The Gods Must Be Crazy: Difference between revisions

The Gods Must Be Crazy is a

While a large Western white audience found the films funny, there was considerable debate about its racial politics. The portrayal of Xi (particularly in the first film) as the naive innocent incapable of understanding the ways of the "gods" was viewed by some as patronising and insulting. The film was banned in Trinidad and Tobago for this reason. However, its many fans believe that it is exactly the opposite, a send-up of so-called civilization and condemnation of racism with Xi as the hero.

Some of the debate centered on Xi's reaction to the first white people he met, assuming they were gods since they were strange (he had only known Bushmen before), rode vehicles (which he also had never seen before), and were comparatively huge. However, within minutes he began doubting they were gods. The second film clearly shows Xi's greater understanding as he tells the children about the people he had met: "heavy people ... who seem to know some magic that can make things move," but are "not very bright, because they can't survive without their magic contrivances."

It should also be noted that the films' depictions of the

Plot

The first film is a collision of three separate stories — Xi's, the romance between a klutzy scientist and a schoolteacher, and a band of terrorists on the run.

The bushmen of Xi's group are living well off the land. They are happy because the "gods" have provided plenty of everything, so no one in the tribe has unfilled wants. One day, the pilot of a passing airplane drops a glass

It is decided that the bottle, renamed "the evil thing", must be thrown off of the edge of the world. Xi volunteers for the task. As he travels on his quest, he encounters western civilization for the first time. The film presents an interesting interpretation of civilization as viewed through Xi's perceptions.

There are also plot lines about biologist Andrew Steyn (Marius Weyers) who is studying the local animals, and the newly-hired village school teacher Kate Thompson (Sandra Prinsloo), and some guerrillas led by a terrorist named Sam Boga (Louw Verwey) who are being pursued by government troops after unsuccessfully attempting a coup. Xi encounters both groups.

Xi eventually finds himself at the top of a cliff with a solid layer of low-lying clouds obscuring the landscape below. This gives Xi the convincing illusion that it is indeed the edge of the world, and he throws the bottle from there. This was filmed at a place called

Xi Changes his name to Xixo–A sequel, The Gods Must Be Crazy II, was filmed in 1985 but not released until 1989. In it, Xixo's two young children encounter poachers in the

As of 2006, these last three films have not been released in the United States, although they have been released on VCD format in China. The Gods Must Be Funny has recently been released on DVD [1] in Uys' native South Africa.

References

External links

• The Gods Must Be Crazy at
  IMDb