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Sociological Concepts
The Gods must be crazy is a South African film set in Botswana. It is a comedy film where Xi who takes the role of a sho and his entire tribe live in a period before civilization. One day, a coca cola bottle off a plane lands in the tribe. At first, it is seen as a blessing from the gods. All members of the tribe use it for various domestic activities. It almost causes a major division, Xi has to take it far off the edge of the world to dispose it. Throughout the movie, societal concepts are clearly demonstrated by the activities the members partake and Xi. The society in the Kalahari Desert addresses culture, income inequality and gender, which affects the society.
The film shows Xi and his tribesmen in their everyday lives. It centers on how they carry out the domestic activities individually and together. The setting in place is a traditional African group living in a rural environment in a primitive form. When a coca cola bottle lands in the tribe, it fascinates everyone. It is embraced and used for almost every activity between the men, women and the children. Since it is one bottle in circulation there is bound to be disagreements on its usage. It causes division in the tribe. Xi has to set off far away to dispose it as it is seen to be a curse. He encounters civilization and gets back.
Income inequality is addressed by the plot of the film. The tribe is in a primitive state and they have never seen a coca cola bottle. They communicate through click sounds. It fascinates them unlike those who were living in the urban areas and are used to. The bottle is used for simple tasks like grinding of flour. It turns out to be a fascination for the whole tribe. When Xi leaves the tribe to dispose the bottle, he encounters civilization. He has never seen a car for example. He even uses his bows and arrows on goat. There is culture shock from his reactions and how he expresses himself.
The culture of the tribe is a simple group of traditional people who interrelate and live together. They are families where the women do majority of the domestics. The children engage in activities on their own with the consent of the adults. The male in the tribe hunt and gather to be able to provide for their families. They hunt in the forests in groups using traditional methods like tranquilizing of the arrows. They study patterns of the animals through comprehensive studying of the footprints. They deal with wild animals through several encounters and are very witty in their thinking and logic.
From the setting of the film, gender inequality is rife. Most of the work done domesticaly is carried out by the women. The men are able to do simple tasks and those that involve hunting and gathering. Disciplining of the children is left for the women to do. Settling of disputes is also left for the women. This is a preserve of male chauvinism in the society. In the traditional African setup, the gender inequality is depicted by the dominance of the female. The children are also brought up embracing it as the male accompany their fathers and are taught how to hunt while the females are taught the domestics.
The tribe casts a picture of traditional form of everyday life in the setting of the film. It paints a cohesive unit of the interrelationships between the members as is shown when Xi is embraced by the whole community when he comes back after his mission of disposing the bottle. Three issues as discussed above clearly affect the society in general. The sociological concepts dealt with affect even the present day societies. There is a clear inequality of different cultures. The lifestyles across the world are different. The difference in civilization is showed by the categories of development.
The lifestyles of the developed world are not of the same category with the ones of the developing or third world. People should embrace each other and bridge the rift with information and interaction. The film shows gender inequality that needs to be addressed today. Equal rights and jurisdictions for men and women should be of the same level and opportunities. Children should be brought up in such away to realize they are all equal despite the gender. There are different cultures in the world. Each people from all occupations have different ways of living and should be accepted.
The film has succeeded in addressing three concepts that are indeed for humanity. I have learnt by watching it to accept everyone as they are and taken it upon myself to study different cultures and what they entail. It has made me a better person everyday. The casting from the film is simple and genuine in development of the concepts and it is worth watching for all.