Diversity as an Identity in South Africa’s Moving Image Industry by Open Window

Diversity as an Identity in South Africa’s Moving Image Industry

ACADEMIC ESSAY

Kate Tordiffe 231007

31 OCTOBER 2024

List of Figures

1 Screenshot from the 2017 film, “Five Fingers of Marsellies”.

2 Example from Boet Fighter trailer.

Figure

INTRODUCTION

“Our ability to make fun of ourselves and make light of our various problems is what brings us together”. This is a quote from renowned game designer Pippa Tshabalala in a talk she gave our Moving Image class after I asked a question. The question I asked was about diversity in South Africa and if she thinks that South Africans, despite our polar opposite histories and cultures, have anything that unites us. This quote gave me the idea to write about diversity and the challenges, opportunities and responsibilities that face our unique and diverse rainbow nation in terms of the media we produce.

THE THEORY BEHIND CULTURE AND HEGEMONY

The word culture has many connotations associated with it. When I talk about the culture of South Africa I could be referring to fashion, architecture, ways of raising children or even music. This means it is necessary for me to define culture and culture identity before I begin this essay in order to avoid confusion. The definition I will use is one set out by Stuart Hall (1989). He explains cultural identity as a collective one true self which has formed over years of shared ancestry and history (Hall, 1989). In the context of South Africa, this definition immediately poses an issue. With so many different histories and ancestries from English settlers, the large Indian population, Afrikaans people and the countless varying African tribes and peoples, how is South Africa supposed to find a common cultural identity? Hall (1989) suggests a second definition for cultural identity which doesn’t replace the first but merely adds to it. He suggests that cultural identity cannot exist without the differences within it; this idea can be summed up in the phrase “what we have become” (Hall, 1989, p. 74). I think this definition is what lies at the heart of South African identity (Hall, 1989). This definition focuses

not only on the present but the future which is ultimately what is important to South African cinema - how we find a shared cultural identity despite our differences (Hall, 1989).

Victoria O’Donnell (2020) puts forth a more in depth definition which talks about culture in terms of the actual practices such as music, language, fashion and laws that dictate how people should behave. To clarify, culture can be defined as a set of rules which determine the way people should act within that specific culture and how they make sense of the world (O’Donnell, 2020). This definition is interesting as it directly links to entertainment media. Entertainment asks questions of the world around us and attempts to answer them through storytelling. You can learn a lot about the shared rules and understanding of society through the media it produces. Currently South Africa could be said not to have a shared set of rules but I don’t know if this is entirely true. Through my observations a lot of South African media has this carefree, humorous undertone to it no matter which “culture” is producing it. Maybe this is a shared understanding of how the world was, built from the fact that South Africa has already gone through so much that we are forced to see the brighter side of life - just look at all the memes that came from load-shedding.

One cannot really speak on culture in South Africa without mentioning hegemony. Hegemony, as defined by O’Donnell (2020), is the power that one group holds over another. The idea is that the group in power persuades the marginalised group to accept the status quo that they have set forth - this could be government over its people or a certain race over another (O’Donnell, 2020). Hegemony in South Africa is interesting to say the least - ever since the ending of Apartheid in 1994, the ownership of power in South Africa has been difficult to pinpoint. The government, according to most South Africans, don’t really hold power. The police potentially have some power but most people don’t fear them enough to even obey road laws. That leaves us with race. Which race holds the most power in South Africa? I would argue that, constitutionally, no one holds the most power - even though it isn’t always the

case in practice. This ultimately means that South Africa doesn’t have a shared status quo. It could be said that our entertainment media doesn’t necessarily have any commonality at first glance which may be seen as a bad thing. I believe, however, that this is a good thing for South Africa as we have the potential to bring something brand new - diversity.

CHALLENGES THAT FACE A DIVERSE NATION

In a book by Lucia Saks (2011, p. 1) she refers to South Africa, especially just after apartheid, as being in “complete disorder”. South Africa then had to face a major change, not only institutionally but imaginatively as we had to navigate a new world containing immense diversity (Saks, 2011, p. 2). With this diversity, making films about this diversity and race may be the way to go but Saks (2011, p. 3) points out that this is something South Africa did before apartheid. Wwe now need to expand cinema beyond race in order to find our new identity. Hassenah Ebrahim (2018, p. 199) poses a second issue with South African cinema: that it is wrapped up in its national identity which at this point is almost too diverse for a common South Africanness. She goes on to argue that it is important for South Africa to pull itself away from Hollywood hegemony and find its own unique identity. This again, is difficult as we all have very little in common on the surface (Ebrahim, 2018, p. 199). Five Fingers for Marsellies (2017) is an interesting film to analyse in terms of its success. It was very well received and even gained international recognition. Beyonce, for example, said it was one of her inspirations for her new album, Cowboy Carter (Bizcommunity, 2024). This is good news for South Africa but I believe that one of the reasons for its success is that it bought

into the western style film genre which is dominated by Hollywood - therefore still sticking to a Hollywood-style film and not being uniquely South African.

