The Gods Must Be Crazy is a 1980’s comedy that has a very intriguing,
and surprisingly insightful, message about the dependency on technology that
man has created for himself in an attempt to make life simpler. This movie
begins when an airplane pilot tosses an empty glass coke bottle out of his cockpit
window where it falls unbroken into the middle of the Kalahari Desert. The
bottle is then found by Xi, an adult male bushman of one of the most isolated
tribes on the planet, the Sho. Xi takes the strange object back to his
family-tribe, who all believe it is a gift from the gods. As they find more and
more uses for the coke bottle, they all become extremely dependent on this
“tool” that makes many of the tasks they do simpler. Problems soon arise for
this bushman family as they begin to fight over the bottle and feelings of
jealousy and violence start to take root. These are emotions that the Sho tribe
people have never felt before because of the simplicity of their lives; they
don’t even have a word in their language for “property”. Xi decides that the
only way to keep the “evil thing” that the gods have given them from ruining
their lives is to take it to the edge of the earth and throw it off. The
majority of the movie follows Xi’s journey to the place he believes is the end
of the earth with plenty of humor along the way. There is a huge amount of
insight into mankind’s refusal to adapt to his surroundings, but instead adapt
his surroundings to suit his purposes, and the complications we have created as
a result. In oversight, this film begs the question: Is it better for man to
live with modern-world technology that can potentially improve our lives and
allow us to make the most of the time we are given, or are our lives worse
because of our dependence on this technology that dictates our every waking
moment and diminishes our humanity? Pretty deep for a comedy, right?
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This link is for the entire movie on youtube.
You don’t have to watch it, but 5:24 is where the narrator gives a very
interesting assessment of the “civilized world” we live in. I think it’s worth
the watch.
Payton,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing! I do not have the resources to watch the video right now, but I do believe I will get around to it! It really maeks me think about how we truly are living our lives. I am brought to the fact that most people now days do not know how to function without stores to provide for them. Technology has taken away our ability to care and provide for ourselves. I would love to go back to the days when everyone had a garden in the backyard and you went to your friends house to talk to them rather than texting. On the other hand, I do see advantages to technology. For example if we are trapped on the side of the road we can contact someone for help, if we see a wreck, have a family member get critical injured or any other urgent occurence we are able to contact someone quickly and easily. So basically.. There are two sides to every story. :)
Definitely sounds like a good movie, but not just because of its insight. I mean, who doesn't want to see an isolated tribe fight over a bottle? Anyway, it is easy to see how just one "tool" can cause so much trouble as well as be used for so many things. In fact, just right now I couldn't be able to do this homework assignment without my computer. However, some people would be willing to kill just to steal someone's computer. So, yeah, technology goes either way. Marginal benefits over marginal costs... I guess?
ReplyDeletePayton, pretty deep for a comedy indeed. Haha. On a personal opinion, it truly scares me to watch as technology proceeds to develop into this "tool" which the human race has grown, and will continue to grow, dependent on. It wouldn't be so much a problem if the creators behind technology were not inherently flawed. As humans we screw up, therefore our technology is bound to imperfections. And what goes up...must come down. (pun intended with the whole coke bottle falling...yes?)Anyway, sounds like an interesting movie I will definitely have to check out.
ReplyDeleteThey say that technology is becoming smarter than its creators. With the way that it is advancing, I would have to agree. People have become so dependent on things that make life "easier." This movie sounds like a great example.
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