Gecau/AUDIENCE RESPONSES 
Audience responses to a film in rural Zimbabwe 
KIMANI GECAU1 
ABSTRACT 
Though development communication has been theorized about and 
practised in African countries since the late 1950s and more so after 
independence, there has not been a consistent effort to continuously 
review it in the light of advances in general research on media and 
communication. One aspect of the communication process which has 
received attention — and also raised debate and controversy -is the 
issue of what audiences do with the media products (or texts) which 
they are exposed to and how far their social and cultural context 
affects their engagement with media products. For development communicators 
this aspect is of particular importance since they expect 
that their messages will influence the audience in some way. In the 
introductory section this paper argues that there are links between 
the theories of development, development communication and audience 
studies. The main body of the paper discusses a study done in 
1997 on the reactions of audiences to a "development" film in rural 
Zimbabwe. Such a once-off study, as the paper argues, cannot yield 
conclusive results. However the virtue of such a study is to point at 
possibilities of other such studies in the future which should also help 
in theory building based on our own empirical experiences. 
PARTI 
Introduction 
IN AUGUST 1997 we set out to do a field assessment of audience responses 
to the film Mwanasikana (The Daughter). It tells the story of 
Tariro, a beautiful, hardworking and intelligent girl living in the rural 
areas of Zimbabwe with her parents and young brothers. She is determined 
to go as far as she can with education and make something of her 
1 Media and Communications Programme, University of Zimbabwe 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 45
life in the future. However, this ambition is frustrated by her father, 
Jumbe, who embodies the old fashioned, patriarchal belief that women 
should receive only enough education for them to make acceptable 
housewives and to fetch an attractive bride price. If educated beyond 
primary school a woman may become insubordinate and fail to fetch 
any or a good enough bride price. Indeed, in her final year of primary 
school Jumbe has already arranged to marry off Tariro to a local womanizer 
and businessman, Mudiwa, in return for beer and other goods from 
Mudiwa's shop. The film shows how Jumbe comes to change his attitude 
after Tariro's sister, Precious, who was also stopped from going on 
in school, forces the father to recognize the deep pain that awaits a 
daughter who does not have a chance to make something of her life 
after receiving adequate education. 
The film, officially launched in November 1995, was intended for 
viewers in the rural areas. The assessment therefore entailed visiting 
venues in the rural areas where the film was shown by the government's 
mobile film units (the main way that the film is disseminated). 
Our objectives were to assess the film's ability to deliver themes and 
messages in a way the target group could easily understand; to establish 
what feelings and emotions were stirred by the film; to assess its 
relevance and entertainment value to Zimbabweans and to determine 
the film's ability to influence and effect changes in socio-cultural values, 
norms, practices and attitudes. 
It was decided that the assessment should be done in rural areas in 
Manicaland (Makoni District), Mashonaland Central (Guruve District) 
and Matabeleland North (Tsholotsho District) provinces which were 
regarded as fairly representative of the whole country. We visited two 
or three venues in each province. 
Using this project as a basis, this paper also seeks to explore links 
between theories of development and development communication on 
the one hand with those of audiences and reception studies on the 
other. The issues the paper seeks to address are therefore admittedly 
broad and cannot be dealt with exhaustively in a paper of this length. 
This, then, is a tentative statement needing follow-up work. 
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Development theories and communication 
BY THE END of the 1980s it was already known that "development" in 
Africa had failed - and hence so had some of the theorizing on development 
(Leys 1996 and 1997). By this time much had also been written on 
development communication and development support communication. 
Leys (1996) argues that, unlike previous development theories, the development 
theory of the 1950s came to the fore to understand the 
post-World War II world in the process of decolonization. It was informed 
by questions such as: how could the previous colonies become 
more productive, manage their economies properly and achieve growth 
and employment, while avoiding communism? The response to these 
questions called for theorizing which was nonetheless oriented to the 
practical and intended to provide grounds for immediate action. This 
was to lead to a dominant predisposition "against philosophical dispassion 
and reflective self-criticism" in development work and the 
dominant attitude was "development is done, not theorized about". 
Hence the new theories of development were not located in a broad 
social history, including that of the development of global political and 
economic relations. Development was studied and theorized about as if 
it did not have "significant historical roots or philosophical roots or 
presuppositions" (Leys 1996:6). 
The study and practice of communication at the formal level in Zimbabwe 
and in most other Africa countries has been influenced by this 
background. It has mainly been learnt in order to be done by practitioners 
in such areas as business and management, advertising, journalism 
and development. Here, as elsewhere, development theories have influenced 
theorizing on, and practices in, development communication. 
Thus, development communication can be linked to modernization theories 
as well as to theories found, for example, among the Frankfurt School 
of social and cultural theorists, suggesting that the media have a very 
strong and irresistible effect on a passive mass society. Dependency 
theory can equally be related to concerns with cultural imperialism and 
calls for more equitable global economic relations and a balanced flow 
of media products such as those by the proponents of the New World 
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Economic Order and the new World Information and Communication 
Order. These two theories and development communication theorizing 
and the practices they were to influence were more or less holistic. 
They were concerned with national issues as well as relations between 
the newly independent countries and the developed world. In this sense, 
they anticipated the new phase of neo-liberal development practices 
and current debates about development (and democratization) in a globalized 
and unequal world. 
The dominant modernization development theory embodied two aspects 
that were problematic. First the understanding of development 
assumed that it would be a gradual, evolutionary process. The media 
were expected to play a central role in achieving normative economic, 
political and social goals as part of the nation-building project soon 
after independence (Hallin 1998:155). This holistic approach therefore 
relied on large mainstream media organizations (as opposed to the smaller 
local ones). Behind it was also an assumption of communication as a 
social process (though this aspect was rarely studied or expl icitly stated). 
What was clear was the top-down and linear view of communication 
and social development in which benefits coming from the West, through 
the local elite, were eventually expected to trickle down to the ordinary 
people. 
Secondly it was assumed that development of the formerly colonized 
countries would only come with material aid from the "developed" 
countries, particularly the USA. From the time of Truman's Four Point 
program, for example, the notion that development was inseparable 
from the giving and receiving of foreign aid became a more or less 
normal one. It was also assumed that the culture and mind-sets of those 
who were to be thus turned into receivers were the problem to development. 
Far from contributing to development this culture and psychology 
had to be smashed with the force of the media and replaced by a western 
sensibility and culture. The result, however, has been that this 
material and cultural dependency has led to inferiority complexes and 
dependent mind-sets among those to be "developed" which has ultimately 
militated against development. 
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In response, dependency theorists argued that the problem lies in the 
material and structural relationship between the developed and developing 
countries. Participatory development approaches and theories, 
on the other hand, refuted the notion of our culture's inferiority and 
argued for the inclusion of local cultures and knowledge in any development 
planning. Further, it was argued, local people themselves are 
not passive and inert recipients but are active in the making of their own 
development. Influenced by the liberation movements and the work of 
Paulo Freire, in which the dialogical approach is emphasized, participatory 
approaches claim to be bottom-up. They are based in local 
communities. Ideally they respond to the needs expressed by the community; 
mobilize local knowledge systems; utilize the existing channels 
of communication and information flow and rely more on "small media", 
that is the smaller more locally accessible, interpersonal and interactive 
ones. The approaches are mainly concerned with productivity in specific 
micro-projects or ones that are dealt with at a local level - usually 
entailing interpersonal communication. 
