With the love for TV series growing on a global scale, it only makes sense that foreign producers expand the scope of their stories but when flagrant distortions come into play, the whole essence is defeated.
So when new drama series, Six hit the airwaves January 18, it was received with anticipation and excitement. However, all that soon fizzled into discomfiture, knowing that it is just another attempt to parody a topic the producers probably know nothing about.
In Six, a US Navy Seal Team Six operating from a military base in Jalalabad Afghanistan seek out a well known terrorist, Mutaki, who manages to elude them.
Two years later, the scene switches to Benin City, Nigeria where their leader, Rip Taggart is on a private mission to Nigeria as part of the protective detail for a foreign oil industry player, who goes to make a ‘donation’ to a girls school, New Dawn School.
Thus began what can best be described as a wanton misrepresentation of our great country, Nigeria and one of its most beautiful heritage, the ancient city of Benin.
As they arrive at the school to do whatever it is that brought them, the dreaded terror group, Boko Haram struck, kidnapping the school teacher and all the school girls and Rip.
Boko Haram operating in Benin City is like ISIS operating in the United States but we can forgive that.
As depicted in Six, the only thing this New Dawn School boasts of is a roof, with a few wooden benches; no doors, no windows. And just as the students, who by the way are dressed and sound like apartheid era South African school kids, settle down to study, tragedy struck.
Meanwhile, paradoxically, at about the same time, somewhere in America, Annabel is celebrating her 15th birthday in a pink dress, with family and friends gathered in a church.
Even if we can ignore the bush paths that adorn Benin City in Six, we shouldn’t forgive painting our education system as beggared by poverty. Adams Oshiomhole will cringe at such gross falsification
One other thing Six does is that it calls to question everything we ever watched about the Russian Mob and the Colombian drug gangs. If Boko Haram can operate in Benin City, Nigeria, how much misrepresentation must have gone on unchecked?
In one scene, the teacher is talking about how much damage oil exploration has done to the community and in another, ‘Islamic’ militants are laying siege in Benin City, Nigeria. The producers of that series probably mistook Nigeria for Afghanistan.
Antoine Fuqua’s 2003 Tears of the Sun starring Bruce Willis did a better job at telling a bad story than Six ever will, no matter how subsequent editions are spun.
Although, it is not clear if the story is centred only on Nigeria as several global terrorist figures are mentioned, but a little bit of research would have helped. It seems Nollywood is not the only industry known for ragtag productions.
It is not all the producers fault anyway. In a recent chat with apexnolly.com, Nigerian based Danish Nollywood filmmaker, Morten Foght, husband of award winning actress, Judith Audu and honcho of Judith Audu Productions (JAP) opined that Nigerians have succeeded in creating a negative impression of their identity in such a scale that it now reflects in Hollywood.
In his words; “If you look at Hollywood movies, it used to be the Russians that were the villains, now it is the Nigerians. The Colombians were the villains, now it is the Nigerians. So if you see a villain in a Hollywood production, they are now Nigerians. That is not a good aftermath for 170million people.”
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