black titanic 89had to adapt the plot of Titanic considerably to its new social context
of reception.
Aboard the Nigerian Titanic, Binta travels along with her parents. Un-
like Rose, she is accompanied by both her mother and father. In a social
context in which a bride has to be represented by a male relative, ideally
her father, at her wedding, this makes perfect sense. W hile Rose’s mother
forces her daug hter i nto t he ma r r iage to ma i nta i n t he fa m i ly ’s enda ngered
elite status, Binta’s parents are driven by concern for their daughter’s well-
being. In one sequence, Binta’s father tries to persuade her by outlining
the history of his own marriage, likewise arranged by elders. The sagacity
of their choice of partner, he suggests, is borne out by the fact that he and
Binta’s mother lead a harmonious marital life. The Nigerian video is far
from being a blatant critique of arranged marriages, and Binta’s parents, in
contrast to Rose’s mother, are portrayed in a favorable light. The authority
of elders remains untouched and unquestioned. For her part, Binta exhib-
its no signs of subverting Hausa norms of social conduct, either, showing
the utmost respect for her parents. W hen her father talks to her, she casts
down her eyes, listens silently, and does not answer back. Rose is quite
the opposite. Cameron presents her as a prefeminist who rebels against
social norms, ahead of her time, and argues with her elders—both with
her mother and men the same age as her deceased father. Thanks to this
characterization, a contemporary Western audience can identify with the
leading lady of a period movie. Binta is granted nothing of that, and this
is done precisely to allow conservative factions among Hausa audiences
to sympathize with her. Hence, in Masoyiyata, Zayyad/Cal represents
the only evil character, and Binta’s parents take some of the blame for not
realizing just how mean he is.
Zay yad is portrayed as a stereotypical ’dan mai ku’di, a “rich man’s son.”
His frequent code-switching between Hausa and English, his dress, and
his Rasta hairdo mark him as someone who has been raised and schooled
abroad, which is a common practice among Nigeria’s elite class. Unlike
Cal, Zay yad owns the Titanic. He inherited the ship from his deceased
father who had it built. He is joined by his father’s widow, a figure endowed
with some of the characteristics of Titanic’s jovial rich man’s widow, Molly
Brown. A Nigerian “rich kid,” which is actually no less of a stock charac-
ter, replaces Cameron’s Cal, the stereotypical personification of a prewar