Development communication and research in communication 
IN A 1987 PAPEr James Halloran was to argue that development communication 
"is essentially a part of mass communication research, and 
consequently shares the general weaknesses of this field as well as 
possesses its own peculiar ones". In other words, development communication 
should not be regarded as separate from the main traditions 
and practices in communication research. Halloran further recommended 
that communicators should be able to make sense of the society and 
social processes in which communication takes place. In order to do so, 
there is a need for "valid models of society and these, amongst other 
things, must take into account organization, structure and institutional 
interrelationships. We also require an adequate understanding of social 
processes, particularly of the communication process and the 
process of influence" (Italics added). This last requirement draws our 
attention to the fact that communication is a more or less complex process 
grounded in, and influenced by, the social and cultural context in 
which it takes place. It involves distinct elements (such as a sender with 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 49
specific intentions and goals, processes of encoding, message, channel, 
receiver, processes of decoding and of making sense of the 
message). Thus, according to Halloran, discussions on the likely influence 
of media messages should also take into account the social-cultural 
context, the communication process, and the process of reception of 
the message. However, he criticized the (then) bulk of mass communication 
research as lacking in this holistic approach. He therefore drew 
attention to what he calls "the generally atheoretical nature" of development 
communication work, its "crudeness of conceptualisation" and 
"little appreciation of the complexity of communication process" 
(1987:134). Halloran thus reminds the practitioner in Africa to be selfreflective. 
Among those areas needing attention are: 
• the dominance of sender-oriented approaches in which the sender 
often, implicitly or explicitly, targets the individual psychology and 
mind-set of the intended receiver and ignores social, cultural and 
economic factors; 
• a need for a more nuanced understanding of how people make sense 
of the messages received from the mass media and what they do with 
these. On the one extreme there are those who hold that the meaning 
of a message is wholly immanent in and a property of the text which 
should then be understood in the same way by all audiences. On the 
other extreme are those who hold that receivers are free to make what 
meaning they want with the text of a message. In between these are 
analytical positions concerned with understanding both the text of 
the message, the conditions of its production and the conditions 
under which specific audiences are likely to receive the messages in 
certain ways. Such variables include: 
• the way in which the textual construction, the denotative and 
connotative meanings are able to express the conscious 
intentions of senders; 
• the already pre-existing knowledge and meaning systems 
among the target audience; 
• the interest and prior knowledge which the audience may have 
of the subject matter; 
• the social and cultural background of the target audience and how. 
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far this has equipped the audience with skills and competence to 
effectively decode and comprehend the message; 
the social and cultural factors which may lead to agreement or 
disagreement with the message after it has been understood. 
As has been noted by researchers, some texts are more closed than 
others in the sense that they do not allow for many differing interpretations. 
This is true, for example, of factual statements. However, texts of 
a fictional nature (such as Mwanasikand) are more open, allowing for 
more ambiguity and different interpretations depending, of course, on 
how didactic they are. As Bordwell and Thompson (1989:33) tell us, 
films have "meaning only because we attribute meanings to them. We 
cannot therefore regard meaning as a simple product to be extracted 
from the film. Our minds probe an artwork at several levels, seeking 
referential meanings, explicit meanings, implicit meanings, and symptomatic 
meanings". In such situations there are likely to be differences 
between what the sender means by the signs offered from what the 
receiver understands by the sighs received (Dimbleby and Burton: 
1992:223. See also Corner, 1999:82 and Thompson 1990:36-44). 
Studies of audiences and reception behaviour seek to make clear 
such audience behaviour in specific social contexts. In any case concerns 
with messages should also reflect sensitivity to the more 
humanistic approach where artistic skills and strategies (including language, 
narrative styles, symbols, images, discourses) are discussed 
and texts analyzed. 
Development communication implies a theoretical premise even when 
this is not acknowledged. Practitioners therefore need to be aware of 
the theories implied in their practices and of the research that led to 
such theories. 
Those working in development communication in Africa also need 
to have a body of knowledge, derived from field research, on communication 
and information channels and how development works in specific 
contexts in African societies (rather than in the USA). This knowledge 
will lead to the challenge of how to enrich development communication 
with positive developments in other disciplines in the field of communication. 
Audience research is one such area. 
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Audiences 
The search for an audience is linked to an old and dominant tradition in 
media research that attempts to answer the question: just how does the 
media affect us? Later another question was added: just how do we 
appropriate media "products" and make meaning and use of them in our 
day-to-day lives? Although the term "audience" has always been around 
it contains a certain ambiguity that has led to a corpus of literature (see 
for example McQuail 1997; Dickinson et al. 1998; Jensen and Rosengren 
1995 and Abercrombie and Longhurst 1998). 
There has also been a main strand of international research with a 
long tradition of paying attention to audiences through a variety of 
survey and focus group methods. Daniel Lerners's work, for example, 
developed out of his audience research for the Voice of America. Indeed 
his research included interest in radio listening behaviour 
(Samaraj iwa 1987). Yet, as Corner (1999:80) argues concerning television 
research, "however subtle this research had become, in terms of its 
sense of the complexity and indirectness of influence processes and 
the active character of viewing itself, // had not shown much interest in 
how television's meanings were actually produced through the specific 
engagement of viewers with programmes' (Italics added). 
Indeed, often unacknowledged by them, researchers and practitioners 
in development communication have, for a large part of their concerns, 
been interested in the way communication influences people - in the 
hope that the meanings made out of received messages will persuade 
them to a change in attitude and behaviour. This places their concerns 
within what has been of central concern to media researchers generally 
- for the process and nature of influence of media messages on receivers. 
Reception: the missing link 
ESSENTIALLY THEN, the trend of research has been to move us away from 
a sole concern with what the media does to people to also pay attention 
to what people do with the media. As Thompson (1990) has insisted, 
research in communication takes into account three areas: institution, 
message and reception. Research has, for example, developed from a 
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concern with whether the media does have the influence it is expected 
to have, to include investigating whether there are specific circumstances 
or social and cultural factors which may affect the media's 
influence on people. This has been accompanied by a shift away from a 
tendency to understand the media as having an all powerful and 
unmediated affect on people. 
Reception studies then simply draw attention to the fact that a reader 
of a book, listener of a radio programme or someone watching a movie 
does play a role in making what they are reading, listening to or watching 
mean something. This includes their decoding, interpretation, 
perception and comprehension strategies. Reception research is concerned 
with how this happens in specific social and cultural contexts. 
Clearly the background, previous experiences, values, beliefs, expectations, 
predispositions and even psychological attributes which a member 
of the audience may bring into the reception activity influence the process 
of making meaning. Also very important is to look at the context of 
reception (home, movie house, or open spaces as in the case of the 
reception of Mwanasikana), and consider how this may affect reception. 
Such an approach is useful because it takes the commonsensical 
position that before a book, programme, film or any other "text" can 
satisfy a need, be used in a certain way or generally have some kind of 
effect (as indeed most texts are expected to), it must first of all be meaningfully 
decoded and appropriated into meaningful discourses and 
practices by the receivers. It is hoped that, after this, it will also influence 
attitudes, practices and behaviour. However, while media audiences 
sometimes negotiate and contest the meaning implicit in the media framework, 
they often lack ready access to alternative meaning systems that 
would enable them to reject the definitions offered by the media in 
favour of consistent alternative definitions. 
Thus reception studies draws our attention to the point that production 
of media messages is not mechanically determined by the structures 
of economic power and ownership and by the political environment. 
Nor is the message received by passive audiences who are easily swayed 
by the message. We are also made aware that reception is an interpretative 
process leading to cognition or the processes whereby people's 
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ideas are shaped by the symbolic forms that the media circulates. Apart 
from drawing our attention to this cognitive aspect, there is also the 
behavioural one which "focuses on reception as a social practice and 
on the ways in which media use constrains, determines, or contributes 
to more general patterns of social behaviour" (Garnham 2000:110). 
