The Screen Institution and Child’s Models in Nollywood Fictional Reality Films: An Example of Two Rabbits

Abstract

Child education in Nigeria and most parts of Africa has become a serious subject matter in recent times due to some nonchalant and maladjusted behaviours witnessed in today’s kids and younger adults alike. However, in Nollywood today, the themes of hatred, deceit, gluttony, stealing, and other social vices are prevalent in some children films. This research is centred on finding out the reasons for such increase in dubious behaviours amongst the children and thus adopts content analysis approach of qualitative research method to evaluate a Nollywood fictional-reality film Two Rabbits selected purposively to see the level of imitation of the filmic events on the part of the children, and how such films influence the young audiences into modelling their behaviours and attitudes around the film characters. The study is hinged on the Screen Institution postulation that highlights the powerful nature of screen interface learning which could be positive or negative. The researcher discovered that children could be easily influenced by the child star actors (Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme) who have starred in most Nollywood films. And as such modelling their lives, attitudes and behaviours around that of the characters’ they see often in films becomes inevitable. The study concludes and recommends that Nollywood children film characters should be equipped with good characters’ traits and activities that project love, handiwork, courage, and bravery instead of the constant projection of the social vices as perceived in Two Rabbits and other Nollywood children films. And for a character who embodies these social vices, adequate punishment should be served so as to deter the young audiences from imitating such a character.