The Gods Must Be Crazy Analysis

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The Gods Must Be Crazy
‘’The Gods Must Be Crazy’’ is a South African comedy film directed and written by Jamie Uys. The movie is starred by a bushman Xi, a biologist Andrew Steyen, and a village teacher Kate Thompson. The movie was shot in the Kalahari Desert among the San tribe in 1980 (McCall 253). The film focuses on a remote village which goes out of control when a glass Coca-Cola bottle drops from a plane. The bottle brings strife to the tribe, conflict, inciting coveting, and jealousy to the once peaceful village. As a result, Xi the village leader decides to remove the ‘’evil thing’’ and return it to the gods to free his society from the troubles caused by the bottle. Xi interacts with different people on his way which leads to civilization to the barbarian tribe. The movie shows the difference between the traditions of the Western people and that of the San tribe living in the Kalahari Desert at the time as will be discussed in this work.
The film shows that Kalahari people adapt to their environment which is in contrary to the White persons who change the environment to suit themselves. The tribe knows what to do to get water and food. They collect dew overnight on a leaf placed on the ground and drink it the next morning. The same people obtain food by digging them on out of the ground. Also, the people are nomads, and they live in small houses which are easy to construct and destruct while moving around in search of pastures. The actions of the people indicate that they interact with their environment and adjust to it to survive (Sankanu 268). Western society contrarily creates their environment which suits their needs instead of adjusting to the environment. They may destroy the environment in the process of change or conserve it for the better of every person. The destruction of the environment is seen in the movie on how they pollute the environment by disposing harmful items and driving straight into banana plantation destroying everything on the way. However, Steyen is seen to be studying wildlife which is a way of understanding the environment to improve life. The actions of the people show how people have different cultural beliefs about their environment.
The uncivilized tribe has the culture of sharing where everything around them could be used together including shelter, food, and water. This attitude changes to private ownership the moment the bottle is dropped on their land. The change in attitude shows how culture changes with time because of the difference in the environment. The arrival of the Coke bottle altered how people respond to different objects or events. The same is seen in Xi’s perception of Thompson’s beauty. Despite the perception of other men about Thompson’s beauty such as Steyen who sees her gorgeous considering her blond hair, good figure, and blue eyes, Xi sees her as ugly because of her age. The Bushmen never share the life expectancy as the White people that makes Xi see Thompson as ugly despite her beautiful features. The difference in attitudes shows how the two cultures are different which determines their views about what surrounds them.
The difference in clothing further show...