"SC-S31/W4-Movie Magic |Movies that challenge society (Isoken)

Greetings movie lovers, I know I am not big on movies but I am glad to participate in this week’s challenge.

Watch a movie that speaks of injustice, challenging a norm or a culture and respond to the following Questions

screenshot from goggle

For this week’s challenge the movie I saw is a Nigerian movie called Isoken. A movie that challenged the social and cultural exceptions around marriage. It also dealt with the tribal preference and marital
Pressure that women go through in the society.

Below are some details about the movie Isoken.

Items	Details
Movie Name	Isoken
Producer	Jadesola Osiberu
Year	2017
Director	Jadesola Osiberu
Genre	Romance / Comedy / Drama
Release Date	June 16, 2017
Duration	About 1 hour 40 minutes
Setting	Lagos and Benin City, Nigeria
Theme	Love, culture, marriage pressure, identity, family expectations, self-discovery

These are the names of the lead characters in the movie.

	Isoken

	kevin

	Osaze

Movie Name	Real Name
Isoken	Dakore Akande
Osaze	Joseph Benjamin
Kevin	Marc Rhys
Kukua	Funke Akindele
Agnes	Lydia Forson
Joke	Damilola Adegbite

The movie opens up with Isoken in a family wedding. Isoken is a young and successful woman who had every area of her life going well except for marriage. She is 34 and turning 35 and not married.

For a woman of her caliber and age, not been married at that age earned her nothing but loads of family pressure especially because she came from a traditional family who not only expects her to marry but to also marry a certain kind of man.

During the wedding, Isoken catches the bouquet which only increased the pressure she was already in. Her mum being the mastermind of the pressure tried to match make her with Osaze, a young and very successful son of a friend of hers.

Osaze was the ideal man on paper and everyone thinks he would make a good match for Isoken because he meets her family and society expectations.

	Isoken’s mum match making her with Osaze

However, things became complicated as Isoken meets Kevin, a jovial photographer who she connects deeply with. She is free with kelvin and is not under any pressure to pretend but kelvin is not from her tribe and doesn’t meet the family expectations like Osaze.

All hell broke loose when Isoken broke off her relationship with Osaze to be with Kevin whom the family did not approve of. She had to follow her heart and satisfy her happiness as against following family and societal pressures.

What social issue did the movie highlight?

	Isoken telling her friends she’s more comfortable with Kevin than Osaze

The movie highlights the social pressure placed on women to get married at a certain age and the tribalism and cultural expectations in relationships.

The movie highlighted the societal and social pressure a lot of women go through when they get to a certain age and they are not married. It addressed the subject of tribalism and the cultural expectations placed on women in cases of marriage. No matter how successful a woman is, if she’s not married, society treats her somehow.

Isoken’s family believed that she should marry someone from her tribe just like Osaze and also someone from a good social class instead of someone she loves. The movie shows how society sometimes places traditions and public opinions above personal happiness.

Did it change how you see this issue?

	Family meeting on isokens head

Yes, the movie changed my perspective by showing me how unfair and emotional societal pressures can be.

It made me understand that marriage should be based on love, personal choice and on how compatible one is with the partner and by personal choice rather than cultural or societal expectations or family pressure.

It made me to understand that when it comes to marriage, individuals choices and decisions should be respected and not forcing societal opinions on people.

I understood that my happiness and satisfaction is more important than trying to please others.

How is this theme discussed this week relevant today?

This weeks theme is relevant today because lots of women are still facing marital pressures and expectations from society.

Many families are still tribalistic and won’t allow their children marry whoever is not from their tribe or who they feel is not in their societal class. They still interfere to a great extent on women’s relationships.

They movie teaches that we should challenge some cultures and norms that are not fair and support the freedom of choice.

It reached that cultures, societal and family expectations should not stop people from finding true happiness.

Therefore this message is important in our today’s world where people are seeking for self expression, advocating for equality and personal freedom.