Accordingly (and notwithstanding some weaknesses in its application), 
reception research has had something to contribute to the 
practitioner of development communication's understanding of the 
communication process (see for example, Curran 1996; Ferguson and 
Golding 1997; Morley 1992 and 1996). Most importantly, by focusing 
on "the ways in which meanings is made and experienced by viewers", 
it directs attention to interpretation and the variables affecting this 
such as the way people mediate messages and how these interact with 
their public and private lives. (Corner 1999:81). 
Concern with audiences in development communication 
INDEED THE CONCEPT of audiences, as we have discussed it here, has 
actually been more or less explicit (though not thoroughly discussed) 
in communication intended for development. The use of communication 
as a tool for changing attitudes and behaviour leads to attention 
being directed at the receivers of messages and thus, into the field that 
has been central to media researchers generally. In social marketing 
approaches, for example, such target message receivers are defined and 
segmented in measurable social variables and lifestyles. This can facilitate 
the understanding of certain cultural and sociological aspects of 
audiences. Similarly the research that was to lead to the two-step theory 
of the flow of information and to the theory of the diffusion of innovations 
drew attention to the importance of opinion leaders and to 
interpersonal networks of communication (a point that led to attention 
being paid to social groups and subcultures in communication). Such a 
concern begins to link up with notions of the collective and participatory 
mobilization of existing knowledge (or what is known as Indigenous 
Knowledge Systems) and to the ways in which new information is received 
and incorporated into this collective reservoir of knowledge 
through the existing communication networks and systems. 
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In any case, as Windhal et al. have pointed out, strategies of planned 
communication (or information campaigns) have become less rigid, less 
one-way and less sender-oriented. This shift has been influenced by 
the advances made in communication research and the consequent 
enriching of theory and understanding. Concerns with audiences and 
reception can also be linked with shifts in development communication 
and the debates and change that took place at the end of the 1970s. 
This change came with a new awareness of the importance of social and 
cultural contexts and the fact that audiences may not be an inert mass 
of people. It also came to be accepted that audiences did have some 
knowledge to contribute to the development process. In other words, 
apart from the perceived failure of development theories and development 
communication to bring about development there was also a more 
or less implied perception that the approaches to development communication 
had been based on faulty theories about the media and 
communication. 
The new shift was towards concerns with contexts, local cultures, 
information flows, interpersonal communication and the ways in which 
people individually and collectively make do with messages in their 
every day lives. Importantly, then, participatory development approaches 
recognize that people are active in the communication process 
and that, ultimately, they are the subjects and objects of development. 
However it is still not clear to what extent the practice of development 
support communication has taken advantage of research and theory. It 
is hoped that this paper makes a tentative contribution in this direction. 
PART II 
Methodology 
RECEPTION ANALYSIS is a meeting between humanist and social science 
traditions. It favours qualitative methods, including the consideration 
of the structure of the content of the book, radio programme or film and 
the meanings proposed by the author and by the way the text is structured 
and organized. However it focuses on empirical (that is to say, 
actually existing) audiences, not imaginary ones. 
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The requirement is to get at the audience's own formulations and perceptions; 
to describe their own process of reception. However it is also 
recognized that it is not easy to analyze the meanings they make out of 
the reception activities. In other words, for our project, it was important 
to conduct research precisely from the point of view of the film's audience. 
The following methods have been found to be of use and were 
used for data collection in the field in this study: participant observation, 
interviews and focus group discussions. Those targeted for 
individual interviews included key personnel in the production and 
showing of the film. The total number of respondents was about 140. 
Field research was conducted from 4-15 August 1997 with the assistance 
of Dr Rino Zhuwarara. 
Constraints of the assessment process 
IT HAD BEEN PLANNED to hold discussions with audiences after the film 
shows each night. This proved to be difficult due to the specific conditions 
of viewing. The films are screened at night and shows lasted till 
after 9.30 p.m. After this most people were eager to get back home 
(which often entailed a long walk). For security, especially in Lower 
Guruve where there are wild animals, people preferred to walk back to 
their homes in groups. However in all cases the film operators explained 
to audiences the importance of the film and drew their attention to the 
importance of the themes which the film dealt with. 
During the interviews and focus group discussions on the morning 
after, respondents were generally very co-operative and forthcoming. 
We would, however, have preferred a larger sample of male respondents. 
In Matabeleland, where SiNdebele is spoken, the language in the 
film was a negative factor (the film is in Shona). Women in this province 
may have been more adversely affected as they tend to have lower 
levels of education and mobility and are less likely to understand a 
foreign language than men. However those younger people in this province 
who did come forward gave us important insights, not least on the 
language question. 
Nonetheless, in spite of these difficulties, we consider that we were 
able to gather data that were sufficient and rich. Further, the consist- 
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ently similar responses in all the areas and among the different audience 
subgroups indicate the representativeness of the findings. This is 
also strengthened by the observations, comments and daily reports of 
the mobile film unit crews and also by the monthly reports of the provincial 
information officers 
The film, Mwanasikana 
THE FILM WAS produced through joint efforts by Ministry of Education, 
Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) and UNICEF, in 
response to the problem of educating girls in Zimbabwe. It was specifically 
produced with the rural population in mind because: 
• Most Zimbabweans (about 80 percent) live in the rural areas and 
therefore the greatest impact, nationally, would be made by targeting 
this majority. 
• Targeting rural people is consistent with Zimbabwe's developmental 
strategy of focusing on areas' ignored by successive colonial 
governments. 
• Rural communities generally do not get information as quickly as 
urban ones. They have limited access to the mass media. This was to 
be addressed by distributing the film through the Ministry of 
Information, Posts and Telecommunications mobile film units which, 
when operating in full strength, can be in 24 different rural locations 
at the same time. 
• As change is slower in rural than urban areas it is here that the 
problem of educating girls is more visible. 
The film was made after research in the rural areas and wide consultations 
with interested groups and individuals. This research also helped 
to establish for the film-makers the situations, everyday experiences 
and the discourse and language used by the people in the rural areas. It 
also established the right tone for the intended audience in order to 
achieve the right attitude, elicit attention and attain credibility that what 
the audiences were watching (and hearing) did actually happen in their 
communities. 
The film was thus expected to capture reality and represent it as 
accurately as possible, stimulate thinking and debate and promote a 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 57
fuller understanding of issues. It was also recognized that a fiction film 
also moves people emotionally and this further helps in persuading 
people to change their attitudes and behaviour. 
There are some fathers who do not want to part with their money. 
The fathers who drink are the ones who normally don't want 
their children to go to school. The children grow up facing many 
problems with no help in life. 
Rumbidzai, a Grade 7 girl pupil at Karai Primary School. 
Hence the film's realism helps its didactic intentions. The setting is 
recognizable to rural audiences and in it rural audiences also see images 
of their own lives and lifestyles. One difference between the film characters 
and the experiences of most rural people is that the main characters' 
home is within walking distance of a shopping centre and this commercial 
centre influences the father's behaviour and values. He is a regular 
customer there and is persuaded at one time to marry his daughter, 
Tariro, off to a local shopkeeper in return for drinks and other geods. 
The shopping centre, on a regular bus route from the city (which delivers 
mail and other goods); with a bar and other peri-urban leisure 
amenities is a symbol of the existence of a new world - j u s t as the father 
is a symbol of a passing world. However there is also a contradictory 
aspect in this new world in the image of the shopkeeper. What values 
are going to operate in this new world which girls are also aspiring to 
enter? Is the real antagonist of the future woman the shopkeeper, rather 
than the naive father? Does not the shopkeeper also represent a figure 
who, if given a chance, will in the new world of the future exploit women 
in order to satisfy his own lust and material advancement? 
