The Gods Must Be Crazy – Jamie Uys (Movie)

Hope this is the right forum as the movie or ancient & lost civilization forums do not feel fittingly in the point I would like to bring across.

An article sparked my interest in finding the 1980 movie that I watched as a child. A “must watch movie” for different reasons. For me it was mainly about the Kalahari Bushman and the accurate picture this movie paint.

However funny to watch after so many years it made me sad. We killed one of the most beautiful races to ever walk on Earth. They were very gentle people. I know they are not the only ones we subject to our western ways with our greed for resources but are one of few civilizations not to be wiped out the past 20 000+ years. Although stone tools and rock art paintings date back over 70,000 years.

Unfortunately you need to watch the movie to understand the point I try to make, as the current information in the media are mostly about the legal battles they now face to survive in our “adapt or die to a lifestyle world”. Where colonialism are used (a more acceptable word) in the destruction of the San’s migratory way of life

Some information about the Bushman:

The San are the oldest inhabitants of Southern Africa, where they have lived for at least 20 000+ years.
As hunter-gatherers they became formidable trackers using the bow and arrow (poisonous). Their skills even enable them to distinguish between the tracks of a wounded animal and that of the rest of the herd on almost any terrain. They were not wasteful and every part of the animal was used.

They were migratory people with a vast knowledge of both flora and fauna. They made use of over 100 edible species of plant including various berries and nuts. They had no concept of land ownership but lived in harmony with the land “the land is our blood”

They had the ability to survive without surface water, using resources such as ostrich eggs (burying them underground to extract water), roots and bulbs

They had no status hierarchies except age and govern themselves by group consensus with women included
And gender roles were not jealously guarded. Women sometimes assist in the hunt and the men sometimes help gather plant foods.

The San belief system generally observes the supremacy of one powerful god. Spiritual rituals were: Boys' first kill, girls' puberty, marriage and the “Trance dance” where the Eland stand out as their most spiritual animal.

The westernized myths regarding the San have caused considerable damage. They portray the San as simple, childlike people without a problem in the world. This could not be further from the truth. Due to absorption but mostly extinction, the San may soon cease to exist as a separate people. Unfortunately, they may soon only be viewed in national museums. Their traditions, beliefs and culture may soon only be found in historical journals.

a reply to: ICycle2

I thought the movie was mainly about a Coke bottle, and a white park ranger trying to woo the attractive while girl he meets, but he is a bubble headed booby. There was something about local natives in it too....the Bushman or such, trying to return the Coke bottle back to God.

If you loved that movie....have you seen "Gods must be Crazy 2".....the sequel. (unless you are too young and had no idea that movie was made as well)

Personally I found it unbearable to watch, too much cutesy sped up film. The planet is getting smaller people, if we want to see a people practicing an old religion belief systems that oppress gays and women, look no further then the Middle East.

I loved that movie, wayback, once upon a time.

a reply to: ICycle2

Unfortunately you need to watch the movie to understand the point I try to make, as the current information in the media are mostly about the legal battles they now face to survive in our “adapt or die to a lifestyle world”. Where colonialism are used (a more acceptable word) in the destruction of the San’s migratory way of life

One of my favorites. Culture clash. The hi tech exploitation of a world, dominating and corrupting the way things are supposed to be.

"Take your things back".

I really liked that movie. I saw it years ago. I think this is the same movie anyway, the one with the Coke?

I thought this thread was going to be about the whole pile of closed threads by the mods this morning. I guess we are driving the mods crazy.

It is a hilarious masterpiece.
Probably watched it a half dozen times.

a reply to: rickymouse

Yes, that is the one

a reply to: rickymouse

I like your thoughts

a reply to: ICycle2

I liked the movie and the "Keystone Cops" sped up film was part of its artistic charm, rendering things comic that would not have been so, otherwise.

As for the loss of the Bushmen's culture, I think it has been by their choice.

In university we had much discussion of why people, who are mobile, stay in difficult and sparse environments. Why stay scratching out a subsistence when there are literally greener pastures? In these difficult environments, people are usually forced to be nomadic anyway and must travel to get enough food. 'Staying put' means you consume all the resources of your locality. Why doesn't their natural migration move them towards better food sources?

