Over the years, Nollywood has grown in leaps and bounds. And looking back will help you appreciate just how much improvement has been made. 

Take Yoruba cinema for example. The predictable storylines and terrible child actors were some of the things that watered down the quality of these movies.

Let’s discuss all the things the tropes we just couldn’t escape from in the 2010s.

Interesting subtitles

Yoruba movie

I know that subtitling an entire movie is tasking, but some of the errors I’ve seen are inexcusable. They should’ve hired Zikoko editors for the job because these guys miss nothing. 

A funny gateman

Yoruba movie
Source: Zikoko memes

Get Sanyeri and the movie is halfway done. The blend of stupidity and humour is just the spice you’d need.

An annoying cook

Yoruba movie

This person would be both the gossip partner and the worst enemy of the gateman. Instead of focusing on their work, they’d clash with the other domestic staff and argue over their superiority as the closest to the boss.  

A babalawo

Yoruba movie

I understand the need to showcase our traditional religions, but did we really need a native doctor in every movie?

Flashbacks

Source: Zikoko memes

It didn’t have to be a major part of the plot. It just had to be there. Use a sepia filter on those scenes, and you’d be in business.

A Topi Alabi soundtrack

Somehow, her voice would put you in the mood for all the turmoil the young protagonist was about to experience. 

A notorious gang

You’d need a gang to terrorise the community. A cult, if it was a school, and armed robbers, if it was a city. Their leader would most likely be named Scorpion.

A  no-nonsense policeman

He’d come in at the end as the strong arm of the law there to teach some lessons. The gang had to be caught somehow, and he’d be at the centre of that.

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