Reception analysis and popularity of American action movies in Kampala, Uganda

This study set out to examine the meaning that young working class men living in Kampala, Uganda, make of American action movies in Bibanda, informal video-viewing halls. The study examined the ways in which these meanings may contribute to particular forms of working class masculinity in the contested contemporary African urban setting. Bibanda are temporary structures made of wood, papyrus and iron sheets constructed to show movies, a phenomenon that is rapidly growing in Uganda and other parts of Africa. These Bibanda are subject to intense scrutiny from moral authorities for the supposed effects they have on young men because of their frequent attendance. Working within a Cultural Studies framework, this research draws on an audience and reception analysis, involving focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with young men between 18-35 years who frequent Bibanda. The findings indicate that the popularity of American action movies in Bibanda are hinged on their ability to provide symbolic distancing to these young men from their constrained lived experience. This in turn contributes to the formation of marginal male identities centred on Bibanda, which provide a sense of belonging in addition to restoring these young men’s masculinity. The findings also reveal that there is constant competition between the notions of modernity and traditionalism during the consumption of American action movies by the young men. We argue that the influence of the American action movies on the young men is not a straightforward “effect” but rather provoke a complex negotiation in which local and western notions of masculinity are re-worked to suit the uncertainties of urban life in which these young men are obliged to live out their (marginalised) lives.