Another important aspect in the film is its cultural sensitivity. This is 
seen in the use of the actual language people employ. It also incorporates 
their aesthetics, values and beliefs (even when questioning these); 
their world-view and perceptions. However, at the same time, the film 
belongs to a tradition in African film-making which interrogates tradition 
in the name of positive change. 
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It has a simple linear plot with events following each other in a chronological 
order. The form is thus a conventional narrative of a domestic 
situation. It has a single or dominant thematic treatment without too 
many sub-themes and sub-texts. It thus positions audiences to focus 
on the problems of education faced by girls in our times of change and 
social transformation. It draws their attention to the usefulness of education 
in empowering girls to achieve more material independence from 
men; and to have more choices of what to become, and thus more hope 
for self-respect and less abuse and humiliation. 
The characters are types, embodying familiar collective images and 
values and representing typical and recognizable attitudes and positions. 
Thus the problem of educating girls is discussed in the context of 
gender roles and beliefs,. The film therefore addresses the socio-cultural 
context that influences the education of girls and their role and 
identity in society. Within the overall context of gender relations and 
the domination of women in these relations, the film offers related subthemes 
by exploring the processes of decision-making at home and the 
unequal division of roles for boys and girls and men and women, leading 
to inequalities in the distribution of privileges and responsibilities 
at home. At the same time the film also indicates the possibilities of 
genuine love and warmth existing in a home. 
/ enjoyed it because it taught that we should never even entertain 
the idea that a daughter should not go to school. We saw 
that when Precious was divorced she could not find a job since 
she was not educated. Education should help every child irrespective 
of gender. 
Elderly Village Development Committee (VIDCO) chairman, Karai 
Village 
Audience reactions observed 
GENERALLY, CHILDREN were in the majority in all the venues visited, followed 
by youth, women and then adult males, in that order. This pattern 
is confirmed by the reports the mobile film operators and provincial 
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information officers. The film was shown as one of about five or six 
other development- or education-oriented films. These were films giving 
different messages but which audiences were able to appreciate as 
providing pleasure while at the same time being informative on issues 
relevant to their education and development. 
The researchers were quick to recognize that the film assumed new 
significance and meaning and their own understanding of it changed 
when they saw it, in its intended context, as part of a rural audience. In 
the moon-washed August nights of rural Zimbabwe, in the grounds of 
a small school miles away from tarred roads and with a rapt audience, 
the film took on new meaning. One came to appreciate more how close 
it was to the intended audience's lives and concerns. In many ways the 
researchers also reinterpreted the film and reassessed its significance. 
As is expected of such audiences, comments and laughter were the 
norm though the manner and nature of commenting varied according to 
audience composition. In Matabeleland however, the fact that 
Mwanasikana is in Shona, drew a more muted response than that accorded 
to the other films. 
A good part of the audiences were seeing the film for the first time. 
Indeed for some, like many of the Grade 7 boys at Karai Primary School, 
this was also the first time they had ever seen a film at all. However a few 
in the audience had seen it at other venues: these tended to provide 
running commentaries and interpretations for those near them who had 
not seen the film before. A good example is the woman viewer at Karai 
Primary who was quite vocal in her contempt of Jumbe, his drinking and 
his "selling his daughter" for drink. 
However it was noticed that in spite of the commentaries and laughter 
- which is itself an indication of audience interest in, and 
understanding of, the film -the audiences became more silent and paid 
more attention where there are serious or tense moments as the story 
unfolds. Indeed we were struck by the rapt attention given by audiences 
to the films as a whole. 
Women (mothers) were the most rapt and did not make as many 
comments as the other segments of the audiences. When they did make 
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comments these were directed at understanding or explaining the film 
to others. Adult men also tended to make few comments. Interestingly, 
some of their comments showed disapproval of the father for not supporting 
the diligent efforts of his daughter, Tariro, at becoming educated. 
They were not comfortable with his character and one sensed a desire 
to distance themselves from him. As it turned out during discussions 
and interviews, the older men thought the father irresponsible. Some 
commented on the appearance of the mother (who obviously has a 
warm and charming personality). When she smiled at her husband, a 
man was heard to remark that "with that kind of smile the man is not 
going to win". 
Young men commented on the beauty of the two daughters, Tariro 
and Precious. For example, when Tariro first appears some said that she 
is "a real mwanasikana". They laughed at what they considered the 
folly of mudhala Jumbe — their father. The attempted rape of Precious 
by the shopkeeper, Mudiwa, raised comments from children and the 
young men but the women were more subdued. Obviously this was a 
painful scene for a woman with some understanding of the world. 
Commentaries are the norm among rural audiences and it is easy to 
tell which parts of a film excite the audience and which do not. Though 
we should be careful about the meaning of exclamations, laughter and 
other responses it was nonetheless easy to tell from observing audiences 
that the film was well received. A few comments were made which 
indicated disagreement with the film's intended message. One or two 
said they did not find it exciting. These negative comments, however, 
were in the minority. One observation borne out by discussions and 
interviews was that the audiences are very hungry for entertainment 
and that the mobile film unit provides for them perhaps the only entertainment 
of its kind. At Tsholotsho the advertisements, which came 
before each film elsewhere, had been put together to make a separate 
film reel. It was interesting to see audiences construing this separate 
reel as entertainment and paying it the same rapt attention as the feature 
films. 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 61
Audiences' understanding 
A FILM OR ANY TEXT is to be understood and interpreted in the audience's 
own terms and context if it is to impart the intended message and 
thus generate knowledge. Most data were gathered at least the morning 
after audiences had seen the film (and in one instance a few days 
after), with the major objective of finding out how well audiences were 
able to recall and retell the story, together with short summaries of what 
they had seen and learnt from the film. This was also a test to see 
whether audiences could recall and retell specific incidents and, indeed, 
the whole film and also provide their own understanding and 
interpretations. In almost all cases they were able to do this. 
Most striking was the way that schoolchildren were able to retell the 
story and in the process to include their own understanding of the main 
themes and messages of the film and also their own opinion of the 
behaviour and attitudes of the various characters. This was also a good 
indication of the audience's comprehension of the implications of the 
film's message and their ability to link this with their own experiences 
and observations. 
People who watched this film said that the story in the film was 
moving. The film is a good motivation for the parents to change their 
attitudes from not educating to educating their daughters. 
Below appears a report of the mobile cinema unit's operators, 
Mashonaland Central Province, May 1997 in which the main new ideas 
which people learnt from the film are summarized. 
Girls of Grade 7 age: 
Schoolchildren need to be self-disciplined. 
The value of working hard: ("I learnt that we should work hard 
so that we can do a variety of jobs and look after our parents 
who did not want to send us to school", and "we- learn that if we 
work hard and persevere in our studies then we will lead a 
better life" and "once you succeed in education you will also 
marry an educated husband". 
It was emphasized that girls should communicate with their 
mothers about their desire to go on with school and to seek help 
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wherever it could be obtained to make this possible. One girl 
said that she had learnt that if the father does not want his 
daughter to go to school but the mother does, the girl should tell 
the mother that she wants to go on with school "so she should 
send you to your relatives and send money to you so that you 
would succeed and get a job ". 
"Some parents are jealous of their children's success ". 
"Parents were taught that money should not be wasted in 
beerhalls and in pleasure". 
Boys of Grade 7 age: 
"/ learnt that it is bad to rape a child". 
All children should go to school "and I should not show that I 
want this child to go to school and not that one ". 
"I learnt that businessmen rape people ". 
One boy also learnt about exploitation: "Yes, because for some 
employers, you work for nothing; getting half of the monthly 
wage you ought although you work for the. whole week ". 
"The film taught us that we should go to school in order to be 
successful." 
