The "Mythology" Gods Must Be Crazy

One of my favourite movies ever is the climatic, all-telling story about Western civilization, the Gods Must Be Crazy. I think I first watched it in Grade 8 Social, and although the plot line itself is humorous, it's a down-to-earth story of Xi, a member of the Bushmen tribe in the Kalahari Desert who discover a Coke bottle (a nice symbol of Western culture), who embarks on a journey to get rid of this "evil".

Xi, embarks through the "Road of Trials", as he tests his aptitude through the Western World to find the "edge of the world", or what the Bushmen think is the edge of the world. He has to doze off a couple of stumbling blocks on his way, including a biologist who is interested in the animals of the area, a local teacher who can't find her way around, and guerrillas with what is seen as a civil war. Xi doesn't even now where this comes from, but he's able to pass the "Innermost Cave" by help of some natural cause. This is one Greek Mythology archetype that I find striking in this movie.

Although he's really stumbling his way on, Xi finds what he must do, and throws off the Coke bottle with the help of the biologist, Andrew. Because he has only learned from his tribe, he shoots farm cattle with the arrow he is carrying on his back, and is sent to jail because of this. It doesn't seem to hinder Xi's effort to get rid of the Coke bottle, showing another myth archetype, the fact that the hero keeps on going to succeed what he left for despite what he has faced.

He eventually returns home by walking, where so many people are blocked off a barrier set by the government of this particular place. It shows the peculiarness of him, an unlikely hero who in the end returns back home and is greeted well. You can clearly see nothing has bothered Xi, as he returns to his normal life-style, without remembering anything.

So I recommend watching this film, because not only is it a classic, but it is inspired by the same thing we study today in mythology. There were 4 sequels to this I believe, so obviously this isn't the end for Xi and his interesting journey.