in the wrong direction

Posted by: ABeeyoewlah Awonusi at October 6, 2009 6:09 PM

well spoken abeeyoewlah.. well spoken

Posted by: BBB at October 23, 2009 5:20 AM





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