Female respondent, Maqe Primary School, Matabeleland North 
Province: 
Even if they (men) have the money they do not want to educate 
girls, because they say she will not listen to her husband. The 
mother is against this, but the father is powerful. Precious decides 
to educate her sister because she knows that, without 
education, there is no job and no marriage as well. So she also 
hopes to be supported by the sister in the future. 
Older men and women: 
It taught us to educate girls and not only boys, since even if our 
daughter marries and goes to live somewhere else she will lead 
a comfortable life compared with a woman who is not educated. 
Woman at Takaruza Village, Lower Guruve: 
It was good thing that you came and taught us such a good 
lesson. I can go and teach children about rape. 
Woman at Domborembizi: 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 63
Yes, I liked the film. What impressed me the most is the fact that 
there are still some people who don't know the importance of 
education. 1 wished there had been more parents here when this 
lesson was taught. 
The film's relevance 
Comments made by the audiences indicated that they thought the film 
was relevant to what is happening in Zimbabwe. Though the idea of 
discriminating against girls was felt to be old-fashioned and unfair, 
many, including both boys and girls, said that the film showed what 
happens in their homes and in real life and what was already a known 
problem. Respondents indicated that there are still some, mainly men, 
who did not like the idea of educating their daughters. For example 
Chief Madziwa at Domborembizi Primary school said emphatically: "This 
film exposes what is happening today. It is happening: so let's try to 
mend this". Also cited as resistant to educating girls are some Apostolic 
religious sects. According to the deputy headmaster at 
Domborembizi Primary School, Makoni district, some of these sect members 
will even prevent their daughters from doing sports at school. He 
added "Our community is full of Apostles who don't want to see children 
going to school, especially when we teach science. They say it's 
not right." 
Agreeing that the film shows what happens in real life, Eusebia, a 
Grade 7 female pupil at Karai Primary School, Lower Guruve, observed 
"Some parents refuse to send their daughters to school so these girls 
run around looking for men in beerhalls". This consequence was also 
echoed by Chief Madziwa at Domborembizi Primary school who added 
that "Even in towns, when a girl is looking for a job she is told; 'a kiss 
first', and she complies because she is in poverty." Many comments 
thus linked what was happening in the film to the social and cultural 
situation in Zimbabwe. This recognition in the film of their fived experiences 
deepens the film's impact. 
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Economic factors 
THE COST OF schooling is a consideration that was bound to come up 
though the film is silent on this. It was inevitable that in spite of this 
many of the audience were well aware of the importance of the relationship 
between educational achievement and economic opportunities and 
were quick to read this into the film. 
/ think the father stops the girls from going to school. He wants 
the boys to go to school because they are the ones who make the 
family rich. That is why a lot of girls do not go to school. 
Rumbidzai, a Grade 7 girl pupil at Karai Primary School 
The depth of insight brought by audiences into this film and the issues 
it raises is reflected in the fact that the question of the inequality in 
access to ideas and learning between rural and urban children was 
raised in all the three provinces. The discussion at Domborembizi Primary 
School, for example, linked behaviour, as shown in the film and as 
it exists in real life, to poverty and the changing times which bring with 
them crises of rising expectations and to inequalities in access to information 
and entertainment between rural and urban areas. Chief Madziwa 
of Makoni, for example, observed that rural life has been continuously 
changing as there is always interaction between rural and city people. 
The latter make the rural people feel their relative poverty and their 
tastes and expectations are influenced by those in the city - because 
they desire the same things and same lifestyle as those in the city. 
Hence "even bride price is different" between town and country. 
In fact, viewing the film was seen as a good in itself, irrespective of 
the film's message. According to the chief, whereas those in the city are 
exposed to and learn from films, rural people are not so advantaged. 
According to him, children in the rural areas are obviously disadvantaged 
since they write the same Grade 7 examination as those in the 
urban areas who have been exposed to films and other learning environments. 
Almost echoing the chief, a male respondent at Takaruza 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 65
village said, "We want our children to watch educative films like this 
one, also about this new disease. And films that teach them about how 
people live and also ones which teach us parents how to bring up 
children". 
Children here are different from city children because city children 
see more films. Yet, they write the same Grade 7 examination. 
It'snotfair. Here in Domborembizifilms started to be shown only 
in 1995 and there has been only one show — only once. Some see 
films daily while many here missed the one shown in 1995. But 
they all write the same Grade 7 examination. Who do you think 
will pass? 
We at Domborembizi are far from schools. Others live in Highfield 
(a Harare city suburb) near good schools. Tariro walked many 
kilometres to school. It's not fair. 
Chief Madziwa at Domborembizi 
Emotive impact 
FILM IS A WORK of art and, through its specific language, it works on the 
emotions as well as on the cognitive side of audiences. Significantly, 
primary school boys reacted strongly towards the father's behaviour. 
One boy at Karai Primary said that if his own father behaved as the 
father in the film does, he would be very angry with him for trying to 
"stop me from going to school". Another boy was emphatic in his 
hatred of drinking: "I hate alcohol", he said. He had hated it since 
childhood and did not like the behaviour of people who are drunk and 
their "talking nonsense". Another emotive issue was the perception 
that, as one boy at Hambe Primary put it, "the father sold his daughter 
for beer.... The father was bad for selling the child for beer". 
The enjoyment of the film is tied to the unfolding of the story: to 
what the characters do and what happens to them. This concept of 
"enjoyment" arises from the viewer's comprehension of and ability to 
judge the characters' actions and their fate. Many, especially both boys 
and girls, were angered by the father not wanting Tariro to go to school 
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and by his drinking: they said they did not like the parts in the film when 
the father was saying this and that they enjoyed it when "Precious was 
able to pay school fees for Tariro" or when, at the end, Tariro was to 
continue with her schooling. On the other hand, a woman said: "I did 
not enjoy the film because of the sensitive issue of preferring to send 
boys rather than girls to school". Another at the same village said: "It 
did not please me because we must be treated equally and if one is not 
educated nowadays life is tough." 
As mentioned earlier, the attempted rape scene aroused deep emotions. 
Both boys and girls said they felt sorry for Precious and hatred 
for Mudiwa. A boy said he was moved when Precious comes back 
home "because I wondered, with all her property and belongings, where 
would she go?" Another indicator of the emotions raised by the film is 
contained in the'remarks of Chief Madziwa about inequalities in access 
to ideas and learning between rural and urban children. 
Clearly the concept of "enjoyment" here is linked to how far the 
theme and content of particular sections of the film - or the whole film 
for that matter- agree with preconceived social and democratic values 
and norms already held by the viewers. These are also linked to such 
practical considerations as the rights of women to employability and a 
materially secure future. This is also linked to the idea that people normally 
expose themselves selectively to media products in order to avoid 
conflicts between their own values and beliefs and those expressed in 
the media product (we see another example of this in the women avoiding 
the musical film because of the type of dancing in it which they 
associate with "sinfulness"). This is what media researchers have described 
as an avoidance of cognitive dissonance. 
The film as entertainment 
THE ENTERTAINMENT value is important, for the effect of certain artistic 
("edutainment" or "infotainment") works lie in the way that, through 
entertaining, they are also emotionally involving and moving. This is 
how they excite audiences and help them engage in the message being 
promoted. As we have said above the film was enjoyed because of its 
educative message. During the viewing of the film those who had seen 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 67
it before would, by their comments, guide others through the story. The 
majority of those who were asked whether they would like to see the 
film for a second time (including those in Matabeleland) responded 
positively. The few who said they would not were mainly young men 
who had been exposed to different genres and types of film and had 
therefore their entertainment needs well catered for. 
However it seems that some of the audience made a distinction between 
"enjoying" the film and regarding it as "entertaining". A 
middle-aged male respondent at Karai Village went further than others 
in making the distinction between "entertainment" and "educational" 
films. According to him Mwanasikana "is not for entertainment but for 
education. The ones that are entertaining are the ones with (music) 
bands". Nonetheless this same man said that he enjoyed Mwanasikana. 
