As in all things, the voice we always hear in cinema is the voice of the rich and powerful, and so we never normally get to hear the African perspective. Yet, we so need to hear that perspective.

I found the film "Black Hawk Down" for example, very disturbing. The film is based on the true story of the mission in 1983, when two American helicopters were shot down in Mogadishu, Somalia during a raid to capture two lieutenants of the warlord Aidid. The film was undoubtedly well-shot – tense, realistic etc. But the problem I had with it was the way it reverted to the cinematic stereotypes of “Cowboy and Indian”: good guys and bad guys, with the Africans as the bad guys.

While the Americans were individuals, portrayed as heroes, all the Somalis were grouped together as cowardly, evil and vicious. It is interesting to ponder what the film would look like if it were made from a Somali perspective. But of course, there is no money in that. And so the popular view of history is written with a bias to the rich and powerful, and complex moral and political issues are simplified down to the touchstone of “how it affects us.”

So I am pleased that Africa is finding a voice through cinema. I think as Christians we need to hear such voices and stories from beyond our own little world. We should not allow our view of the world, and our understanding of the moral issues therein, to be shaped by Hollywood. We also need to develop a moral framework – a Christ-centred framework – for learning to read films, for thinking through the issues they raise, and for assessing them by more than their entertainment value, or even by only how much swearing or sex they contain.