I think one of the messages of the movie was that the 'essential culture' of one group of humans are not the 'essential culture' of all.

originally posted by: WUNK22
Personally I found it unbearable to watch, too much cutesy sped up film. The planet is getting smaller people, if we want to see a people practicing an old religion belief systems that oppress gays and women, look no further then the Middle East.

what the hell are you talking about?! the San never oppressed anyone, if your attention span was greater then a 5 year old you would have made it through the film and you'd know that.

Boy you are thick, I wasn't referring to your favorite tribe. Sorry the movie sucked like some foreign film school nonsense. Now go away.......a reply to: pryingopen3rdeye

originally posted by: WUNK22
Boy you are thick, I wasn't referring to your favorite tribe. Sorry the movie sucked like some foreign film school nonsense. Now go away.......a reply to: pryingopen3rdeye

So I guess that means you cant answer the question about what the hell are you talking about?

if we want to see a people practicing an old religion belief systems that oppress gays and women, look no further then the Middle East.

With many religions residing in the area and many practicing these religions could it maybe not be a religious problem that you speak of but a cultural one that dates back many 1000s of years?

Here is some information on the actor N!xau, who passed away for tuberculosis in 2003.
en.wikipedia.org...

There's been a huge amount of debate on the representation in film and documentaries of the San, beginning with the Denver Expedition in 1925.
www.amazon.com...

The San were also a collection of different nations and language groups, who lived across a vast area, from the Cape in South Africa across Namibia, Botswana and as far north as southern Angola and pockets survived in Zimbabwe.

To see which groups are declining, and which are reviving identities is quite complex.
One critique of stereotyping them as "modern primitives" (which was a tendency in 1980, when only 500 in the Kalahari lived as pure hunter-gatherers) meant that they had few land rights, and the majority could neither enjoy modernity nor a traditional lifestyle. They simply became impoverished and dispossessed people.
On the other hand, such films did create international awareness, and global activists like Survival International became interested in their land rights and living conditions.

Currently in the Kalahari area they have been given land rights, although few live by hunting and gathering alone.
Tourism has helped to keep their traditions and bush-craft alive, although some critics have also called it a "human zoo".
It depends very much on the area and group.
The San also have different opinions on this, and some actually prefer the older name "Bushmen".

In South Africa, since the Khomani San got land rights, there has been quite an interest in reviving San identity and traditions among descendants, especially with the now internationally applauded Riel Dance.
www.khomanisan.com...

Our SA coat of arms also celebrates the San.
en.wikipedia.org...

More alarming in Botswana their land-rights have been under threat by diamond mining, although the Botswana government may have relented somewhat after international activism.
www.survivalinternational.org...

From this year there's a San council who decide which film and depictions they regard as desirable, and there's also movements to patent their herbal medicines:

The South African San Council has launched a code of ethics to guide researchers to stop intrusive and sometimes exploitative research in San communities. The council said that after more than a century of being questioned, photographed, measured and “sampled” by researchers from around the world, and having San indigenous knowledge pilfered for commercial gain, it was time to say, “Enough.” While the council is not saying there must be an end to research, it is saying that it must be on their terms.

mg.co.za...

Some groups are threatened, some are reviving identities and certain traditions, but at least even here in the Cape, I definitely don't have the feeling they are under direct threat of genetic extinction.
Khoisan revival and political activism is very much alive.

I don't actually want to say much more, because there are many highly educated San activists and academics (not sure if any are on ATS), but the San descendants I know are quite capable of speaking for themselves these days.

As for the movie, look I enjoyed it as a kid.
Only a bit later did I become aware of how the bush war in Namibia and Angola was impacting the San.
At that stage it was not a good situation.
Some were cajoled into opposing armies and militias (especially due to their tracking skills), but others also joined voluntarily.
But suffice to say much of their territory once again became a war zone.
However, there was global awareness of the San being created by such films, and while I'd look at it far more critically nowadays, the San are still very much around.

Reviving Khoi and San identity with the Riel Dance in rural South Africa:

The only message I ever got from that movie was that technology and material possession are dividers of humanity.