Nollywood's Blackberry Babes documents the Sub-Saharan African BBM craze
By now you should have heard there is a Blackberry Craze sweeping West Africa. Blackberry Messenger (BBM) is all the rage. BBM is the new sms and guess what, if you have a Blackberry, it's free. BBM and smart phones may spell the death of sms messaging in Africa. Just watch. What better way to document the Blackberry craze than to do a Nollywood movie about it? Yup, get ready for some cultural education. With many laughs to boot. If dull moments do not exist in Ghana, the word dull is a Tagalog word to Nigerians.
I just got a Blackberry for my brother last weekend. With it, he can communicate with his friends for free, at anytime. All he needs is 'data' and BBM. After getting to Ghana last December, I realised I may have faulted in buying an Android phone instead of a Blackberry. I thought hard and long about it, but really went for the Android cos the phone was cooler and it runs on Google technology. Uh huh. Another friend of mine who lives in Boston has been encouraging all her Ghana-based friends to get Blackberries so they can BBM because Stanacard and Kasamore have chopped so much of her money on international phone calls.
You know the biggest and most important reason why you should get a Blackberry if you are in Africa and have many African friends? BBM is the new email. Yes. These days, folks list their emails, phone numbers, Twitter & Facebook info and then their BBM pin. If trends are anything to go by, coupled with news BBM will be opened up to other smart phones, BBM will overtake all these communication modes. Hey, even musicians, brands and companies are listing their BBM pins publicly.
So that's why the movie Blackberry Babes is so important. From the title, you could tell that the movie is about a clique of babes who have Blackberries. If you ain't a part, you are a non-entity. If you can't get your girlfriend a Blackberry, you are useless. If you own a Blackberry, you are more eligible as a bachelor than if you had a 12-pack or a Mercedes Benz or a great education. You think I lie? Watch the movie. Like all mainstream Nollywood movies, they have Part 1 and 2. Note to movie directors, African movies with Parts 1, 2, etc, hardly win awards or get into film festivals.
You can watch the whole thing for free on Youtube. Actually, you watch the whole Blackberry movie series right here on MightyAfrican.blogspot.com. Say Thank you to Google, Youtube and Nollywood Love.
BlackBerry Babes Part 1
BlackBerry Babes Part 1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fO78bTNScCY
Comments
As for the film, I watched it and found it hilarious but it was also a sad indictment on how materialistic some people can be and all in pursuit of a phone!
@Anonymous - you raise a good point. That's Nollywood drama for you.
the "arab spring" was heavily financed by western technology companies. they have ulterior motives. I would like to see an African communications technology company at least.
Watch out! Africom (US pentagon africa command) is now in most of Africa, and China is heavily involved in 'developing' Africa as well - these two powers are fighting proxy battles with Africa as the battlefield. The fun technology is one part of this new reality.
Besides, at this point where I live, many of us are beginning to give up this technology (esp facebook) by choice, because it has reduced social interaction to standardized information.
I am sure that many Africans see America in a way that many americans cannot (bc they are blinded by the CIA controlled media). Do not let africa become a home to such domestic propaganda.
Besides that, I would be very curious to see RIM's involvement in this movie - I can at least be sure they were aware of the film's existence (their registered trademark is in the film's name).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zspdkzNo85g