Culled from Ynaija.com. Written by SK Johnson, here’s what the writer thinks about Stella Damasus view or rather video on underage marriage.
N.B: This article does not represent the view of the members of the editorial team of this blog.
See that? That face up there? That is the face of fury. At least that’s what Stella Damasus expects us to believe. Two days ago the singer/actress released a video on YouTube, supposedly in response to the #ChildNotBride controversy. I’m not exactly sure what I was expecting; something sincere and insightful, maybe? I can’t say, but what I wasn’t expecting was for it to devolve into an exercise into the kind of pointless histrionics the industry to which she belongs is currently criticised for. It’s clear from the title “Stella Damasus Spits Fire!” – yes, complete with the exclamation mark – that she intends for us to believe she means business. Erm, okay.
The video goes on for 5 minutes and essentially sees her throwing out fancy insults for the senators (“randy old men,” in her terms) and saying nothing about nothing. Well, apart from herself, of course. She makes sure to let us know how “unafraid” she is – since, you know, making a video about a major Nigerian media phenomenon and uploading it to YouTube, is an act of bravery the kind of which strikes fear into the hearts of men everywhere – how other celebrities don’t have the balls to do what she’s doing, how angry she is, how loud her voice is, how many ways in which she can twist her face to portray “anger”. Sigh. I don’t know.
I just don’t know. It would be admirable for a celebrity to speak up in a sincere manner about an issue as important as this one but in this case, I just can’t take it seriously. This video Stella Damasus has made is a joke because it doesn’t say anything remotely insightful. It’s a perfect representation of the superficial and reactionary posturing that gets us absolutely nowhere.
Consider this; not once during the 5 minute run of this video does Stella Damasus offer any possible solution. Sure, no one expects her to snap her fingers and solve the problems, after all, she’s only one human being (albeit a very angry one) but what would be the point if we all went around screaming bloody murder instead of making an attempt to be constructive? It could be as simple as her saying “go sign the petition” – but no. She does an awful lot of castigation, though. She calls out Patience Jonathan, Senator Yerima, and other celebrities. Hey, that’s all well and good, but, again, what’s the point? If this video is addressed to the public, what are we supposed to do with it? Appreciate Stella Damasus’s anger? And then what? The only logical explanation would be that it was meant for the Senators themselves, which, paradoxically would be even more illogical.
Let’s face it, are senators supposed to cower in fear at Stella Damasus? Are they even going to care at all what she says? I mean, will “shameless old men” who, as Ms. Damasus put it, are trying to “impose their evil desires on an entire nation,” give the slightest bit of a damn what an actress has to say? Will they even sit down to watch it? I think otherwise.
