The Gods Must Be Crazy

The Gods Must be Crazy is an interesting movie. It had plenty of laughs due do situational and slapstick humor. I did think that it accurately portray the amount of culture shock that would be experienced by a bushman travelling into modern society. Although I don think that there were any isolated tribes, like the one describe, in Africa in 1980 due to the colonization of that continent by European powers and the slave trade that was prevalent in Africa throughout most of its history.

I think that this movie did kind of show Modern society and technology for how it really is. In the beginning of the movie there was a comparison made between busman society and modern society. It showed that people in modern society work around times and are less happy because there are not only good things in the world, that cause happiness and joy, but also bad things that cause jealousy and violence. As a comparison the bush people are “primitive” because they don’t have technology, but seem to be doing well enough in a one of the harshest environments on the earth. The bush people see everything as good and put on earth for a good purpose until they find a modern coke bottle and it causes nothing but pain for the family.

Another thing this movie made me think about is all the trivial reasons one could be arrested. The Bushman gets arrested because he was prepared to do what he needed to survive, which included killing and eating a goat from a heard. No one seemed to understand that his people had no concept of ownership. He was tried and sent to jail for 12 weeks.  This makes me think of the current justice system and how it really does curtail our freedom as people. As an example, if I were to playfully punch one of my friends and a police officer saw me, he/she could technically arrest me for assault. A person can hardly do anything nowadays without it being some kind of crime. It really makes you (or at least me) think.

I thought that this movie accurately portrayed the current state of Africa, and the state it has been in since its decolonization in the 1950s. In most countries there is some kind of war or revolution going on because someone is power hungry or thinks they can run the country. Sam Boga tries to do this in the movie. The Gods Must be Crazy also shows the radical differences in the state of living through out Africa for example what must be Johannesburg, South Africa is fairly wealthy as compared to most of Botswana which is overwhelmingly poor in comparison.

I thought the slapstick humor was pretty funny especially the river scene where Mr. Steyn tried everything in his power to escort Ms. Thompson to the edge of the river but ends up falling into it and causing her to fall into it. And the awkwardness between the too was funny as well.

Overall this movie was well worth the watch. It was funny but it also made you contemplate some serious things about our society and the state of the world.