Film As Therapy for Defied Children: Hell as Pedagogy for Sex Abuse in Dry and The Colour Purple

Abstract

Child abuse is a threat that impedes the mental health of victims. In Nigeria, rape and other sexual violence are prevalent. It has become a silent killer due to stigma and emotional torture, attracting Nigerian filmmakers’ attention. This article focused on the ordeal associated with sexual abuse of the girl-child given her vulnerability. However, the cure and management of the repercussions of abuse have been more medical than visual therapies such as film. However, art-based research has shown that visual therapies are also incontrovertible alternatives to pharmaceutically based treatments. The study selected and analysed, Nollywood’s Dry and Hollywood’s The Colour Purple as therapy for victims who were sexually abused as children. The films’ representations of inhuman experiences collectively summarize our imagination of hell. We conclude that its cathartic and prescriptive messages provide adequate lessons to resist negative perception, reduce trauma and encourage healing.