Bills

The Bills were a youth subculture that thrived in Léopoldville (now known as Kinshasa) in the late 1950s, basing much of their image and outlook on the cowboys of American Western movies.

Related Topics:
Subculture - Kinshasa - 1950s - Cowboy - American - Western movies

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From 1957 to 1959, half a dozen movie theatres opened in the "African" neighbourhoods in Léopoldville (the city was segregated into African and European areas). The majority of Léopoldville's population was under 20, and most of these youths were educated to only Primary level, since the colonial government reserved most of the Secondary school places for Europeans. Poor education resulted in large scale unemployment, and, with little else to do, the youths began to make the theatres their meeting points. They were particularly drawn to Western movies, and began to incorporate many of the motifs into their lives. The portrayal of Buffalo Bill in the movies was especially appealing partly because of the similarity to hunter heroes of Congolese culture. The character of Buffalo Bill had already appeared in over 20 films by that time, but the most influential movie is thought to be 'Pony Express', where Charlton Heston played Bill.

Related Topics:
Buffalo Bill - Congolese culture

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Dress, lifestyle, appropriation of cowboy motifs, anti-colonial aspects, Billism, myths

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