Africa Is Not a Country by Dipo Faloyin

Author:Dipo Faloyin
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
Published: 2022-07-30T00:00:00+00:00

It can be exceptionally hard to shift images and beliefs from our consciousness when they are built around entertaining storylines that we all enjoy. These limited narratives unwittingly bleed into completely unrelated stories that end up broadcasting, even for the briefest of moments, some representation of the continent, whether it’s a throwaway piece of dialogue or more visual elements.

My personal favourite in this genre lasts no longer than a minute and appears near the end of a film that is impossible not to adore: Independence Day. Following the US government’s discovery of the secret sauce for defeating the invading aliens, the military relay that information to troops across the world, letting them know exactly how the counteroffensive will work once Will Smith and Jeff Goldblum destroy the mothership. A stirring montage of global cooperation follows, as tactics are distributed from Area 51 in the Nevada desert to their intelligence counterparts on each continent. Each continent, that is, except for one: nobody bothers to inform anyone in Africa – a region, I can only assume, that is presumed to be unequipped with sophisticated planes brandishing sophisticated weaponry. A strange oversight, considering the continent is supposedly overrun with warlords and cold-blooded military dictators. You would think with our apparent penchant for genocide, Africa would top the list of places you would call when the aim is to eradicate an entire civilisation.

You’re right in thinking this is a tiny detail, an easy oversight to make. And normally I’d be all for letting it slide. That is, if Africa didn’t make a quick appearance a few moments later, when the aliens have been defeated and it’s time for the traditional Hollywood worldwide-celebration sequence where we cut across the globe to see snapshots of the delighted masses. We eventually land on what is meant to be Africa. Representing the continent are five topless young boys dressed as native warriors, coated in red tribal paint, running through bushy grasslands as they literally carry spears that they thrust into the air in jubilation. It’s now obvious that we couldn’t help the military operation – we don’t even have roads or electricity, let alone fighter jets.

The absurdity of it makes me laugh each time. I’m just saying: if an otherwise excellent movie could go through all that effort to create a complex identity and backstory for far-off aliens, the least the producers could have done was stretch their imaginations to give Africans a pair of jeans to throw on. Maybe even one fighter plane between us, with ‘Africa’ emblazoned on the side as if we all cobbled together to pay for it. That’s all I’m asking.

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