kadenatho:

Most of the negative reviews on rafiki are that its cliche and the plot is nothing new, that its been done with brokeback mountain, carol etc and comparisons to movies like love simon, cmbyn lmao.. most of these critics are white so i’m not surprised. I personally am not expecting a perfect movie, given that its the director’s first feature film. What’s important is the context of the movie, in this case kenyan so it doesn’t matter that the west has seen these stories a thousand times already, plus the movie is primarily made for the Kenyan audience not for an international audience. The movie is opening doors for conversations regarding anti lgbt laws, it will have a bigger impact socially so its not about it being a cinematic masterpiece or being up to par with western lgbt films. I’m really excited about the positive representation it offers the kenyan and african lgbt community (at large) which is the reason its banned in the first place, also its really great to see african stories told by africans and for the world to see those stories, not the other way around which is the usual case of others creating our narratives and painting us negatively. The consistent positive reviews I have read were about the cinematography, soundtrack and there is a lot of rave about the chemistry between the actresses.. which for me will make up for all the other flaws.