Commodifying the “Sacred,” Beatifying the “Abnormal”: Nollywood and the Representation of Disability

Abstract

This paper examines the representations of disabilities and the disabled in the Nigerian film industry. It explores the contiguity between disability and sacrifice in Evil Agenda, Ti Oluwa Ni Ile, and Land of the Dwarfs, and interrogates some commonsensical assumptions about disability and the disabled in Nigeria and Africa. I argue that disability in Nigeria is a “socio-cultural and as well as a physical” problem and contend that its representations in Nollywood exploit and simultaneously beatify disabled actors. While Nollywood perpetuates some myths about disability and the disabled, it economically empowers disabled actors and increases their social status and privileges.

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