A good illustration of this point may be seen from the reactions to 
the (nondescript) musical film shown alongside Mwanasikana. It made 
the young male (obviously married) adults speak positively of the value 
of musical entertainment (or "pure" entertainment). The older members 
of the audience however disapproved of this film because of the kwasa 
kwasa dancing in it that involves suggestive wriggling of the hips and 
buttocks. It was noticeable too that a good many of the older members 
of the audience left during the musical. Fortunately this was the last film 
to be shown. One woman at Domborembizi, in fact, expressed hostility 
to this film and stated her desire for religious material to help bring up 
children in a moral manner. 
The entertainment value of the film should therefore be understood 
in a context where there is great hunger for entertainment in the rural 
areas; where there is therefore a great demand for films. In the context of 
this hunger, "entertainment" may carry different meanings. For example, 
a middle-aged man at Karai village said, "we enjoy films which are 
educative in their content". This links up with the concept of "enjoyment" 
discussed in the previous section and serves as a reminder that 
adults in the rural areas see educational material, whether from radio or 
film, as "enjoyable" - perhaps the proper word here is "edifying" — and 
of course there may be many factors that a contemporary rural adult 
audience may require of a film for it to be "edifying". 
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Factors affecting the overall impact of the film 
The entertainment value of the film 
Audiences clearly regard Mwanasikana as an edifying film: one that is 
expected to help them understand the issues that conpern their lives. 
They have come to expect Mwanasikana and other films to play this 
role. In fact even the reports from the mobile film unit crews speak in the 
same breath of its "goodness" and educative function. In a similar vein 
a mother at Domborembizi said that they want "films about thieves and 
rapists and how they are punished so that children can see what will 
happen to them if they steal". Another woman expressed the opinion of 
most parents that they would like their children to watch films frequently 
- at least once a month. However she did not like the musical film "I 
didn't like it: I like films that teach children so that they know". 
Social learning from the films characters 
I was disappointed. I felt the mother's anger and frustration as if 
I were her. It's not good because I keep thinking of my own child 
not going to school, while her father is drinking at Mushonga 
bar and is selling her for beer. Impossible.... Jumbe is a greedy 
man who can't look after himself because if a father cannot work 
on a farm he should be a carpenter. It's better to sell cow harnesses 
to get money for beer than to sell your child. 
Woman at Domborembizi 
The comments by the woman at Domborembizi give us a cue on an 
important aspect of how a film works. Following social learning theory, 
audiences are persuaded to change behaviour if they identify with characters. 
The ability of audiences to identify (and to feel) with characters 
is caught in this woman's strong identification with the mother in the 
film. 
Characterization is therefore an important part of the didactic art and 
it was therefore useful to find out how the various segments and subgroups 
of audiences responded to the different characters and how 
they understood the positive and negative values and attributes associated 
with each character. It is important to identify those characters 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 69
who serve as role models for the viewers and those who are derided and 
laughed at because of their perceived anti-social behaviour. For example 
a man at Karai Village explicitly saw in Precious a very desirable role 
model: "Precious didn't succumb to a bad influence and she was very 
hard working. She was very good influence - if only other children had 
followed suit.... I felt pity for her because the man had spoilt her whole 
life". 
Tariro 
Tariro impresses because of her seriousness. Grade 7 girls at Karai 
Primary School identified with her because she likes school, works hard 
and is determined to go on with schooling. She is thus regarded as 
intelligent, diligent and as a positive role model. Grade 7 boys were also 
impressed by her liking for schooling which they identified. One boy at 
Karai Primary School, for example, said: "I was impressed that she went 
to study in the evening, instead of wasting time talking." 
Precious 
Precious impresses both boys and girls because she supports Tariro 
and goes out to get a job so that her sister can continue with school. 
She is also admired for exposing her father's plan to marry off Tariro to 
Mudiwa and in helping to make the father to change his mind at the end. 
In terms of helping to promote the message in the film, the Grade 7 girls 
understand that Precious's problems are related to her not having gone 
on with school beyond Grade 7. Hence she cannot find a suitable j ob 
that will make her independent. Her husband also rejects her because of 
her inadequate education. They hold her parents responsible for this 
"because they did not send her to school like other parents do". 
Women in their twenties at Maqe Primary school saw her as a good 
example of an independent woman. They do not regard her as impolite 
to her father. Instead the father is accused of getting angry with her and 
of ignoring family protocol which requires that he talk to his daughters 
through their mother. It is Precious who makes the father see that he is 
wrong. Significantly a young man at Tamaruru business centre also 
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does not blame Precious for the way she speaks to her father at the end 
"because she had seen her father was wrong from the beginning and 
this contributed to her being raped by Mudiwa." 
The Mother 
Both girls and boys saw the mother as good and responsible because 
she encourages Tariro to continue with school. She cares about her 
family and she also does most of the work of sustaining the home as 
mothers do in real life. As primary school pupils noted: "Mothers cook 
for us when we come back from school. They collect water and even 
wash our uniforms." Female respondents at Takaruza Village, Lower 
Guruve, also commented on this: "The mother works and is submissive 
while the father brags about being the owner of the child." The old 
Karai Village VIDCO chairman said: "She handled the situation well. 
She did not agree with the father. She was very good." Her delicate role 
was thus understood in the context of the domination of women by men: 
"It is true that African customs give the husband absolute authority." 
_ ^ ,_ 
W 1: When a woman is under the (man's) authority she has to 
obey. She can only say, "Father, this not possible". Precious is 
the only one who came and used more forceful language when 
talking to the father. 
Q: In your homes, if you see that your husband is wrong don't 
you get angry? 
W2: You get angry, but don't show it. 
Women at Domborembizi 
Significantly, good number of male respondents were also ready to 
discuss the oppression of women by men. A young man at Tamaruru 
business centre said: "I cannot look down on her. As a woman, she is 
under her husband's authority. But she tried. She couldn't continue 
trying to force things because it would cause problems between herself 
and her husband." One primary school boy was impressed by the way 
the mother talks to her husband when trying to convince him about 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 71
Tariro continuing with school. "If she had shouted she would have 
failed". Chief Madziwa, commenting on the oppression of women, said: 
"The mother may be good but she has no say because she is oppressed. 
There was abuse of women when Precious was almost raped 
openly. The businessman was bad because he may have had AIDS and 
given it to the girl". 
Jumbe 
Jumbe was heavily criticized by most of the film's audiences, including 
(most vocally) the Grade 7 primary school boys for not wanting Tariro 
to continue with school; for what is perceived as his heavy drinking; 
his intention to sell off his daughter for this drink which is taken on 
credit, and his apparent lack of concern for the future. This indicates 
that even boys at this young age are already sensitive to these issues. 
People in all age groups saw him as bad because he does not want 
Tariro to continue with school and in his attempt to foist her on Mudiwa 
as payment for his drink. This last aspect aroused a lot of negative 
comment. It is understood as selfish. "He is concerned only about 
himself he does not care about the child." One girl was critical of the 
father for wanting to marry her offto an old man instead of letting her go 
on with school. Thus neither boys nor girls identify with him. Significantly, 
the boys also support the education of the girl. 
Boy 1: He was enjoying himself, drinking a scud, while the children 
did not have money for school. 
Q: Is the father daft or what? 
Boy 2: The father's disease is not lack of money but love of alcohol. 
Grade 7 boys at Karai Primary School. 
