i think you are ahead of me, toyin. most of his films are not available to me. i kind of liked phone swap. i kind of liked citation, but was actually more disappointed than taken with it. i love his acting in almost everything i've seen, including kelani's films, like dazzling mirage. he is a compelling actor, even in incident films.
citation was too didactic, in the end. mokalik was a disappointment, with a slight theme.
october 1st was definitely more compelling. not all the acting was up to snuff, but the ambition and argument were very original. i was so surprised at his daring, really.
i think i still need to see the ceo. i started it, and for some reason got turned off.
and i am waiting to see swallow
which did you find best??
ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
harrow@msu.edu
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2021 1:17 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Do Money Rituals Work? : A Story from the Western Magical Tradition
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2021 1:17 PM
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Do Money Rituals Work? : A Story from the Western Magical Tradition
Thanks Ken.
Which other Afolayan film, except Figurine, do you see as fitting this description of his best work?
I want to watch them all.
Thanks
Toyin
On Tue, Dec 14, 2021, 18:40 Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
--for a while afolayan was creating a real thing that came to be dubbed neonollywood, new nollywood. it meant not only higher production values and better plots, but in his case really thoughtful material, worked out with some complexity, and with real acting.
one of the greatest problems w early nollywood was the really godawful soundtracks, with the same wretched music used for any scene, all scenes, as if it didn't really matter.
old rough starts, with afolayan being the new generation.
now he has moved with Citation and others to "issues" that appeal across the board, across the ocean, with real netflix support and distribution, but far less interest than the early films. october is another with an "issue"--i'd say, a daring issue (an older white colonialist man abusing and really damaging young boys).issues are ok; spike lee makes issue films; but it isn't enough.
october was good, i want to say, and would merit good analysis. i was more disappointed w Citation, and also found Mokalik just ok--another issue film, one that deals interestingly with class.
last quick comment. despite my carping, i am glad these films are now becoming accessible to viewers outside the narrow space of dvd distribution or theatres.
ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 14, 2021 11:33 AM
To: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Do Money Rituals Work? : A Story from the Western Magical Traditionthanks Ken.
i think i had a different Nollywood film in mind, perhaps Rituals with Pete Edochie in a lead role.
will look into Afolayan's work.the Figurine [wikipedia page] reminds me of a fine movie i watched some time ago, beautiful ambiguity
--On Tue, 14 Dec 2021 at 15:40, Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
--in living in bondage andy sells his wife, sacrifices her, and then becomes richissimo. the message is clear that satanic forces are at play in bringing wealth, in the multiplication of wealth. this magic was tracked by the comaroffs in talkng about cargo cultures that did the same: cargo came in, different cargo went out, vast sums of money were generated: magic. that was how the beliefs came about in the pacific; then similar beliefs were tracked in east africa with ambulances as the sites for gathering blood, by colonialists.
capitalism's magic. not the same as magical realism with the play rather on authoritarian rule, its power seeming to last forever, with ordinary reality supplanted by unaccountable forces. latin american rule generated that genre.
but nollywood's infatuation with the esoteric was really boosted if not originated with Living in Bondage and its imitators that followed.
of course that changes with each production. i particularly like afolayan's magical version, the figurine, where he leaves the magical powers and sources ambiguous. but again, the magic in the statue was used, satanically, to generate money, and blood paid the price....or did it?
that's how he ends.
a pretty great talent there; but i am not happy with his recent netflix films that seem to have lost the edge of his earlier work. with magic having receded,...ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2021 4:28 PM
Cc: usaafricadialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Do Money Rituals Work? : A Story from the Western Magical TraditionThere is a world of difference between that story and Living in Bondage.--
The story is closer to Yoruba films of magical realism.
In the context of those Yoruba films magic is depicted as efficacious and dynamic, at times working ironically, in terms of networks of affiliations, a picture closer to the Western magical narrative in question than to Living in Bondage, where the magic is all fake theatrics and bloodthirsty gore.
Beyond that similarity, the Western magical tradition is a largely open one, while those in Nigeria seem closed.
The issue of money and blood rituals are openly discussed by magicians in the Western context, even on social media but not so in my exposure to the Nigerian context at least.
Money rituals in the Western context are not associated with killing people but the idea has such associations in Nigeria.
Thanks
Toyin
On Mon, Dec 13, 2021, 21:49 Harrow, Kenneth <harrow@msu.edu> wrote:
i think we all saw Living in Bondage.ken
kenneth harrow
professor emeritus
dept of english
michigan state university
517 803-8839
From: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Oluwatoyin Adepoju <ovdepoju@gmail.com>
Sent: Monday, December 13, 2021 12:25 PM
To: usaafricadialogue <USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com>
Cc: Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju <toyin.adepoju@gmail.com>
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Do Money Rituals Work? : A Story from the Western Magical Tradition--Do Money Rituals Work? : A Story from the Western Magical Tradition
Oluwatoyin Vincent Adepoju
All the structures for summoning the spirit were ready.
The circle. The incense at the four corners of space. The names of power inscribed at the circumference of the circle.
London. 2002. A metropolis at the heart of the financial and technological flows that define the modern world, the world of intellectual logic and verfiable proof, but a world where magic is still alive and well.
Having completed the circumambulation of the circle, he called out the ancient name, vibrating the sounds corresponding to the being of an ancient one, beyond space and time, called " demons" by some but known to others as givers of gifts to those who approach them rightly.
He presented his request. He wanted a million dollars.
He waited. Nothing dramatic happended. No voice spoke, either quiet or loud.
He packed up his ritual implements but remained alert as the weeks rolled on, with nothing unusual happening.
Clearly, it did not work. Not a farthing in new money has come my way, he concluded at last, talk less a million dollars.
Well after giving up hope, he received a phone call. An electric pole had fallen on his house, killing his wife and children, and in compensation, the insurance company was offering him a million dollars.
He had called upon one of the group of spirits from a text known as the Goetia. On account of such stories magicians are wary of those spirits.
Based on a second hand account of what is described as a true story.
We salute Aleister Crowley, tireless explorer in the farthest corners of the occult universe as it was known in his time within the Western magical tradition and who was central to the fame of the Goetia.
Live on, brother.
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