What if we lived life in a way in which
we did not need to worry about the future, a world where living just meant existing
without the stresses of our modern society? That is the existence of Xi in
Jamie Uys’ film The Gods Must be Crazy.
The Bushmen are living in the harsh Kalahari Desert when one day Western
civilization invades his home in the form of a glass Coke bottle, which brings
a lot of good to the members of Xi’s tribe. However, it also brings jealousy,
anger, and violence (emotions the tribe has never had to face before). Without
hesitation, Xi decides to expel the “evil thing” from the earth in order to
bring his tribe back to the peaceful way it once was. On his journey, he encounters
and explores Western civilization’s hectic ways. However, at the end of his adventure,
Xi does not adapt any part of Western culture into his. Xi and the Bushmen make
the decision to live without the technology of modern society because they realize
that they value real happiness over alleged progress.
The tribe’s rejection of the Coke
bottle is their rejection of Western society. At first, the Bushmen see the
bottle as a gift from the Gods, and the Gods have only given them good things.
The Bushmen soon realize that this is not the entirely the positive force they believed
it to be. The tribe huddles around the fire silently, dreading what else it will
bring. However, the whole tribe comes to the same conclusion: they do not need
the “evil thing” that they have grown to depend on. Xi understands that his
people have two choices just as primitive societies did: progress or happiness.
Our ancestors chose the former, and the world has expanded and been developed
into the concrete jungles we call home today. Xi and his tribe make the
opposite choice. They value their happiness much more than they value ease of
life. While our society may have all the tools to live with minimal effort, many
of us are not truly happy with our roles. Many are forced into lackluster jobs
in order to make ends meet while monotonous routines drain them until they can no
longer feel fulfilled in the workplace. On the other hand, the Bushmen are
happy even though they live in one of the most inhospitable locations on the
planet. Xi and the other Bushmen appreciated how much easier the bottle made
their lives, but that is not why they rejected progress. “They repudiated the
jealousy and materialism of the West” (Gordon).
Western society choose the path of
progress, and while it has created an amazing world of leisure, it has also
created a society that has not stop to smell the roses. Our cities are proof
that we could not adapt to living life in nature, so we made nature adapt to us.
However, now that we have access to fresh running water and almost any kind of food we could want with a
short walk to our refrigerators, humanity has lost its instinctual need to fight
to survive. A psychologist, Abraham Harold Maslow, studied human nature and how
we address certain needs that are required to have successful and fulfilling lives. “Maslow stated that people are motivated to achieve certain
needs and that some needs take precedence over others. Our most basic need is
for physical survival, and this will be the first thing that motivates our
behavior. Once that level is fulfilled the next level up is what motivates us,
and so on” (McLeod, par. 2).
The problem is that Western society
has overcome our basic needs, making our foundation much smaller and weaker.
Without having to work too hard for food, water, or shelter, we see our psychological
needs as basic needs for happiness. Tirelessly working each and every day makes
us, “crack under the constant pressure of the routine monotony of modern life”
(Knight). That is why Kate, the journalist, decides to move out to the small
Botswanan village in order to teach (Uys 0:25:53). While she is looking for
something different, she is also unhappy with the state of her life. By moving
to the Botswanan village, she is able to reinvigorate herself. She has students
to care for; she meets Andrew, her eventual love interest; and she reaches self-actualization
by immersing herself in the locals’ way of life. Kate’s transition proves that
distancing oneself from the constant stressors of Western civilization can
increase one’s quality of life.
While some may argue that Kate’s
eventual happiness would not bloom as it did in the film, it has been proven to
work. Henry David Thoreau was a naturalist who decided to seclude himself from modern American society in 1845. He understood that the
path to a greater understanding of our life on earth is through an
understanding of the natural world around us and of which we are part:
We can
never have enough of nature. We must be refreshed by the sight of inexhaustible
vigor, vast and Titanic features, the sea-coast with its wrecks, the wilderness
with its living and its decaying trees, the thunder cloud, and the rain which
lasts three weeks and produces freshets. We need to witness our own limits
transgressed, and some life pasturing freely where we never wander — I suppose
that what in other men is religion is in me love of nature (http://www.walden.org/thoreau/
par. 4).
His experience in the
woods mirrors the lives of the native people of the Kalahari. Nature is a
magical gift to them as it should be to all who are willing to stop and open
their senses. Life may not be as easy when one immerses themselves in nature;
however, one is able to focus on what is truly important to them without the
distractions of never ending deadlines and repetitious routines. In Walden he
writes, “Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as
two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million count
half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb-nail” (Thoreau 82).
Thoreau is praising the simple life. He discovered that the hustle and bustle
of modern life made a formula for stress and unhappiness, a formula that he
rejected in order to find his own happiness.
The Bushmen are content with
their lives no matter how difficult things may be. They see their way of life
as complete without technology. They work hard to survive, and they are happy
to be a part of the tribe. This contrast with modern society is shown in our
levels of stress and overall happiness:
Modern society equals
fullness with meaning so if schedules are always booked then life must be
wonderful. A busy schedule blocks and shoves down unpleasant feelings brought
on by difficult to answer questions. Those feelings, however, do not go away,
but instead manifest themselves in the rampant outbreak of depression. This is
why the Bushmen’s freedom is so important; they have the time to reflect and
engage with tough topics. It is not as though they are always having deep
philosophical discussions, but they are able to if need be (Morrill par. 7).
The Bushmen’s minds are sounder due to their
natural lifestyle. They think clearly about whatever obstacles or issues are
thrown, or dropped, their way. When one of the most important life changing
tools falls to their feet they are able to think rationally about the pros and
cons of having such power. The Bushmen decided that while progress may make
their lives easier, it would not make them happier.
The Bushmen who are seen as
primitive compared to industrialized western society are actually much wiser
than their stressed-out neighbors. They understand the importance of living in
the moment. In their eyes God has given them all they need, and they are eternally
grateful. The bottle was a test, one which they believed they passed. Xi’s
decision to throw the bottle off the end of the earth was accepted by the whole
community because their tribe’s values are different then ours: they value
happiness over easiness. Until our culture can choose peace of mind over higher
productivity, we will never self-actualize like the Bushmen of the Kalahari
Dessert.
Works Cited
Gordon, Paul Kirpal. Class Discussion. April 4, 2018.
“Henry David
Thoreau.” The Walden Woods Project, www.walden.org/thoreau/.
Knight,
Lindsay. Class Discussion. February 12, 2018.
Mcleod, Saul. “Maslow's
Hierarchy of Needs.” Simply Psychology, Simply Psychology,
2017,
www.simplypsychology.org/maslow.html.
Morrill, Morgan. “The
Ironic Hospitality of the Kalahari Desert.” Taking Giant Steps
Press, Paul Kirpal Gordon, 14 Mar. 2018, giantstepspress.blogspot.com/search?q=the+ironic+hospitality.
Thoreau, Henry David, 1817-1862. Walden; And, Resistance to Civil Government:
Authoritative Texts, Thoreau's
Journal, Reviews, and Essays in Criticism. New York: Norton, 1992. Print.
Uys, Jamie, director. The Gods Must Be Crazy. Perf. N!xau,
Marius Weyers, and Sandra
Prinsloo.
20th Century Fox., 13 July. 1984. Film.
“Where I Lived and What I
Lived For, a Chapter in Walden by
Henry David
Thoreau.” truecharecteinnature.weebly.com/where-i-lived-and-what-i-lived-for-a-chapter-in-walden-by-henry-david-thoreau.html.
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