He remains a figure of ridicule to women. He was ridiculed for (as the 
Maqe village interviewees put it) "giving his child to the storekeeper so 
that groceries become the bride price" and for being so greedy, a hopeless 
beer drinker. He is "a bad man because he does not want to educate 
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the girl and because he has misconceived ideas that the girl would 
become a prostitute". From comments made by women during viewing 
and discussions, many seemed to accept that he represents a dominant 
type of male behaviour. Jumbe represents a well-known type that is 
feared and hated by women and children for robbing them of opportunities 
to improve their lives. 
Male viewers generally distance themselves from Jumbe and do not 
accept that he represents typical male behaviour. He is regarded by men 
as well as by women as acting irresponsibly. Most men pointed out that 
drink in itself is not bad. It is the individual who drinks irresponsibly 
who is to blame. It was claimed by the men that most of them had come 
to recognize the value of educating both male and female children. 
Those who held this view varied in age, education and geographical 
location, from the VIDCO chairman at Karai Village, Lower Guruve, to a 
21-year-old teacher trainee, Bongani Mabhena, interviewed at Magama 
Primary School in Matabeleland. However, he was quick to point out 
that some parents do not support their children through secondary 
school. "After primary school some parents say, 'I have done enough. 
Now you can look after yourself.' The children will then wait till they are 
old enough to go and look for a job and hence the same cycle is reproduced 
where those who are working, but do not have enough education, 
serve as role models for young people". 
Mudiwa 
Instead of identifying with him, boys did not like Mudiwa because of 
the way he treated Precious, in particular, for his attempt to rape her. In 
fact, some boys said they hated him for the attempted rape. One boy at 
Karai Primary School said, "I saw the businessman as a thief who wanted 
to rape an employee". It is significant that the girls regard Mudiwa as 
old - the fact that he is a shopkeeper and apparently one of the betteroff 
people in the neighbourhood does not seem to impress them. His 
ostensible riches notwithstanding, they would reject him because of 
his age. Further, the girls suggest that they would resist their fathers if 
they imposed a marriage on them to a man not of their choice. 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 73
Teacher : So Mudiwa was an old man? 
Children: Yes! 
Teacher : Isn 't it said that old men are responsible? Tariro 's 
father drank a lot of beer from Mudiwa, so he knew Tariro would 
be looked after just as well. So if you were Tariro would you not 
want an old man, who owns a store and a lot of money? You 
would just get into the store and get lotion, bread, and biscuits 
whenever you wanted? 
Child 1:1 would not want to marry him because Mudiwa would 
be older than me and I would just be a child, so it's impossible. 
What I would want to do is embarrass my father for what he had 
done. 
Teacher: So you would be getting married to someone who is 
younger than you? 
Child I: I want someone of the same age as me. 
Child 2:1 say I would want to look for my own husband. 
Teacher: You don't want anyone to look for a husband for you, 
Tsitsi? 
Child 3:1 would not want anyone to look for a husband for me. 
I want to finish school and then work to earn a lot more money 
than the man with his store does. 
Grade 7 female pupils, Karai Primary School. 
Perhaps the final verdict is the one voiced by a woman at Domborembizi: 
"He is a murderer because he is one of those men you leave with children 
and they rape them. The father and the businessman worked 
together." 
Socio-economic factors affecting the film's impact 
The question of educating girls is placed within wider considerations 
of future security in material terms. In other words, the child's education, 
like a life insurance, is expected to give material support to the 
parents in their old age, This is clearly linked to material insecurity (if 
not poverty). It is in this context that the "traditional" aspect becomes 
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significant in considerations over who to prefer in education - the boy 
or girl. However we found that this is not a problem that is solely decided 
according to gender and sex. 
Among the Grade 7 girls there was agreement that fathers are generally 
the ones who resist the education of girls because of narrow and 
selfish materialist motives. Generally the Grade 7 girls did not support 
the view that it is only boys who support their parent and bring wealth 
to the home. They expressed their own ambition to go on to secondary 
school, get jobs and support themselves, their children and their parents 
by buying things for them and building them homes "so that they 
can live well". Grade 7 boys made more or less the same observations. 
They identified with the positive attributes in the female characters and 
did not seem to see any differences between boys and girls when it 
came to their supporting their parents in the future. One boy, for example 
said he did not like the father "because he refused to allow the 
daughter to go to school yet if she did she would later get a good job 
and support them in old age". Another boy provided an interesting 
response. Looking ahead to the girl as a future wife and companion he 
said "Women should be educated so as to make good wives". 
However interviews and discussions with older people showed that 
reactions to this issue do not automatically follow predictable indicators 
such as age, gender, social and geographical locale. Our general 
conclusions is that if parents have money they will send both boys and 
girls equally to school. The real test is when parents do not have enough 
money to send all their children to school and have to choose between 
boys and girls. Debate over what should guide one's choice centred 
mainly on who would be the most likely to take care of the parent in old 
age - the boy or the girl? The support for educating the girl was not as 
straightforward as may have been expected from people who had seen 
the film and had said very positive things about the need to send the 
girl to school. In summary, there were four major responses: 
• Many said they would choose the boy 
• A few said they would choose the girl 
• About equal numbers said they would send the brightest and most 
able to school 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 75
• The smallest number said that they would try and find ways of 
making money so that all children could go to school regardless of 
sex 
These responses could be placed in three categories based on the 
apparent material consideration underlying the response: 
• Concern over the parents' future (with the educated child viewed as 
a kind of insurance) 
• Concern over both the parents' and their children's future 
• Those (admittedly only a few) who were mainly thinking and worrying 
about the future of their children; whether the children would be 
able to fend for themselves and could stand on their own feet 
These responses were not dependent on age, sex or education. A good 
number of women, for example, said that they would give boys 
preference. During the discussion at Hambe Primary school a mature 
female teacher supported giving the boy preference while a younger 
female teacher felt that she would rather support the girl. On the other 
hand, the (older) village VIDCO chairman at Karai said that he would 
give preference to the child who showed the higher aptitude and most 
promise to succeed in school. Equally both the male and female 
respondents at Takaruza Village indicated that they would find it difficult 
to have to make a choice as all children deserve to be educated. 
Our impression was that there is a slowly growing recognition of the 
changing role of girls and women and more parents are beginning to 
think of their children's education not only in terms of their own security 
but also in terms of the security of their children in their own right, 
regardless of gender. The concern about the educational inequalities 
between rural and city children also belongs here. However it was disappointing 
that few discussed fully the fact that Precious actually 
supports her father and the family, even when she is married, by sending 
the father money and parcels. Indeed when he receives something 
from her he remembers to remark that she is the "man" of the house. The 
significance of this role a daughter is shown playing in the film should 
have been recognized by audiences who were otherwise very perceptive. 
We suspect that they do not note this significance because they 
were still engrossed in overcoming the dominant concept in their minds 
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that the boy is the provider. As a result they did not see that the film had 
an important message to impart here. 
Recognition and identification 
Another factor that plays a part in the film's affect on audiences is what 
we refer to as the recognition and identification process, related to the 
social learning theory we have referred to above. The recognizable 
setting, characterization and depiction of familiar, everyday life and 
characters and the rhythms of life makes the audiences recognize themselves 
and their lives in the film. This recognition was observed in 
members of the audience during the viewing, when many made remarks 
on such mundane aspects as the appearance of the family's homestead 
and activities such as Tariro releasing the chickens from their coop 
before going to fetch water and then walking to school, whi le her mother 
sweeps the yard. 
This recognition, plus their familiarity with events and experiences 
depicted in a story, elicits from audiences a greater degree of attention 
and emotional response. Through the film they are able to scrutinize 
their own lives and hopefully to review critically their beliefs and attitudes. 
Audiences also felt confident about discussing the film's 
contents. However the important question is whether they agreed with 
the intended meanings and whether thjs would lead to behaviour change. 
