Cultural Movie

Ethnocentrism is the tendency a tribe feeling that their cultural values are more important than those of other tribes. The ego comes after a long term dominance of one tribe over other tribes in a certain locality e.g. if one tribe dominates the financial framework of a religion they might be affected ethnocentrism (Lee, 2003). Individuals use ethnocentrism to bargain of political positions, employment or bragging rights. On the other hand corporations foundered out of a cultural heritage might want to stamp their importance and dominate given markets because they were founded by natives. This essay will review the cultural heritage ofBushmen, a tribe that was found in remote areas of South Africa through a gods must be crazy movie presentation.

The movie featured three different plots that converge at some point in the movie. First is a teacher that has travelled all the way from Europe to come and teach in a mission school located in suburb parts of South Africa. Second is Mr. Steyn whose passion is studying wild animals characteristics and finally there is Xi, the bush man who is travelling towards the end of the world to throw away an “alien object that the gods had sent to her land”. The unwanted object that Xi wants to discard is a caca cola bottle that dropped from a flying aeroplane but because of the remoteness of their locality, they thought the object was sent to them by the gods to aid them in their daily chores (Hartwell, 2003).

The movie highlights the plight of a people that had been left behind in the cultural lifestyles long after modernization had visited the region. However, it serves to portray the strong virtues that were shared by the traditional group that knew nothing about the sophisticated lifestyles we are leading today. Within their small village, man was the source of security as was demonstrated by the desperation that engulfed the community when Xi announced that he would be travelling towards the end of the world and that his journal might take a few months. The family was not prepared to live without him because he was also a bread winner; he hunted in the bushes to provide for his family.

The community that lived in the Kalahari Desert also lived communally. The movie portrays the Bushmen as a loving community where everything belonged to the community and hatred was unheard-of within their territory. Although the Bushmen lived in utter poverty and ignorance, they still shared many great attributes with other tributes and comminutes around the world. Many tribal groups, in their remoteness share they affluence with other members of the community. The red Indians are another typical example of what community share; sometimes ago before modernization reduced the cultural practices in the community, the red Indians used to hunt wild game together and at the end of the day they would share their catch before dispatching to their individual families (Gugler, 2003). These cultural heritages can also be observed within many communities in South America and Africa.

Many attributes that communities reserved within their territories long before civilization were paramount. Civilization brought individualism to many communities and the tranquility that prevailed left as gabble for opportunities ensued. Civilization brought simplicity to people who variously suffered due to natural phenomenon and some of the tragic things that accompanied most the communities disappeared e.g. the level of infant mortality rate reduced tremendously when modern delivery facilities were established (Pfaff, 2004). But on the other hand the life expectancy across the globe was affected considerably due to technology related maladies.

In conclusion, gods must be crazy was a typical representation of an ideal traditional community setting. The setting helps us to draw important attributes that tribes lost to modernization and ugly lifestyles that they shed off with the arrival of civilization. The movie represented a pivotal stage where the modern world met the traditional cultures, it also shows how devastation the mixing of the two lifestyles could have been especially after the bottle that had been disguised as a blessing arrived in the village and distracted the norms of the community. The plot of the movie can help youths to reflect on important lost concepts and which might have aided in founding some of the important corporations and bodies across the globe, also the muddle that engulfed their ancestry long before they were born.

References

Gugler, J. (2003). African Film: Re-imagining a Continent. Kuala Lumpur: Indiana University Press.

Hartwell, D. G., and Kathryn, C. The Space Opera Renaissance. New York: Orb Books, 2007.

Lee, R. (2003). The DobeJu/'hoansi.Case Studies in Cultural Anthropology.London: Wadsworth Publishing.

Pfaff, F. (2004).Focus on African Films. Kuala Lumpur: Indiana University Press.