Lesson In Humor
July 31, 2006 · Print This Article
I was riding the bus yesterday and thought how silly it was for the conductor to play a documentary film featuring a certain tribe living in the Kalahari desert. One thing I noticed with myself is that I have such patience to watch ANYTHING that is shown on the screen of public trasports.
As the film went on I found it to be informative, which later became entertaining and then funny. It was so funny that I cant help but laugh. Good thing that most of the passengers seem to be enjoying the film as well and laughing to their heart’s content.
Too bad that a thirty-five kilometer travel distance was not enough for me to finish the video. However, it was surprising that I was able to realize something about life from a film which was originally intended to be comical.
Lesson: Civilized people refuses to adapt himself to its environment. Instead, he changes the environment in order for it to suit him. This attitude continues until suddenly, life starts to become complicated. Too complicated that the children of the civilized people now needs to go to 15 years of schooling in order to adapt to this artificial environment.
This made me ponder if progress and technology really made life easier for us or did it just did the opposite? What do you think?
The bushmen of Xi’s tribe are living well off the land. They are happy because the “gods” have provided plenty of everything, so no one in the tribe has unfilled wants. One day, the pilot of a passing airplane drops a glass Coke bottle. Initially, this strange artifact seems to be a boon from the gods - Xi’s people find many uses for it. But unlike anything that they have had before, there is only one bottle to share among all members of the tribe. They soon find themselves experiencing things they never had before: envy, hatred, even violence.
It is decided that the bottle, renamed “the evil thing”, must be thrown off of the edge of the world. Xi volunteers for the task. As he travels on his quest, he encounters western civilization for the first time. The film presents an interesting interpretation of civilization as viewed through Xi’s perceptions.
Laugh at me all you want but after 26 years since it was released, yesterday was the first time I got to see the movie “The Gods Must Be Crazy“.
I laugh my ass off with that movie hahaha and you are right by saying that civilized man changes the environment to adapt to his liking, not the other way around.
nde ko pa napapanood yan. pero nakita ko lang trailer. pero isipin mo rin. anung mangyayari pag walang progress?
jef:
it was really funny. i wonder though how the film ended. i hope i could still find a copy of it.
jinjiruks:
well i guess progress has its own yin and yang. pero isipin mo din, kung hindi umunlad ang mundo hindi sana tayo nagtitiis sa trabahong hindi naman natin gusto.
im curious…metro mla busses have that kind of service now? coolness!
im not sure with the metro manila busses, but usually the provincial busses have a tv and video player on board.
re: Lesson
You said it well:)
Oh btw, I luv this film,too!
hanep siguro kung pati mga tricycle meyron na rin mga video/tv screen,malamang maraming ma late sa trabaho nyahaha sensya na ymir,kung hanu hanu na naman pumasok sa aking mga imahesyones
Uncivilised people don’t have to think about going to space or advanced sciences. I say, the civilised way is better. We’re much better prepared to face serious threats than primitive people.
By the way, I’m of the opinion that human intelligence and instincts are forces of nature and what humans do will always be natural.
cheh:
that idea is actually a part of the film’s narration. not really an original of mine. hehe.
aldo rey:
but i think the serious threats that mankind is facing right now is actually man made. advance science (as far as i know) have not yet saved us from natural threats or disasters.
im not really advocating that we return to the primitive way of life. i am just trying to stir up a good discussion here. hehe.
mas ok pa mag bicycle na lang tayo sa EDSA
i haven’t seen that so i wont laugh…
i have asked myself several times naman..would it be better to live in a farm without any of these electronic gadgets that seem to run our lives at present, no tv, no radio..just the sky, roof on top of the head and birds chirping providing entertainment.
can we be ’simple’ again?
jinjiruks:
kaso with all the busses sa edsa nakakatakot mag bike doon tapos wala pa yatang bicycle lane.
thess:
it’s really a matter of preference. should you decide to live in simplicity, it’s wise to stay away from the city in order to avoid tempatations.
farm life may also require you to live without a ds lite. akin na lang yan.
no. i mean. ito na lang sana mode of transpo. alisin na ang bus, etc. makakatulong pa sa nature.
luko-luko, ano’ng iyo na lang ds lite ko? (psp yata bibilhin ko i swear ha ha), hindi pwede!
kasi isasama ka naming mag asawa sa farm, magpapapayat tayong 3 mwehehehe!
The Gods must be crazy is a really funny movie. I think the movie has a part 2 and also part 3. Honestly, I am so dependent with technology.
thess:
aba at napasama pa ako sa pagdi-dieta. hahaha!
charles:
it even reached part 5. however, the last three installment were considered unathorized.
I havent seen this movie! It sounds interesting!