My recent experience with a telenovela made me understand why these telenovelas are so popular in our media space that almost all television stations in the country are now showing them. They are so addictive and thus the masses crave more of such kind. Hence there is a high demand for them on our traditional media platforms.

About a month ago, I coincidentally watched a Philippine telenovela after the evening news on one of our television stations. After my first encounter, which was somewhere in the middle of the series, I subsequently religiously watched the thing continuously for two (2) weeks. Thereafter, I realized the way it was shown, it was not moving as fast as I wanted it to be. GUESS WHAT I DID NEXT.

I went on the internet and searched for it till I found a link I could watch it for free. Now I found myself on the internet watching this Philippine telenovela in “Philippine” with no English subtitles yet I was enjoying it. In fact, one Saturday I watched throughout the night till almost daybreak when I had to take a nap before church service in the morning. You can imagine the ones that are presented to the populace in “Twi” and the addictive effect they have on them.

These telenovelas are more harmful to the youth than sports betting we sometimes complain about. They are infiltrating our culture and social orientation with no age limits. No wonder our movie and theatre industry is dying if not dead already. The kind of addiction this series produces, I don’t think there is anything in the Ghanaian industry that can produce such an effect on the masses at the moment.

I THINK IS ABOUT TIME WE MAKE A CONSCIOUS EFFORT TO PROTECT OUR OWN INDUSTRY AND SOCIO-CULTURAL ORIENTATION.