CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION

1. Background to the Study

Films, generally, serve as a tool for national integration and development. Major types of film are home video, which develop, until now, from what is formerly known as cinema or stage play/drama. As part of mass media, home videos play the important roles of informing, educating, entertaining and transmitting social heritage. Through their educational role, however, home videos concern themselves with evolving a better society by exposing societal ill and wrongs.

Since the emergence of home videos, at the turn of the twenty-first century the films industries, and both male and female actors in Nigeria, Nollywood, have considerably influenced the habits, belief systems, style of dressing and other behavioural idiosyncrasies on many Nigerian youths. Thus, one can say, however, that the emergence of home videos have helped to promote the Nigerian cultural heritage; aside this, it has awaken in many youths the Nigerian culture that was once lost during the colonial period. There are also negative effects of home videos on audiences. However, there have been cases where home videos are criticized to the cause for some societal ills. Social critics, who believes in this school of thought says that some antisocial behaviours like violence and extravagant life that many films portrays in their content perceptibly affect the behavior of the audience.

Nonetheless, all these sum up to mean that home videos have both positive and negative influences on youth morality, that is home videos positively or negatively affect the generally accepted moral standards from youths. Morality in behavior or virtuousness is the standards of conduct that are generally accepted as right or proper.

The problem then is: how does home video influence morality? This is what the study seeks to provide answer for in this study