- all VCDs and DVDs I saw were pirated. Even in the only DVD library I found. The video shows are usually run by a guy or two with a ramshackle room, a TV, and a stereo hooked up to it, and real DVD prices would be beyond them. This is a country, to contextualize, where electronics (hardware and software) are usually at the same price as in the US, yet where $10 a day is a pretty decent salary for a high school grad. So paying for originals just doesn’t make economic sense.

- Malawians did recognize stars throughout media from various countries (Malawi has its own star too — Dr. Manga — who is in the country’s few films), though the American names seemed to loom larger, especially, I’d guess, since American action films are significantly more star-/lone male-focused than the familial dramas of Nigerian action films

- The witchcraft thing is really interesting, and I’ll need to give you an answer later when I get all my data. Indeed, my research assistant is well-poised to answer this one, since he’s previously worked on a project about witchcraft, which meant he was really interested in the issue. From the transcripts I have and the interviews and discussions I had, there’s quite a divide between those who believe in witchcraft and who think Nigerian films are thus way more believable, and those who don’t and who complain about how outlandish and unreal they are. I had several people say, for instance, that Nigerian films “know how it is in Africa,” whereas American films don’t. So, yeah, that’s definitely something that SOME people related to, but it’s also a bone of contention for others

- as for display of material wealth, the transcripts in my hand focus more on the wealth of Americans. South Africa, I’ve been told, has been talked of as the land of milk and honey in other people’s research projects (which I’ll hopefully get access to in due course), but when I was there, there was a rash of attacks and even killings of foreigners in SA, which meant that everyone I talked to about SA just noted that it was dangerous for Malawians. I didn’t hear much if anything about Nigerian wealth. But my research assistant went to the villages, where people are much poorer, and I’ve yet to read through those transcripts, so something may turn up there … or in the other transcripts I haven’t been given yet

- the other aspect that seemed most relatable was African family structure and communication ethics, a great focus on love (as I’ll get to when I discuss music, love songs are very popular), parental relationships and tensions, and so forth.

- televisions, i’ll get to as soon as I post the next one (soon)

- VCDs predominated

- discs, I need to check in with some Malawians. I could tell you how much they wanted to charge me, but I know enough not to trust what price gets charged to white people. So I’ve sent that email out (dumb that I didn’t ask when there, eh?) and will report back

thanks for the questions. they’re all good in helping me think through this mountain of data (and the potentially even larger mountain of data I may get if my wife’s program lets me check out their journal project once they’re coded)

did malawians recognize any of the stars from the nigerian or s af videos? as you mentioned, one of the common tropes of nigerian videofilm is the use of juju and supernatural figures and characters. is that something that the malawians relate to? and how about the displays of material wealth in nigerian videofilm? in other words, if they see these videofilms as more relevant, what specifically seems most intriguing?

i know i’m probably jumping the gun on your future posts, but where else did you find televisions? were most of the movies on dvd or vcd? how much did a disc cost in the marketplace?

am looking forward to future posts…