CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
In recent years, movies have remained a source of amusement, information, and education, and they have surpassed more than half of the other types of entertainment that compete for the typical citizen’s time and attention. Since the early twentieth century, the American film industry has dominated the global film business. Griffith, a well-known cinema director, shot the first picture in Hollywood, “In Old California,” in early 1910. Before World War I, filmmakers flocked to Southern California, where the Nestor Company constructed the first Hollywood studio in 1911. Because racial prejudice hindered them from working in other businesses, the film industry was eventually dominated by Jews who were immigrants. By the mid-1940s, the film industry was producing 400 films each year. According to Onokome (2009), the Nigerian video film has evolved into an art form, spawning its own version of Nollywood. The motion picture industry rose from an estimated 2.5 million dollars in 1994 to 3.4 million dollars in 1999. According to Larkin (2006), this expansion led in the creation of approximately 600 films every year, making Nigeria one of the world’s largest film producers. Mnebue, a smart Nigerian entrepreneur, pioneered the Nigerian film industry by releasing “Living in Bondage” in 1992, according to Okoye (2003). However, behind Hollywood and Bollywood, Nollywood is perhaps the world’s third most dynamic film business. In 1930, the colonial overlords brought movies to Nigeria. According to Adieza (2010), Herbert Macaulay financed these films, which were screened at the Glover Hall in Lagos. At the time, film was primarily used to pique interest in the British Empire. “Culture in Transition,” an abbreviated version of Wole Soyinka’s “The Strong Breed,” was the first Indigenous film created in 1960, just after independence. The Independence Day was also commemorated by “Kongi’s Harvest.” Films were presented in big cinema halls at this time, which typically drew enormous crowds, and the film hall eventually became a hangout for criminals. Because the expense of projecting a picture using these projectors was prohibitively expensive, when movies were introduced to the country in 1980, they were welcomed by all households. Producers changed their focus to making movies that were both cheaper and quicker. According to Sor (2011), the film market had over 20,000 films by 1996. The West African Examination Council (WAEC) and the National Examination Council (NECO) (2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010) have both expressed concern about the low quality of education in Nigeria’s educational system, as well as the consequences of poor academic performance among senior secondary school students. Some blame kids for the apparent loss in educational quality and moral standards, while the majority blames teachers for the problems in our schools, while teachers blame children and parental attitudes toward their children’s education (Ogbadu, 2010). Others, such as Jekayinfa (2007), criticised the government for the poor service quality and physical infrastructure in some portions of the system. However, in addition to the factors listed as causes of failure among secondary school students, the advent of globalization as a result of urbanization and civilization, such as access to the internet, GSM, Television, and Cable Network programs, has relegated most students to a showbiz and often distracted by a series of cartoons and movie activities has relegated most students to a showbiz and often distracted by a series of cartoons and movie activities. They spend the most of their time in front of their televisions rather than reading books, doing homework, or socializing with others. Teenage years are a time when youngsters are just beginning to break their reliance on their parents, at least in terms of their own identity. They may relate to their peers from a more impartial and less intimidating frame of reference provided by the media (Ohadebeh, 2012). This is due to the fact that most youngsters view the media in the same way. Unfortunately, because most teenagers are still searching for their own identities, they are more vulnerable to media suggestions and peer pressure, which may overwhelm what they have already constructed of their own identities based on other people’s ideas, what they should think and feel. With the way the media operates now, they may unconsciously start taking up other people’s ideas instead of creating their own (Okechukwu, 2014). However, with the advent and consolidation of multiple television stations and service providers in Nigeria in the twenty-first century, it cannot be overstated that television has taken center stage in our everyday routines. Satellite and cable TVs have a larger viewership in cities than local television channels, according to studies. This study, on the other hand, looks at the impact of late-night movie viewing on secondary school pupils. Previous studies have shown that with television stations at their fingertips, youngsters spend a significant amount of time watching television (Arony, 2009). An typical American adolescent spends 2.5 hours per day watching television, according to a conservative estimate. As demonstrated by prior study findings, teens spend an average of 16–18 hours per week watching television, beginning at the age of 13 and ending at the age of 19, and they watch the most popular rated movies. The majority of the programming that teens watch are entertainment-related, such as movies, musical videos, soap operas, and so on. According to Olorogun (2013), the impact of these programs on teens may not be instantaneous or successful owing to other factors such as family, social groups, peer groups, and so on. Nonetheless, the influence may lead to erroneous ideals and bad social practices among youths. However, the more kids are exposed to entertainment television, as measured by the amount of time some of them spend watching it, the more likely they are to develop a world view and a sense of reality that is similar to what they see on television over time.
