So, In little over 2 days time, Red Nose Day; the biennial UK fundraising Comic Relief event will hit our TV screens again. Many well known celebrities (and some lesser known ones) will join in the TV marathon; making a mockery on themselves all in the name of Charity. The night isn’t all about comedy. Throughout the programme, numerous videos showing the devastating effects of poverty and malaria in Africa will be shown. These videos typically involved a well-known figure, sent to Africa to witness at firsthand such problems and to show how the monies being raised are spent. This time round, it was the turn of popular English boy band, One Direction, who visited Ghana. Fair to say some Ghanaians did not take their visit, and subsequent comments well.
I usually follow the ‘#Ghana‘ trend on twitter; keeping up to date with all Ghana related tweets. 2 months ago, my tweet deck went into overdrive with virtually over 10 tweets per second about One Direction. It was difficult to place the connection between the biggest boy band in the world and Ghana. After all, their reasons for visiting Ghana were likely not going to be musically motivated; Ghana is probably one of the only few places on earth without a loyal One Direction fan base. The group was in fact visiting Ghana to film a feature for Red Nose Day. They are incidentally also singing the official soundtrack for this year’s event.
The fallout resulting from the visit had been nothing short of baffling. It is unimaginable to think how a couple of tweets could have sparked a tweeting warfare between disgruntled Ghanaians and One Direction fans – infamous for their attacks on anything deemed anti One Direction . The controversy started after band members tweeted:
Little preview of our incredible time in Accra, Ghana.
rednoseday we will always owe you for taking us. Thank you .xx
I’ve seen the slums right in front of me! This is no joke! They really need your help! Poverty is real !
So honoured to be a part of
rednoseday . Met some beautiful people over in Ghana. Please donate big this year!
There is nothing particularly wrong about these tweets except it received these responses:
NiallOfficial nonedirection Your tweets about the slums and poverty of Accra, Ghana was very touching….however, Next time, also tweet about the luxury hotel and VIP treatment and beauty of the country you enjoyed. I understand its for charity, but this highly negative image of sub Saharan African countries like Ghana that you choose to focus on without balance for the so many positive aspects to your millions of ff…so next time, please be Balanced Come Better. There is more to Ghana, so much more.
Dear
onedirection next you visit a country, remember like yours there are beautiful and ugly parts. Don’t base your views on one part
Ghana is getting worse so heaven sent 5 downcut jesuses to teach us clapping
Wanlov’s sarcastic tweet was in response to this picture which was going around the ‘twitter-sphere’ at the time the one directions tweets surfaced. It is even more remarkable seeing how this became newsworthy.
These tweets were then re-butted by One Direction fans, the ‘Directioners’, who are known for their attacks on anything deemed anti One Direction. The general consensus was that the tweets suggested Accra, Ghana’s capital, as a slum. I’m neither a fan of One Direction; the band nor their music, and my patriotic allegiance to Ghana perhaps does not qualify me to form an objective view on this. Still, it is easy to understand why such statements will provoke such reactions from Ghanaians. This wasn’t just another banal twitter argument. There appear to be a bigger issue at stake here: the frustrations most Africans feel about the way the continent is portrayed in western media.
So why will I bring up an issue which occurred 2 months ago? Well it is because, these tweets will probably resurface, the moment the one direction video is shown on Red Nose Day. One Direction have a huge following on twitter; more people read their tweets than read some news papers. Their tweets can spread to potentially millions of impressionable teenage fans, who probably have no idea what or where Ghana is. As such, the band’s tweets about Ghana received a mixture of responses, ranging from bewilderment to the patronizingly ignorant. From most replies, you would think One Direction were some sort of super beings who were going to save Ghana from the grasp on social collapse.
So I'm guessing the only place one direction came for the the comic relief red nose charity was Ghana :'( sad times for me !
— Arimas (@ItsJustSamiraa) January 18, 2013
Awww the boys in Ghana :’) thts so sweet (: Xxx :””’)
Most Africans living abroad have probably had to dispel stupid myths about living in Africa from friends or colleagues. No, we do not all live in mud houses and I did not own a pet Rhinoceros (how awesome will that be though). These myths have been established through a lack of education. The ‘Africa is one big poor country’ view is heightened by the portrayal of Africa in the mainstream media. African progress is rarely the agenda in the media and when it is, the focus is typically on war, poverty, famine or corrupt politicians. It seems like the only positive image of Africa we get to see are from the nature shows.
There is no denying these problems do exist and they need to be highlighted. Poverty remains prevalent in Africa and that is one of the main reasons why charities like Comic Relief exist in the first place and continue to organize fundraising activities. The formula for Comic Relief and its sister event, Sport Relief have been well established, and proven to be successful. The image of a child too weak to even swat away flies he is covered in will always be a powerful one. One which reaches the compassionate hearts of the donating public.
You can argue about that ethics of the way these vulnerable people are depicted. They certainly do not live in these nice areas Ghanaians will like us to show. Moreover, I highly doubt most care about how they are portrayed on the television as long as their appearance helps move them away from their current predicament.