Ideology, Power and Gender Representation in two Selected Nollywood Movies

Abstract

This paper examines the discursive representation of power distribution between men (as husbands) and women (as wives) in Nollywood movies to unravel the ideological resource(s) against which such power is vested. Gender representation in Nollywood movies is imbued with ideologies that index differential power relations between men and women within the family circle. The bone of contention remains the distribution of power between men and women, with a tendency to always see women as victimized and sidelined social actors. Movie producers either sustain or subvert these ideological propensities. From this perspective, this paper examines the role of ideology in power distribution between men (as husbands) and women (as wives) within the marriage institution in an attempt to answer the following questions. What resource (s) is/are depicted as power resource(s) in Nollywood movies? Through what discursive means are these ideological propensities sustained or subverted in the two selected movies? As a follow-up to these questions, this paper hypothesized that wealth/money is ideologically tantamount to power within the family unit. Nollywood filmmakers use discursive linguistic and non-linguistic strategies to sustain this ideology. The analysis demonstrates that wealth is represented as a power resource, a representation that engenders unwarranted pursuit for wealth/money to wield power. The representation and understanding of women’s domestic roles, sex roles, and other related political roles as marginal rather than complementary have tended to create resistance resulting in miscommunication and unnecessary tensions.