Conclusions 
THIS STUDY YIELDED some interesting insights on how rural audiences 
view and engage with films. Obviously more such studies are required 
in order to elaborate or modify these insights. One aspect of the film 
which remains inconclusive and, indeed, problematic is that concerning 
attitude and behaviour change. The film was made with the purpose 
of persuading and influencing rural people (especially males) to change 
their presumed attitude towards the education of girls. The film therefore 
belongs in the development communication category. Our argument, 
however, is that the discussion of audience responses above have 
underlined the problems (if not pitfalls) of interpreting the data available 
as proving (or not proving) that the film did lead to some change. 
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Looking back at the theoretical section in this paper, we want to suggest 
that the main reason behind this is that, in spite of the structure of 
the film and audiences' immediate response to it, there is still a need to 
pay attention to the social and cultural context in which the target 
receivers live and which has an effect on whatever influence such a film 
(or any other development material) may have. 
Q: Do people change after seeing the film? 
W. Some change because they understand but others think it's 
just a film. 
Young woman at Domborembizi. 
It is common knowledge that behavioural change is problematic. Since 
it is a long-term process and not an event it is doubtful that the mere 
viewing of a single film would bring about fundamental changes in 
people. In any case, as Chief Madziwa said, "awareness alone changes 
nothing". With this in mind, the first concern then is over the form and 
structure of the film and how it addresses the intended audience. We 
know that the making of the film followed procedures which are common 
and predictable in development communication: for example, 
interviews with key informants, understanding and incorporation of 
social and cultural factors and so on. The film as an end product, we 
have argued, is recognizable by the target audience in terms of setting, 
events, experiences, and characters. It appeals for justice, love and 
morality on the treatment of daughters. 
In many ways, therefore, the film should positively influence parents 
to support the education of girls. However, in spite of the positive 
responses generated by the film, its overall impact is, to our mind, undermined 
by two structural weaknesses. The film conforms to a tradition 
of didactic development "infortainment" artistic works. These tend to 
overemphasize their "lessons" at the risk of depth of character and a 
rounded discussion of the issues. The nature of characterization, for 
example, may not have helped the film to achieve its goals. As we have 
indicated, males wished to distance themselves from Jumbe because he 
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is too crude and one dimensional. It is doubtful if the film made them 
search deeply into themselves before reacting as they did. It could, for 
example, be reasonably argued that the simple one- or two-dimensional 
characterization (in which some are delineated as saintly and others 
devilish) leads people to identify emotively with the more positive characters 
(or to be seen to do so publicly) since the film makes identifying 
with the devilish characters appear to be anti-social and unacceptable. 
But this identification is not grounded on a solid foundation of understanding 
and conversion which would lead to sustainable change. 
Hence, though our data seemed to show a massive consensus on the 
virtues of education and hard work and the evils of drunkenness, rape, 
and so on, there is reason to believe that there is a gap between what we 
were told and what is done on a day to day basis. 
Apart from this the structure and organization of the film fail to address 
the more deeply-felt dilemmas people experience when making 
decisions over the change that is required (for example, in this case, 
whether to send boys, girls or both to school - and the monetary resources 
available). What values and principles shall inform the making 
of such decisions? What conflicts does a father go through when making 
decisions between "tradition" and the demands of the new times?). 
The significance of this point may be grasped when we consider that 
Jumbe, the father in the film, changes rather abruptly from a devil to 
saint. Further apparent affluence surfaces to allow the family to send 
their three children to school in sparkling new uniforms and full satchels 
- this in spite of our knowing that Jumbe has a heavy debt at 
Mudiwa's shop, thanks to his drinking. In other words, notwithstanding 
the assumed weaknesses of rural audiences, some subtlety and 
depth can be, in the long run, effective ways of persuasion and change. 
Some of the points raised above more or less explicitly challenge the 
development communicator to rethink their attitude towards a rural audience: 
does the communicator assume that they are the obstacle to 
development? Are they active or passive, objects or subjects in change? 
Are they to be patronized or not? Can they indeed understand the 
complexities of life and existence? Apart from such questions which are 
embodied in the structure of a message, there is the more problematic 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 79
question of how to enhance the participatory aspect especially when a 
"big" medium such as film is used. 
The second concern is with the resources in the making and distribution 
of this and other films. Clearly in order for the film to be influential, 
there was a need for more follow-up films and other forms of representation, 
sending more or less the same messages and reinforcing each 
other. The fact that there is only one such film argues against long-term 
influences. This is more so when the mobile cinema units through which 
it is flighted take anything up to eight years (as had happened at one 
place) before they can revisit an area. Thus though people expressed 
positive responses to the film, there are clearly questions as to how far 
a single viewing of a film such as this is able to change people's behaviour 
in the long term. Indeed many viewers felt that the story told by the 
film is unfinished and asked for a sequel. 
The third concern has to do with the social and cultural values which 
the target audience hold and which influence their responses to the 
film. Linked to the point about identification with characters made above, 
a related question is the depth of their cognition from this single viewing. 
Could it not be that they simply agree with the theme and narrative 
of the film in the first flush of the moment? What happens when, in time, 
the film's influence fades away as other realities become even more 
overriding? Such realities are firstly, the simple economic calculations 
and decisions which they have to make related to whether to send any 
or all of their children to school or only their sons. This material situation 
is very important in whatever decisions are being made. It is worth 
pointing out again that, in fact, material considerations and lack of 
enough money to send all children to school work together with and 
reinforce "tradition" because boys come to be favoured in such situations. 
In any case the attitudes and forms of behaviour held by the audience 
before the viewing of the film would continue to exert influence. 
Needless to say, such attitudes derive from the wider social and cultural 
context. Audiences were in fact astute enough to recognize that lack of 
money was not the whole story. The example of Jumbe, the father, helped 
to underline the fact that there are social-cultural prejudices against 
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educating girls which some blamed on ignorance and a failure to change 
with the times. It has been recognized that there are still fathers who 
force their daughters to marry the man of their (the father's) choice. As 
one teacher at Hambe primary school said "it is cultural. Some fathers 
still Aoyekuzvarira iya iya" (the custom of pledging a young girl to a 
man). It was awareness of this aspect that led Chief Madziwa to suggest 
a drastic way of bringing about behavioural change - that of using 
legal force. He recommended that "the government should impose laws 
on chiefs that all children, both boys and girls, should go to school." 
However, though it was not clear how extensive and among which 
specific groups change has come to be recognized as inevitable, there 
is obviously a strong undercurrent of awareness that times have changed 
and parents also have to change. There is therefore an environment in 
which new values could be nurtured in order to push out those of the 
old ones which may not be consistent with the changing times. The film 
Mwanasikana aims to reinforce the new values and ridicule the old 
ones and development workers should planning to reinforce such messages, 
precisely in order precisely to achieve this goal. 
A fourth concern is how far such a once-off study as this one is able 
to really elicit the underlying forces shaping people's attitudes and 
behaviour and thus yield conclusive results. One disconcerting aspect 
of this study is that unlike those studies which have been done elsewhere, 
it seems that people in rural Zimbabwe almost always agree with 
the message that is intended by the maker of the film without much 
dissent. This is obviously an aspect that requires further research. 
Regardless of these concerns, we recognize that the film serves an 
important function by providing entertainment and aesthetic satisfaction, 
especially for those who have little else in the way of entertainment. 
In the same way that audiences enjoy watching local fiction (entertainment) 
programmes on television, people enjoy watching Mwanasikana 
and other local films as a way of seeing themselves (especially when 
they are not always exposed to films and other forms of entertainment. 
We re-emphasize that audiences are hungry for films and are positively 
oriented to, and enjoy, the films shown by the mobile film units. 
VOL 16 NO 1 JANUARY 2001 JOURNAL OF SOCIAL DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA 81
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