Ryan McNeil
Guys have a hard time getting their minds out of the locker room. No matter how much time passes, or how old we get, there always seems to be some part of us that measures “manliness” in terms of sexual prowess. It’s almost as if there was a rule that declared that would always be the bar…or a law.
OKAFOR’S LAW is the story of “Terminator” (Blossom Chukwujekwu). After bedding an old flame right before her wedding, he explains to a pair of his friends the concept of “Okafor’s Law” (Google it). When his mates challenge the concept, he proposes a bet to see if it applies and if he can satisfy the needs of women from his past. His friends take him up on it and point him towards three specific women. For “Terminator” to prove the law, he must bed a workaholic business woman, a super-Christian banker, and the trophy wife of a wildly successful businessman.
OKAFOR’S LAW is Omoni Oboli’s great feminist twist on a very bro-ish concept. It challenges the notion of sexual prowess, and what that even proves after a certain age. What’s beautiful about it is the slow and sly way that it brings us around to a new way of thinking. When the bet is made in the afterglow of Terminator’s tryst, there is an air of machismo to the movie – a boastfulness. As we watch the bet play out though, we begin to understand how much more there is to being a man.
There is a reciprocity required, an attentiveness. There is maturity and understanding. This is a lesson the film wants to impart not only on the single-and-seeking but also on the mated-and-settled. Being a man is not about providing, not about satisfying, but instead about being able to be attentive and be what a woman needs or wants you to be at any given moment. The fluidity of it is new, something that goes against Terminator’s posturing, and it’s a lesson men are learning oh-so-slowly.
OKAFOR’S LAW knows just how to teach this lesson. It wraps it in sexual humour and macho posturing. It wants to stand back and let us chase our own tail for an hour or so before we finally get tired and frustrated. Then, and only then, does it sit us down and say “Listen – this is what you are going to do…”.
The great romantic comedies are the ones that make men and women think about the way they relate to one-another. They question motivation behind the chase, and just what satisfaction should be. They examine the interplay of love and sex and help to illuminate the importance of both in a modern relationship.
By that measure, OKAFOR’S LAW is a great romantic comedy.