In NFVF 10 Year Industry Review (2010, p. 61) it is mentioned that South Africa has very little global reach as only ten international production companies partner with South Africa. This is very little in the grand scheme of things. One of the weaknesses mentioned in the document is coordination which could be explained by the massive diversities and ideas within South African and its peoples (2010, p. 62). In the NFVF Audience Research Project (2015, p. 206) two things stood out to me. Firstly, when it comes to the willingness to pay for South African cinema in comparison to international cinema the figures are a lot lower. Secondly it was the fact that the greatest weakness of South African cinema is the audience’s participation. We are simply not making things everyone wants to watch (2015, p. 199). But why? I will also refer to Five Fingers of Marsellies (2017) which found some success worldwide but only because it ventured into Western themes (ones not inherently South African).

THE OPPORTUNITIES OF A DIVERSE NATION

Diversity doesn’t have to be South Africa’s biggest problem - I believe it can also be our greatest opportunity. As Pippa said, our response to hardship, even though this hardship may vary, is uniquely South African. In more recent years the nation has faced problems that are national such as load-shedding and the COVID-19 pandemic. As the rest of the world whined and complained about the fact we had to wear masks and stay at home,South Africans were coming up with unique ways to face our new everyday reality - and at the same time making ridiculous videos and memes to make us all smile. With an unstable government we all laugh and make fun of the people ruining our country.ow South African is that? A good piece of media that shows this off is the 2019 video game Boet Fighter - a game which fully makes fun

Screenshot from the 2017 film, “Five Fingers of Marsellies”.

Note: Michael Matthews (dir), 2017.

FIGURE

of South African stereotypes. The general public liked the ballsy attitude and humour.This is what we do best (Magill, 2020).

Besides saying that humour is something uniquely South African I also do believe how we attempt to blend the different cultures within South Africa is also uniquely South African.

Inxeba: The Wound (2017) is a good example of this. This film that was praised world-wide for being extremely bold and progressive can be described as feeling South African. Why? Because it is about showing very relatable problems in the context of South Africa and its people, for example being gay in a community that doesn’t accept you, while also highlighting problems that are uniquely African like specific tribal rituals and race issues.

How are both these pieces of media South African? Because they are diverse. The idea of one common voice is, I would argue, pointless for South Africa. Our commonality is the way in which we cope with our differences - We make fun of them or we face them head-on. For the most part South Africa celebrates diversity in a manner unlike many other countries. In those countries the government, a hegemonic power, dictates the media making everything appear the same. With the South African constitution being so liberal there isn’t much in the way of overarching control over what media can be produced so this allows for a more diverse and expansive selection. This could be seen as a disadvantage as there isn’t a clear and consistent “South African image”. However,not having the same type of media may be the thing that is consistent.

RESPONSIBILITY OF A SOUTH AFRICAN FILMMAKER

South Africa won’t be able to embrace its identity if we don’t learn to celebrate it. I believe that it is the job of most South Africans, especially those who consider themselves makers of media, that we engage in what our country has to offer. How can we expect the world to

FIGURE 02

Example from Boet Fighter trailer.

Note: Glitched, 2019, (https://www.glitched.online/boet-fighter-gets-its-first-official-trailerand-release-date/).

accept us if we don’t accept ourselves? gain I refer to the fact thatSouth Africans are more willing to spend money on international films. In addition to supporting South African media, It is also my personal responsibility, as a South African filmmaker, to tell my story authentically and not be ashamed of my heritage in this country.t is a part of what makes this country diverse. If I can’t accept my story, how can we expect the world to accept South Africa’s story?

CONCLUSION

To conclude, despite all the challenges such as difference in culture, an uncertain hegemonic power and vastly different histories, South Africa has an opportunity to make its mark in the world. It is our responsibility as South Africans to find common ground, celebrate our differences and consume our own media. Diversity is our biggest challenge, our largest opportunity and our greatest responsibility. South Africa needs to start seeing this diversity as a good thing in order for it to become our true identity so that the world can see us for who we are - a rainbow nation.

REFERENCES

BALSEIRO, I. (2011). Review of Cinema in a Democratic South Africa: The Race for Representation, by L. Saks. The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 44 (1), 159–161.

https://www.bizcommunity.com/article/did-beyonce-find-inspiration-from-sas-five-fingers-formarseilles-for-cowboy-carter-019785a

Boet Fighter (PC version) [Video game]. (2019). Cali4ways Games.

Cocomello, M. (2019, August 20). Boet Fighter Gets its First Official Trailer and Release Date. GLITCHED. https://www.glitched.online/boet-fighter-gets-its-first-official-trailer-and-releasedate/

Devnomics. (2015). Audience Research Project. National Film and Video Foundation. https:// www.nfvf.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2022/02/FINAL_NFVF-ARP-QuantReport_10042015cc. pdf

Games Industry Africa. (2024). Africa Games Industry Report. file:///Users/ katemarbachtordiffe/Downloads/The_Africa_Games_Industry_Report.pdf

Hall, S. (1989). Cultural Identity and Cinematic Representation.

Haseenah Ebrahim, & Jordache A. Ellapen. (2018). Cinema in Postapartheid South Africa: New Perspectives. Black Camera, 9(2), 169–176.

https://brettmagill.medium.com/boet-fighter-game-review-5a7c675251da

Matthews, M. (Director). (2017). Five Fingers for Marseilles [Film]. Pressure Cooker Studios.

National Film and Video Foundation. (2010). 10 Years Review. https://www.nfvf.co.za/wpcontent/uploads/2022/02/R18.10_Year_Industry_Review.pdf

O’Donnell, V. (2020). Cultural Studies Theory: The Production and Consumption of Meaning. In Handbook of Visual Communication (2nd ed.). Routledge.