Gods Must Be Crazy

ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT MOVIE REVIEW The film “Gods Must Be Crazy” illustrates the contrast between the bushman and the modern western society by the interactions between the members of the two communities. Their contrast is evident in the material culture, knowledge of the environment and approach to the individual. The film portrays these differences in culture. The bushman lead a life of simplicity and contentment.

Their materialistic knowledge is meagre. They live in harmony with the nature. They make use of resources available and live in harmony with all the species around.The pace of life in bushman culture is relaxed and slow. The Bushmen have deep respect for both the human and the non-human.

They place the greatest value on the family and have strong belief in God. They never punish or speak harshly to their children but still the children are well-behaved. In the film, the bushmen shoots an animal with a tranquilizer dart and waits until the animal lays down and goes to sleep. Before taking the animal’s life, the bushman would apologize for killing it. This action of the bushman shows that he hunted the animal out of necessity compared the modern society where animals are hunted as a sport.One of the striking aspects of the bushman is the lack of conflict among its members.

The bushman readily shared food with the others in the community. They are the least selfish. In the film, the bushman is in search of his children, but still he finds the time to help the man who has fainted because of lack of water. He gives him the necessary treatment and then returns to find his children. Another difference in the culture of the Bushmen compared to the modern western society is the lack of fear of strangers and never expects the worse from others.This is illustrated in the scene where the bushman is not afraid of the gun and he picks it from the hand of the stranger.

Those characters in the film, which came from modern society, were conditioned to automatically fear strangers and expect the worse from other people. The Bushmen have the wealth of indigenous knowledge of the flora and fauna, and their rich cultural traditions. This is evident from a scene in the film where the small boy saves himself from the attack of a hyena with the knowledge that the hyena does not attack those which have a greater height compared to it.Here the boy uses a piece of log placed above the head to protect himself from the attack of the hyena. Another instance in the movie is the manner in which the bushman prevents the forest fire.

He starts a fire in the direction opposite taking into consideration the direction of the wind. This results in extinguishing the fire and thereby prevents the disaster. The bushman is even able to identify the animal and its path by examining its footprints. The modern society is very different from the world of the Bushmen. The society moves at an incredibly fast pace.

The modern society does not revolve around the relationships with God and family as in the Bushmen culture, but instead it revolves around work and money. In the film “Witness”, the Amish community is portrayed against the western community. The Amish community, similar to the Bushmen, gives emphasis in the relationships to family and God. They believe that the church, guided by the bible is responsible to institute guidelines for how its members act. The members of the Amish Church live a simple life devoted to God, family and community, in accordance with God's laws.Family is the most important aspect of the Amish life.

Man is considered as the head of the household and the main provider. Women’s domain is the house itself. Gathering around the family table is one of the most important routines in the home. The family engages in silent prayer before and after meals. Their mode of dress emphasizes that the Amish people are separate from the non-Amish world.

It also emphasizes that they are a community of equals. Simplicity, modesty, and humility are stressed through the conservative style of dress.Their material well being is moderate. The Amish grow their own food, from cows and chickens to honeybees; from their own farms and gardens; and make their own products based on what they or their community raise.

They do not use electricity rather use appliances made by them that can be operated manually. All lighting is done by candle or oil and gas lamp. The Amish do not accept military service, as they believe that it is wrong to take a human life for any reason, even self defense. They believe that all people live or die as God wills.This is evident from an instance in the movie where the young lad is advised by his grandfather about the use of guns and that it is not in accordance to the order of the Amish culture even if it is used to kill a criminal or bad people as the boy explains.

Work is highly valued. Community involvement is expected. The cooperation among the individuals of the Amish community is also portrayed here. It is seen that the Amish people get together helping in the building of their homes. The construction of their homes is simple.Their homes are very moderately furnished only as per needs in contrast to the modern community where one takes pride in furnishing one’s home.

Their cooperation is also seen as the ladies of the community work together to make a quilt. Amish seek natural health care. They have an understanding about the various medicines found in nature. Their knowledge may not range up to that of the bushman, but they depend on the holistic healing.

But in certain cases, like that of surgery, they do depend on the modern hospitals. This is evident when the Amish healer advises to take the police officer to a hospital for further treatment.They respect each other as they consider everyone as equal. They lay emphasis on equality.

They respect the ideas of one another. There is no place for competition in the Amish world. Hence the Amish can be referred to as “eco-communalists” as their ways of living are based on the ideals of simple living, self-sufficiency, sustainability and local economies. The modern western culture has been depicted in both the movies. In the film “Gods Must Be Crazy”, the characters of the community in the desert region find it difficult to survive in the desert.

The modern community is obsessed with their material living that they cannot adjust with the lifestyle in the desert. The characters are well clad and possess a lot of material sophistication. Though this is not applicable in the desert, it has made life easy and at the same time busy. Man in the modern community has become so advanced that the activities are causing harm to the nature. While the other two communities discussed earlier live in harmony with the nature.

The faith in the two institutions: family and faith in God, exists in the modern world but is taken for granted.Man has turned busy that he even fails to thank God for the food he is served, a scene in “Witness”. The greed of the community for money is also seen in “Witness” where a police officer murders his fellow being just for his selfish motives In the community, there are social classes in contrast to the above discussed communities. The sense of equality is less. These classes are laid on the basis of financial assets and educational qualifications.

The knowledge of the modern western community of traditional cures is meagre.The knowledge of the modern community about the nature is also insufficient. This can be seen that if a person from the community has to survive in a desert, he may not know from where to get water. Neither will he know to tackle the different species present there.

People of the modern world have to respect other species. The killing of animals for reasons other than necessity cannot be justified. Individual cultures, as well as individual people are different. We must embrace the differences and see the great strength that comes with diversity.