MovieChat Forums > The Gods Must Be Crazy (1984) Discussion > How is this racist?!

How is this racist?!

posted 11 years ago by benmasta
12 replies | jump to latest

Why are people saying this movie is racist? Maybe some of the info was wrong, but i didn't feel like it was derogatory towards the bushmen. They seemed to portray them as very competent and wonderful people.

Maybe it was about the political stuff? the rebels or something? I dunno, im not african so maybe i cant understand. But i really thought this movie was great, i thought it was fun to see how an isolated people would see random advancements of civilization that they never needed to survive.

Just think how easy their life would be with stuff like a swiss army knife, or a 12 pack of bottles! Whats garbage to us is an amazing tool to someone else who has easily survived without needing so much. It makes me want to know people like the bushmen and learn the amazingly simple way they survive in places that civilization cant, even with all our advancements. Well, im sure it could be done with enough money, especially these days. But the bushmen can survive on their own!

I think the main thing that sucks for the bushmen is medical issues. I wonder if infection would be a common problem since they dont wear much clothing to protect themselves from even common cuts and lesions. I bet they have pretty tough/calloused skin that is resistant though. Physically, it think Black people definitely are evolved over white people. They have a strong sun resistance, and many peoples have survived with limited supply of food and water. White people have not lived like this for what must be hundreds of years. I think that their lives in harsher conditions caused mostly the strong to survive, and therefore their gene pool is probably filled with strong genes. I just wonder what their stance was on inbreeding, since their populations are so small and segregated i could see it being okay to them. I wonder if they noticed that babies ended up deformed and unhealthy.

It was so annoying that no one cared about the bushmen though :(. Maybe the racism was that it only seemed like the "white people" cared about what happened to them. I doubt the african governments would be so heartless. At least i hope not.

[–] esskayess 11 years ago

It isn't and never was, at least against black people. If anything, it's "racist" against whites because the vast majority of them are portrayed as stupid, violent, corrupt or selfish. Movies like this give people a rare chance to laugh at themselves and I love seeing it again and again.

[–] time-bomb 10 years ago

I agree this movie actually Makes a very good statement about what the developed world thinks is best for indigenous cultures,

The movie i think Makes a critic in that many of the indigenous cultures dont want or need technology, they are happiest living in the way they have lived for 100s of years. The introduction of the bottle causes fights and turmoil within the village. People should not impose what they think is best On other cultures.

Says alot about modern life too, new tech isint always for our benefit it can make our world worse.

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] jevicci 10 years ago

snapping_choppers

...This insecurity results in their screaming & crying about racism, as they fill their pants with feces...

LMFAO! Well-said!!

I agree. This movie is not racist at all. As many people have said, this movie puts the Bushmen in a much more favorable light than civilized society. As for the complaints made about the fact that when this movie was made the Bushmen did not live like this... OK, so let's just set it back a few years to when they did live like that and move on. I swear some people are just looking for things to get their panties in a twist over.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 9 years ago

A lot of people have a very simplistic idea of what "racism" means. They think if a black character is portrayed positively, it can't be racist. So they fail to understand things like the trope of the "Magic Negro".

The problem here is more about the systemic perpetuation of power and wealth imbalances. As in the much more recent Beasts of the Southern Wild, the individual black people are portrayed in a sympathetic fashion, so the audience can be lulled into thinking there is no risk of the film being racist. But the underlying message is "supporting government programs to help make these people's lives better will actually just backfire and make them worse, so it's better to just leave them as they are".

This is a mighty easy pill to swallow for the comfortable white suburbanite watching the movie in the multiplex or in their well appointed living room. No need to fork over any of their tax dollars to aid people in Africa (or right here in the U.S. in the case of BotSW), because they're better off undisturbed. That's great if you're a right wing Tea Partier, but I'm a progressive and I'm not buying it, and I'm going to call these filmmakers on their little stealth propaganda.

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[–] crissttigaldames 9 years ago

^^^^^ And right there we have an example of the people who apparently can't help but to cry racism about anything. It's become a way of living, a dogma for some.

BTW YouOneBeauty: Disagreeing about government programs doesn't make anyone racist.

[–] PreachCaleb 9 years ago

Completely missed the point he was making.

Can't stop the signal.

[–] esskayess 9 years ago

Oh dear, another "white guilt" lefty who perceives a white racist under every bed, around every corner and in every group to the right of Marx, while looking the other way whenever black racists spout hate-laden gibberish, murder innocent people or trash entire communities in the name of "justice."

Racism by those of every color is real and, sadly, will likely never go away. One reason for this is the double-standard that your ilk practices and preaches.

You cannot erase God with an edict. - Rod Serling

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 9 years ago

That brush broad enough for you? It might surprise you to learn that I've been heavily criticizing the BLM movement, and taking a lot of heat for it. Some of us contain multitudes.

I stand by what I wrote about this movie though.

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[–] esskayess 9 years ago

We are in agreement there and I appreciate knowing that you can keep your own counsel and not walk whichever way the herd goes. Racism of any kind is terrible and it eminates from both sides of the polticial spectrum and from all skin colors. What angers me is that some racism sources are spotlighted far more often than others.

[–] GuyOnTheLeft 9 years ago

I do despise the herd mentality.

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[–] nyjack 8 years ago

Anybody remember what apartheid was? It was still the modus operandi of South Africa at the time of the movie; part of Angola were occupied by South African troops; Namibia was still South-west Africa; Zimbabwe was still Rhodesia; their troops were roaming about that country; and poor Botswana which is still something of an adjunct to SA; the rebels are Africans and poorly played; and all in the middle of that we have this pleasant innocent fellow trying to return a token of the gods, a Coke bottle. Wow. Guess the company woman complaining of the noises in her head is supposed to offset all that.