MovieChat Forums > Tsotsi (2006) Discussion > Why the baby?

Why the baby?

posted 17 years ago by benjtsang
21 replies | jump to latest

I had a real problem trying to figure out why Totsi takes the baby with him...it didn't make any sense to me at all. I mean, ok he's an evil bastard (at the beginning of the movie at least) but he obviously felt some sort of sympathy for the baby, hence deciding to take it with him...EXCEPT that makes no sense whatsoever. If he actually cared about the well-being of the baby (which is a little odd, since he just shot a woman without the slightest hesitation after stealing her car) he should have left the baby in the car so that the family could get him back. I have no problem with someone being evil, or 'complicated' as Totsi was supposed to be protrayed, but making choices that make absolutely no sense, no matter what kind of person you are, just so the movie can progress? The movie would have actually worked better if Totsi took the baby because he initially wanted to sell it on the black market or something. Instead, it was like "Oh, a baby, I'll take it with me just for *beep* and giggles, why not?"

"Even my parents called me Mulder" -Mulder

[–] mar_donnoli 17 years ago

I thought the same thing!
It doesn`t make any sense.

[–] jonnyhart 17 years ago

maybe he felt empathy for the baby because he was abandoned as a young boy (emotionally at least)?

as for him leaving the baby in the car for the family to find, i doubt he was in the right frame of mind to make any rational decisions.

the mark of a good actor is being able to make an amoral character like tsotsi seem sympathetic.

[–] rpfanner 17 years ago

I think the baby scene marked a turning point in the film. It happened when the baby looked at Tsotsi and started to cry. Tsotsi was hurriedly packing up the shopping bag, even took the blanket off the baby, but when the baby started crying, he hesitated. You could feel his indecision. He wanted to take off, but the baby's cry touched a part of him that he didn't recognize, and it tipped the scale. The scene was skillfully edited so it appeared the baby was "talking" to Tsotsi. In reality, Tsotsi was talking to "himself". It was the beginning of the "decency" theme that played throughout the movie.

[–] i_kill 17 years ago

this kinda made the movie less i dunno, enjoyable for me. i had just watched cidade de deus and a movie buff associate told me to check this. i guess i was wanting to see a south african "cidade" but did not. damn good film, better than 85% of the s-s-h-i-t made, but the whole baby story really made me suspend my disbelief that an uncaring hard thug could see this small sliver of compassion in the type of life he leads, o well.

[–] CathyE 17 years ago

"an uncaring hard thug could see this small sliver of compassion in the type of life he leads"

This was at the heart of this movie for me. Is Tsotsi inherently evil? Is he a victim of his upbringing (or lack thereof)? It's the whole nature vs nuture question.

This was a challenging film, because Tsotsi is just plain unlikeable for most of the film, and never really becomes likeable, so much as understandable.

But, I think he takes the baby, ultimatly, because it's something good. Something uncorrupted - unlike him. I think he's someone that wants something better...something more for his life, and with this baby, that will has finally met opportunity.

A crucial scene is the whole thing with the man in the wheelchair. Tsotsi asks him why he goes on living like a dog - but he's really asking this of himself. What is the point of my life? Is this what I want to be?

I also thought it was very telling that he named the baby after himself - as though he was saving his childhood self in some way by saving this baby.

When he hands the baby over at the end - he's surrendering himself in every way. I felt like he would have come out of prison a very different person (if he ever got out).

“I always tell the truth…even when I lie” - Scarface

[–] jaxsta 16 years ago

I agree with CathyE.

But also, humans are confused, unpredictable creatures. Why do we do anything we do? We make strange, irrational decisions all the time. Decisions that no one can understand, not even us. But we just act in the heat of the moment.

Maybe he thought the kid would get killed by other tsotsi (or cold, animals, etc) if he left it in the car. Maybe he did want to sell it.

I like that the film makes you think, and doesn't give you all of the information. It gives the audience some credit, for once.

I think that if it had taken the course you described - that he had wanted to sell the baby, and then gotten attached to it while waiting for a buyer - it would be entirely too cheesy for my liking, and explain way too much to the audience.

[–] aimeemacdn 16 years ago

The whole point of the film was the baby!

[–] sgt3 16 years ago

I thought it made perfect sense; however, a few assumptions about the main character's psychological state must be made. He is an uneducated boy who was "abandoned" at an early age. He obviously is not a clear thinking young man, and makes several bad choices throughout the film.

Also, he did hesitate to shoot the mother. In fact, he had decided not to shoot the mother initially. He did not know the baby was in the car at the time. All he knew was he wanted to get away, and this woman, who he spared, was trying to get at him. He shot her then. At that point, he did not hesitate; however, it had nothing to do with a complete lack of sympathy. I don't think he wanted to shoot her.

One other thing. Many violent criminals see their victims as guilty people, especially criminals who have had a hard luck background. They view their peers in very negative ways, and sometimes rationalize that they deserve what they get. However, a baby is different. In my opinion, only a sociopath or a mentally deranged individual could rationalize that a baby deserves to die.

[–] marccore 16 years ago

I though the baby was a kind of metaphore for the innocence he took away of the people he robbed and which he himself had long lost...

[–] rszone 16 years ago

to me when the baby started crying it touched something in him. Babies are innocent and he knew what it was like to be mistreated as a child. Maybe he felt some empathy towards the baby and wanted to show he could be the father he never had. I think the baby helped him realize the fragility and overall worth of human life.

[–] Muggle72 16 years ago

I STILL can't believe he stuffed the baby in the paper bag......and left it in there overnight!!!

"Give her hell from us, Peeves!"