Thursday, March 11, 2010

The Gods Must be Crazy



A funny, old, (1980) South African movie about a San tribesman* that needs to walk to the end of the earth in order to get rid of an 'evil thing.' Check it out.

*My original posting used the word "Bushman" but I have since learned that this term is derogatory (see the comments). I apologize for any offense caused.
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Posted by The Maru and Aquanuts Divers at 2:22 AM

10 comments:

  1. Justin,

    Love your blog.

    But there is nothing "funny" about Jamie Uys's racist fantasies. (For some context about the reality of the San--"Bushmen" is a slur--see the films of John Marshall or the research of Steven Robbins and others).

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  2. Sean,

    Thanks for stopping by. I came upon this movie without much context and knowing nothing about Mr. Uys, nor that "bushman" was considered a slur. I'll edit my blog post accordingly and do apologize if any offense was taken. But as to "racist fantasies," certainly the film is condescending, full of caricatures which are offensive and inaccuracies about the San (and just about everyone else). But then again, it was meant to be a comedy, though you obviously did not find it funny, and as such exaggerations and inaccuracies are pretty much par for the course in that genre. Having spent a little bit of time in southern Africa (I did my masters at UCT) I am certainly aware of the finely tuned, and well-founded, racial sensitivities of most people there but I'm going to respectfully dissent on calling Uys' movie "racist." The slapstick physical comedy (mostly done by the white guy) more than anything else is why I liked the movie and found it "funny."

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