The Gods Must Be Crazy

Holly Reese
2-16-13
The Gods Must Be Crazy

         Before I watch a movie, I always check its IMDB online entry to learn about it and get context about the filmmakers and actors. The tagline for this film is “A Sly Comedy from Africa” which made me skeptical. I had high expectations when I began watching this film. It began at a very slow pace with almost the first 45 minutes of the film being just setting and character development of the bushmen in Africa. It took until the scene with the scientist visiting the school teacher for me to finally get into the comedy of the film and become interested. Once the premise of the film was established and I was able to appreciate the sly comedy involved throughout this film.
                         
               I am always wary of watching films that revolve around issues of race and racial stereotypes. When the bushmen of this film were introduced I couldn’t decide if it was inappropriate or not. I knew this film was made in Africa and I am unfamiliar with indigenous cultures so I did not know if this portrayal was satirical or in any way accurate. The language of these people seemed to be exaggerated and stereotypical but I was not totally unbelievable. didn’t find them to be funny but their situation and interactions were funny. Our main character was comical because he was an innocent player in each situation. His humor came from his lack of knowledge of civilized culture. He wasn't funny because he was stupid, he was funny because he was in an unfamilar situation.

                 Beside the obvious humor of the bushmen and the revolutionaries, I liked the subplot involving the school teacher and the scientist. It was the typical situation with a clumsy, foolish man and a beautiful woman, but it was funny nontheless. My favorite scene was when he was trying to deliver flowers to her and the children were laughing hysterically at his failures. Again, he was an intelligent man but his unfamiliar situation made him funny.

                 I would agree with this movies tagline in saying that it is a sly comedy. The narrator and documentary style added another level of humor and rhetoric. Once the viewer understood the kind of humor that was being presented, it ultimately became effective.