Vagina dialogues..

Went to see VM last night in Abuja. The show started an hour or so late - the actors (all 12 or so of them) were working on African time apparently. The show went well, except for a couple of powercuts: people held up their mobile phones to try and shine light on the stage. Sango enjoyed the performance too - he/she sent lightning and rain. That an event of this nature can be put on in Abuja without a riot is a triumph in itself - especially given the lesbian sex story towards the end etc. I liked the minor localisation - all kinds of naija names for pussy - including an agbalomo reference. However, the localisation could have gone further, so instead of hearing about Korean comfort women, we could have heard about Aristos and young girls sent to Italy and more facts on domestic violence in Nigeria etc. But all in all, its a big pat on the back to Hafsat/Kind for bringing the show here.

Watched a bit more of Big Brother Nigeria yesterday. All they seem to do is eat all the time and hang out en masse like a herd of cows. Some of them don't appear to have access to regular food, so one gets the impression of a consumptive over-compensation - as if rationing is finally over. It is extraordinary to see how no one goes off on their own. Perhaps it is the fear of being positioned as the outsider by the group? A fear of being anti-social, or perhaps a deeper point about not being able to define one's identity outside of collective dynamics? Meanwhile, the tactility has morphed into a kind of somatic promiscuity; hands touch bodies, stroke hair etc. Clearly, at least two of the women are fighting for Ebuka, he with the winning smile (most of the text messages scrolling along the bottom of the screen are of the format: x from Zambia saying Ebuka I luv u). One sees all the contradictions of sexual mores in Nigeria writ small: a girl lies in bed reading her bible, meanwhile another woman wiggles her hips nearby, performing for the attention of her target male. The conversation is as banal as it is on any other Big Brother - scarcely audible yapping. We humans are not much more sophisticated in our communication patterns than higher primates - we mew and caw. Although one would like to think that every life is extraordinary, and that every person has a unique story, there is a nagging undertow that many people are in fact just like so many others, that there is nothing inside their heads.