The Gods Must Be Crazy

 

Marianne Lore Simtoco Hatague 2008-55299

Homework 1 Geog 1 - X4

 A Movie Reflection: The Gods Must Be Crazy

This movie clearly showed how different people adopt to stimuli. Xi, from an African tribe, displayed this by going through a long journey just to throw away the Coca-cola bottle, which they thought of as an “evil thing” . The whole tribe had seen how the “evil thing” had promoted anger, envy, hatred, and thus leading to, violence.  At first, Xi thought of the Western people as weird and strange considering considering that it was the first time that he was exposed to people who are of different races. This reaction would be natural for any person/tribe from other people, things, or places (society, technology, or nature) to be freshly exposed to anything that is not familiar to him/them. Xi may not have had the technological advantage (i.e. guns) but he still had his immense knowledge on hunting which helped Andrew, a microbiologist, and M’pudi save Kate, a newly-hired teacher, from the armed guerrillas that kidnapped them. In the end, Xi threw the “evil thing” into what they (he and his tribe) thought of as the  “end of the His view the earth to an ancient view, which isbelow flat, believing thatearth”. the edge of theofworld is onmay top be of arelated cliff with a very deep landscape covered by clouds. He went back to his home in Kalahari Desert and was happily welcomed by his son and the rest of the tribe. In addition, the movie also showed how different the concept of happiness is for people who grew up in different environments. For people living in Kalahari Desert, happiness is simple achieved with everything that is naturally provided. No one had unfulfilled wants because they did not know anything that they could want other than what is at hand in their environment. On the other hand, people from the USA may find happiness with discovering new things with the new technology that they had grown themselves dependent into. Xi’s tribe may not have had the concept of feudalism or ownership. This was also illustrated when he was imprisoned for shooting a goat in a farm. Although he might have been taught how to drive by M’pudi and look at a telescope, Xi did not want any of the technology. He even threw the cash that Andrew gave him. Moreover, it showed how people in different cultures and settings had embraced, resisted, and exploited the effects of the growing globalization at that time. Those people in the movie who had clearly shown embracing were Andrew, Jack, Kate, and M’pudi. For Andrew, he had shown the embracing of the new technology as he exposed himself into the use of  telescopes, the knowledge of microbiological science, etc. For Jack, he had revealed this with his indulgence of liquor, car, etc. Fore Kate, she had portrayed this by her immersion and teaching in a different society. It can be a way of showing her interest of educating those people towards a life of different environment filled with new technology. For M’pudi, he may have shown a bit of embracing as he had already been living with it for years after having been exposed with bushmen for a long time.

 

On the other hand, those people who had clearly shown resistance to the effects of new technology are the people in Kalahari Desert. Xi had represented his tribe by showing how they do not want to be affected by unfamiliar things or environments by leaving Andrew leaving Andrew and M’pudi. M’pudi. He could have gone and lived with them. He could have went back to his tribe and brought them with him to the new village that he had been to. He could have brought the money and introduced the concept of ownership to the whole tribe. But he chose not to. Meanwhile, those who showed exploitation in the film were the guerrillas. They had used new technology (i.e. guns) to massacre a presidents and his cabinet, steal goods from an innocent community they happened to pass by, invade the school where Kate was assigned to teach and kidnap the pupils. This is clearly an improper use of the technology that they had been exposed to and an inappropriate way to interact with the society in all the different environments that they had been to. The movie had proved the interconnectedness of the people from different places despite the diversity. Though this film was old, it enlightened people, with great comedy, how people were before the period of rapid social change had occurred. Moreover, it showed how society may be affected by the changing environment and technology and vice versa.

Information Source: "The Gods Must Be Crazy." Wikipedia . Wikimedia Foundation, 26 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Apr. 2012. .