Movie analysis

The film, The Gods Must Be Crazy raises a great number of points which are relevant to the fundamental concepts relating to Society and Culture. The points raised are all used through comparison of the Kalahari Tribe's society and that of The Civilized White Society.

The Kalahari Bushmen live in small family groups in complete isolation from the rest of the world, and this has led to the belief that they are the only humans on earth. As they live off the land, the bushmen has no concept of ownership, anger, violence or guilt as the land supplies them with everything they desire, and they have never had the need for such harsh emotions. They have no concept of law, punishment or rulers, and live in harmony with both themselves and the land. They have strong belief in their gods, and when anything unexplainable happens, for example a plane in the sky, they believe it is just gods up in the sky.

The film starkly contrasts the peaceful harmony of the Kalahari Bushmen with the rushed, needlessly organized erratic way of life of White Society. The film states that while the Kalahari Bushmen adapt to their environment and live successfully because of it, White society has found the need to adapt the environment to themselves. As each generation has different needs, the environment is constantly changed, until it has come to the point that the adolescence of White Society has to take exams just to learn to survive in this created environment. White Society too has religion like the Kalahari Bushmen, but unlike the unquestioning Bushmen, whites have questioned their religion almost to destruction. Unlike the trusting Bushmen, whites have to have an explanation for everything, which has resulted in suspicion of the unexplained.

Because of the stresses of living in such an environment, the movie suggests that White Society has lost contact with the simplicity of life. Scenes of whites are often sped up to create a sense of rushed unthoughtful ness, and many scenes involve violence. The film rightly demonstrates that whites use violence and war to solve conflicts, which is often unsuccessful and damaging. The conflicts within this film were mainly because within the one society lived more then one different cultures, which did not harmoniously live together. The Bushmen, on the other hand, all a connected society, successfully resolve conflicts by talking within the group to come to a ...