Retro Nolly: 'Dumebi the Dirty Girl': A Troubling Depiction of a Troubled Young Woman.

Tchidi Chikere's 'Dumei the Dirty Girl' does not tackle its subject matter with the care and nuances it deserves.

As someone who constantly interrogates Nigerian films by watching and writing about them, it’s unavoidable to occasionally get irritated. As an audience, there are times when I pray for amnesia — that understandable urge to forget what you just watched. And as a film critic, there are occasional and random head-scratching moments when I question the somewhat unappreciated commitment to writing about Nollywood. 

Watching Dumebi, The Dirty Girl starring Mercy Johnson as the eponymous character, it becomes hopeless attempting to suppress the irritation the film inspires. Written and directed by Tchidi Chikere, the mind behind the beloved Blood Sisters, Dumebi, the Dirty Girl is a simple story centred around Dumebi described by Frank (Kenneth Okonkwo), the film’s other major character, as sweet, stupid, scattered, and lousy. Dumebi is truly flawed and prone to unorthodox habits and traits. While her father, the village clergyman and beacon of holiness, expects her to exude traits expected of a well-raised young woman, she prefers a carefree approach towards life. When she gets impregnated and abandoned by Frank,  Dumebi is forced to migrate to the city where a new reality and Cynthia, Frank’s polished fiance, awaits her. 

Ironically, my immense protest against this film is what I admire about it. The flawed, lousy, and messy Dumebi isn’t interested in committing to societal expectations. She is comfortable with revealing intimate details of her sexual escapades with Frank and occasionally sleeps when hard work is demanded of her. But, this supposed societal-defying trait of Dumebi becomes unadmirable when the film frames her supposed carelessness as the reason men, including Frank sexually assault her. The sexual assault is conveyed  as one-of-those-things that happens to a lousy and awkward girl.. Thus, without pretense, the film subtly blame Dumebi for being raped. It even frames the character to trivialise her rape as one of those things that happen in life.

While produced in 2012, there are still recent Nollywood films that underplay sexual assault just to propel the plot forward. Hey You, A Young Time Ago, and The Origin: Madam Koi Koi are recent examples of this pattern of trivialising sexual assault.

---

---

Biodun Stephen’s Wildflower is one of the few exceptions that treats the topic with the care and nuance it deserves. Gender-based violence and assault are not accessories added to the film’s plot for unjustifiable reasons. They’re fully tackled in the film. 

Rather than interrogating a story, Dumebi, The Dirty Girl is frustratingly fascinated with adorning itself with inconsequential points. Over and over, we get scenes that reiterate Dumebi’s propensity towards sleeping, being chronically forgetful (she forgot her child in the car and for the longest time was unaware), and lacking in understanding minimal grammatical rules (a point that Frank comfortably repeats.) Scripted to be timid in her expression, Dumebi occasionally makes demands. When she asks if Frank is outwardly ashamed of her but enthusiastic about having sex with her, the film taps into Dumebi’s psychology and for once gives her a voice. And those few scenes contain the few heartwarming performances from Johnson in the film. 

The overall performances are quite trite. Beyond Johnson’s head-scratching, constant biting of lips and loudness, her performance doesn’t fully convey the physical attributes of a lousy and awkward young woman. Quite unlike Funke Akindele’s performance in Jenifa, Johnson’s acting is muted with restraints. There is a restrain from completely giving into the vulnerable demands of the character. It’s understandable that the film intends to impress upon viewers Dumebi’s lousy, but it’s a disservice to the audiences who have to endure elongated scenes with no clear-cut direction.

Chikere wrote and directed Blood Sisters, one of my favourite female-focused Nollywood films. But, Dumebi, The Dirty Girl doesn’t appeal to me for the previously expressed reasons.  This goes to show that even your favourite filmmakers have the potential to randomly annoy you. 

---