A Reflection Paper on The Gods Must Be Crazy

The 1980 South African film entitled The Gods Must Be Crazy presents quite an

interesting plot that emphasizes cultural differences among its characters. It features how people

from completely different environments, with established norms, traditions, laws, beliefs and

languages, perceive and react to a variety of culture that are foreign to them.Furthermore, as the

story develops, it proves that culture is learned and shared by humans as a member of a specific

society.

The film shows the journey of Kalahari bushman Xi, the leader of one of many family

groups in the Kalahari desert, as he tries to return to the Gods the “evil thing” (a Coca-Cola

bottle) that had befallen his family. The Kalahari’s way of life piqued my interest for it is very

distinct from the usual urban life I am familiar with. While living in a barren desert with no

water for roughly nine months may be impossible to most of us, these dainty Bushmen had

developed simple yet enduring habits and knowledge that had helped them survive in this kind of

environment. These habits and capabilities of digging up roots, bulbs and tubers; collecting

dewdrops from leaves and squeezing out the sap of enormous tubers to quench their thirst; and

hunting and apologizing to their prey demonstrate that their behavior and custom depends only

on what their environment has to offer. With their belief that the Gods only provide what is

necessary for them, they were able to create a society that has no need for laws, policies, sense of

ownership and violence. They also have a unique language that is characterized by clicking

sounds which may have been taken from the sounds around the desert. With the arrival of the

“evil thing”, an unfamiliar object with various uses, and their strong desire to own and then to

throw it off the end of the Earth, the stability of their Kalahari culture was shaken, proving their

belief in their Gods and the value they put on their way of life.
 On the other hand, several civilized characters were present in the film namely, Andrew

Steyn, Kate Thompson and Sam Bogas. These are people who live in the urban society,

completely different from that of the Bushmen’s, that has adapted its environment to suit the

whims and desires of its members. Despite being all civilized, these three are driven by diverse

motivations that serve their purpose. Steyn, a scientist pursuing his doctoral thesis, is seemingly

the only character who knows about and understands the variety of culture present around him.

Miss Thompson, a writer from the urban South Africa, visibly embodies the shock and lack of

knowledge about the ways of life in her new environment. Lastly, Sam Bogas and his gang of

Communist guerrillas show the active pursuit of a new kind of society through ‘unlawful’ and

‘violent’ means based on the society he belongs to. All of them including Xi encountered each

other in the story and they all reacted in distinguishable ways, considering their differences in

beliefs, knowledge, behaviour and morals.

In conclusion, the film presents that the characteristics of a specific culture are unique

and necessary for a group of people. While Xi’s culture may be absurd and difficult to grasp by

the civilized men, it is significant to the Bushmen. Through this, I was able to observe how

culture molds human nature through the survival techniques developed by the dainty Kalahari

people and how culture is instrumental and adaptive of the environmental stresses a community

experiences. Moreover, I came to understand how culture is symbolic as revealed by the variety

of languages and nonverbal cues shown through the characters in the movie. Ultimately, I

developed a firmer grasp of the concept of culture as all-encompassing— everyone is cultured, it

is just that we are all cultured corresponding to the human behaviour necessary to support our

survival.