Vunderkind
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Vanguard newspaper used the tired 'ebony' word to describe her skin color. Adediwura Adesegha is a Yoruba actress, a graduate of English from the Lagos State University. She has been acting since 2008...
The paper published her interview today, and I took time to read it, hoping to see a significant improvement in the way Nigeria's celebrities respond to questions.
Needless to say, I was disappointed.
Below are three points in her interview where she did an egregious job. Rest assured, three isn't the limit...
1. When she was asked 'how spiritual are you?' her response was vindictive, and totally off the point.
Here's what she said: "Spirituality has nothing to do with your mode of dressing. It has to do with your heart. When you talk about being spiritual, let me just score myself fifty percent."
Any truly spiritual person will know spirituality cannot be measured in percentages. You're either spiritual, or you're not. What in God's name is a 50% spirituality score?
As though to highlight her ignorance of anything spiritual, she responded, when asked about her prayer life and approach to morning devotions: My morning devotion is on zero level. I will rather sing. I find it difficult to pray and keep saying “Lord do this or that for me”. Singing is the way I pour my heart to God. Everybody doesn’t have to kneel down and pray. I might sit down and just look on a spot for a while and keep my thoughts connected to God. It depends on one’s way of connecting and your relationship with God.
Ach. 'I will rather sing.' Every man's go-to excuse for a nonexistent spiritual life. Come on. Even birds sing!
She
2. When she was asked, "Why is it that the majority of Yoruba actresses seem to prefer celestial church?", she actually gave an answer.
Here's her response: "you know people love it when they tell them they have visions about themselves. I think that may be the reason they attend Celestial church. I might be wrong though. You know the Yorubas believe in the power of the spiritual. Some actresses were born into the Celestial church while some joined."
I trust that I do not need to explain why this was a terrible thing to do. The perfect answer to that interviewer's question should have been silence; a long, awkward silence until the interviewer realized the foolishness of the question.
The second best response would have been: "I do not appreciate that stereotype. That is a broad statement. It is tribalistic, prejudiced and offensive to me as a Yoruba actress. It shouldn't even be up for question where a technically minority group chooses to worship. Your question is about as absurd as the older, equally-irritating 'why are most igbos catholic?' question."
Or something like that.
3. When she was asked: "would you allow someone touch your breasts in a movie"
Her reply: "It is acting. If it has to do with touching my boobs it is acting as long as he doesn’t bring them out to suck. It depends on the message you are trying to pass across. There is no point saying it isn’t in our culture and using religious sentiments to give explanations. Why are you an actor in the first place if you couldn’t portray the true picture of something?"
"As long as he doesn't bring them out to suck." That statement, right there, elicited neither mirth nor enlightenment.
It was a crass, unnecessary statement, unbecoming of a 'celebrity.'
Then again, she did say: "The number of people coming into Nollywood right now makes it tough. One has to keep pushing oneself and think of something new that can be done."
Perhaps statements like "as long as he doesn't bring them out to suck" are the way to get ahead in Nollywood.
The paper published her interview today, and I took time to read it, hoping to see a significant improvement in the way Nigeria's celebrities respond to questions.
Needless to say, I was disappointed.
Below are three points in her interview where she did an egregious job. Rest assured, three isn't the limit...
1. When she was asked 'how spiritual are you?' her response was vindictive, and totally off the point.
Here's what she said: "Spirituality has nothing to do with your mode of dressing. It has to do with your heart. When you talk about being spiritual, let me just score myself fifty percent."
Any truly spiritual person will know spirituality cannot be measured in percentages. You're either spiritual, or you're not. What in God's name is a 50% spirituality score?
As though to highlight her ignorance of anything spiritual, she responded, when asked about her prayer life and approach to morning devotions: My morning devotion is on zero level. I will rather sing. I find it difficult to pray and keep saying “Lord do this or that for me”. Singing is the way I pour my heart to God. Everybody doesn’t have to kneel down and pray. I might sit down and just look on a spot for a while and keep my thoughts connected to God. It depends on one’s way of connecting and your relationship with God.
Ach. 'I will rather sing.' Every man's go-to excuse for a nonexistent spiritual life. Come on. Even birds sing!
She
2. When she was asked, "Why is it that the majority of Yoruba actresses seem to prefer celestial church?", she actually gave an answer.
Here's her response: "you know people love it when they tell them they have visions about themselves. I think that may be the reason they attend Celestial church. I might be wrong though. You know the Yorubas believe in the power of the spiritual. Some actresses were born into the Celestial church while some joined."
I trust that I do not need to explain why this was a terrible thing to do. The perfect answer to that interviewer's question should have been silence; a long, awkward silence until the interviewer realized the foolishness of the question.
The second best response would have been: "I do not appreciate that stereotype. That is a broad statement. It is tribalistic, prejudiced and offensive to me as a Yoruba actress. It shouldn't even be up for question where a technically minority group chooses to worship. Your question is about as absurd as the older, equally-irritating 'why are most igbos catholic?' question."
Or something like that.
3. When she was asked: "would you allow someone touch your breasts in a movie"
Her reply: "It is acting. If it has to do with touching my boobs it is acting as long as he doesn’t bring them out to suck. It depends on the message you are trying to pass across. There is no point saying it isn’t in our culture and using religious sentiments to give explanations. Why are you an actor in the first place if you couldn’t portray the true picture of something?"
"As long as he doesn't bring them out to suck." That statement, right there, elicited neither mirth nor enlightenment.
It was a crass, unnecessary statement, unbecoming of a 'celebrity.'
Then again, she did say: "The number of people coming into Nollywood right now makes it tough. One has to keep pushing oneself and think of something new that can be done."
Perhaps statements like "as long as he doesn't bring them out to suck" are the way to get ahead in Nollywood.
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