The Gods Must Be Crazy
The Gods Must Be Crazy 1 is a South African comedy film which tells the story of Xi, a Bushman from the deep Kalahari Desert. He lived happily with his family and tribe because he thought the god provided them with plenty of things. The film contains various elements about cultural differences and intercultural communication concepts. In this essay, I aim to analyze the film in the light of the concepts of ethnocentrism and values. The literature review of the concepts will be discussed in the first two paragraphs, and a description of the segments relevant to the chosen concepts, followed by analysis and discussion on how these segments informs the concepts and what could help viewers to understand.
The term
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Values are separated into three different types: universal values, cultural values, and personal values. Universal values being that humans universally value good manners. Personal Values provide an inner suggestion for what is good, important, beautiful, beneficial, useful and so on. It also influences behaviour and helps solve common difficulties and problems for human survival. Members of a culture will share similar values, which are transmitted by family, media, education, and religion.
There are two segments from the film that I found particularly relevant to the concept of ethnocentrism. In the first segment (S1), when Xi saw Kate Thompson in the bush and he thought she was the ugliest god he’d ever come across from Kalahari Desert, because her skin was white, and she was covering her body with skins that looked like it was made of cobweb. The second segment (S2) is when Xi got arrested for shooting a goat. In fact, Xi didn’t know he did something wrong and was getting in trouble, he shot the goat because he was hungry and he observed the goat as food which he would like to share, but the people who arrested him thought he was stealing the goat.
Furthermore, there are two other segments from the film that I also found particularly relevant to the concept of values. In the first segment (S3), before the Coke bottle drops from the sky, the Bushmen shared everything equally and with respect. When the bottle dropped from the sky, they thought
The values are the principles or standards which could include rules of conduct, respect, honesty, kindness, sharing and appreciation.
Values relate to our personal principles, morals, and ideals—that is, what we consider to be important.Each person is unique, with their own personal values and beliefs shaped by a number of factors that include culture, religion, and personal experiences.We value each person as an individual, respect their aspirations and commitments in life, and seek to understand their priorities, needs, abilities and limits.
we are from different cultures, around the world, we all have similar values. Most cultures have a
The relationship between the gods and humanity in The Epic of Gilgamesh and The Odyssey are the same. In each saga, the gods seem to live nearby and are always present. Both epic poems portray humans as simply at the mercy of the gods. The gods feel that it is their duty to intervene if they feel that man is traveling off course from his destiny. However, the gods are not all powerful.
If we understand values as ideas and beliefs about how people we behave and act depends on our
Values can be a person’s ideal way on how to behave in certain places or their principles, just like ethics, beliefs, or standards (Henslin). Values can vary in cultures or religions as well. For example, when it comes to the LGBT community, which is also known as the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender community, I believe that everyone deserves to be happy
I am certain that when some students choose this subject for their Honors Program essay, they choose a lofty tome like Ulysses or something hip, yet old enough to be a classic, like On The Road. There is not a doubt in my mind that the book that changed my outlook on the world was American Gods by Neil Gaiman. Sure, it is a novel, it is fantasy. At times it is dark, at times it is funny, but it has just enough roots in the real world to suspend belief. Even for a few moments as you read, you are drawn into the world of the main character, Shadow, as he discovers that gods are real. All kinds of gods, pagan gods, Egyptian gods, gods of trains and televisions. Shadow is surrounded by them and is suddenly involved in a war between the old gods and the new. It is a wonderfully written book and Gaiman always has a trick up his sleeve, just like the con men in the novel.
Values are societies own guides to life. They identify what is wrong and what is right, however it is up to the people to decide whether or not to follow them. But what are values? Values can be defined as “principles or standards of behaviour; one’s judgement of what is important in life” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2015). Furthermore, values are “important and lasting beliefs or ideals shared by the members of a culture about what is good or bad and desirable or undesirable” (Business Dictionary, 2015). Values hold high importance in the lives of people as they have major influence on behaviour and attitude, as well as serving as broad guidelines in many situations. All human experiences, interactions and conversations have the potential to shift
Values are often influenced by different ideologies, so it is important to look at these also.
Values help people determine what is right and wrong. They provide our moral compass in life.
In Uys’ (1980) film, The God’s Must Be Crazy, a tribal community of South African Bushmen who live independently away from any contact with the outside world. When a Coke bottle is dropped from a plane, this “beautiful” and “useful” thing becomes a tool that is adopted into a variety of uses by the family (Uys, 1980). When the family begins to fight over the bottle, Xi, decides that although the bottle has been given to them by the gods, this now “evil thing” must be thrown off the edge of the world (Uys, 1980). The film then captures Xi’s experiences and interactions with other people and modern society as he sought to accomplish his task.
Based on the movie, “The Gods Must Be Crazy”, the people of the Kalahari are able to sustain the elements of PERMA in their lives. By doing this they can have a happy, contented, and satisfying live amongst their people. The acronym PERMA stands for the people of the Kalahari being able to achieve positive emotions, engagement in activities, good relationships with others, a sense of meaning, and identifiable accomplishments in their lives.
Values are those things that are important, meaningful and valued by an individual, a group of people, or an organization. Whether we are aware of them or not, every individual has his or her core set of values, which consist of many different kinds of values. Each individual’s value system is different from one another because individual’s values are built up through one’s life experience, environment, and family background. Values are important to us because they reflect our personal moral standards, shape our behavior, and guide us through long life journeys. Since we live in a highly connected society, each person’s value system does not only affect one’s own life, but also affects many other people and the
Values are intangible things that are important to us, and that guide us, individually, to make decisions. Each person has a different set of values, morals, and ethics, which is the reason that each person handles a situation differently. Here, I will discuss my top 5 values, and why they are important to me.
These are usually a mix of family values and social-cultural values, together with our own individual ones, according to our experiences.