Hey guys, long time no movie review.
Let me sit up as I prepare to gist you. Have you grabbed your popcorn? A bottle of water will also be helpful in case you get choked on the popcorn due to the sweet nature of the gist.
Man-down is about a girl who grew up in a Christian home. She’s everything you’d expect a good girl to be and has everything going for her. Her only problem is that she fell in love with a man from another tribe and denomination much to the disapproval of her parents.
Things get even messier when Bola in an attempt to comfort her boyfriend at a very vulnerable time and wrong place ends up having sexual intercourse with him.
The story follows the various attempts Bola’s parents made to hide their daughter’s pregnancy from the world including trying to perform an abortion whiles Bola was unconscious and unaware. And the church’s treatment of her after the truth was revealed. You guys should watch the movie, I’m talking too much. Here's the link to watch it for free on Youtube ➡MAN DOWN (FULL MOVIE) || Directed by Victor Olukoju (PVO) - Bing video
I was so edified after watching and I thought I'd share my lessons from the movie.
1. Treat fallen soldiers with love and respect.
If you’re a fan of war movies, you’ve probably heard the phrase ‘man-down’ a couple of times.
Man-down is the phrase used in battle which means that a soldier in your group is lying on the ground or has been shot down by the enemy. Every Christian is a soldier in the Lord’s army. What do we do when we realise that one of us has been shot down by the enemy? Are we quick to judge, blame and abandon them or do you enforce the slogan, “no man left behind”?
Do we lift and welcome back those who have fallen away from the fold or are we quick to dismiss them as agents of Satan?
The treatment of Bola by the church after her pregnancy and alleged abortion is something we must all take notes from.
2. Boundaries in relationships.
Therefore let anyone who thinks he stands [who feels sure that he has a steadfast mind and is standing firm], take heed lest he fall [into sin].- 1 Corinthians 10:12.
Bola and Chidi were two fiery Christians, from the movie we can tell they did everything right until that moment. We must always be aware of our frailty as humans and try as much as possible to lean into the Spirit for help at such times. Be afraid of who you are and what you can do without the Holy Spirit. Put up physical, emotional and psychological boundaries and most importantly ask God for help. Except God builds the house, the builder builds in vain. Except God keeps the couple, boundaries will only be a defense mechanism. A weak one at that.
3. Friendship
Get yourself a friend who can hype you like Fejiro. Fejiro is a vibeee. God!! This is from my lips to your ears, I need a Fejiro in my life. I love how they play together yet manage to have hard conversations too. I was low-key expecting her to backstab the main character, Bolu, but I was wrong. She stayed faithful to her friend till the end. Don’t be like me, godly friends who don’t betray each other do exist.
2. Tribalism and denominationalism
These two topics require a full post. After all we’ve learnt about our equality in Christ, you’d expect that things like tribe and denomination will not be an issue in Christendom but here we are. Not to say that these things do not matter but to disqualify someone on the basis of their tribe forgetting who they are in Christ is not the best.
There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus. - Gal 3:28
3. Suicide, rape, abortion and grief
These four are topics most Christians pretend do not exist but we know too well that it happens every day even amongst church folks.
We must seek to educate ourselves on what the Father thinks about these things and effectively communicate them so that we can break the shield of secrecy surrounding these topics.
4. Don’t run your life on the opinions of others not even those of your parents.
As simple as that!
Bola's parents were so worried about their reputation that they put their daughter through so much pain. Don't be like Bola's parents. Run your life on God's terms, no matter how bad it gets.
So nice to see P. Daniel in this movie.
I hope you learnt something from my lessons. Have a blessed week..
Thanks for this educative piece of writings. Do have a blessed week to.