After watching the movie and reading the text I was left with a few questions. Which depiction of the !Kung culture is closer to accuracy; Jamie Uys "The Gods Must Be Crazy" or John Marshall's "N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman".
Jamie tells a story of the N!xau not having a use for money. Jamie pays N!xau but he finds the money blown away as shown in the movie. But John Marshall reveals that N!xau does have a use for money. He infact worked as a cook when Jamie found him.
Jamie Uys documentary portrays the !Kung as a perfect culture: no crimes, no punishment, no violence, no laws. They are unaware of the world that exist outside their culture: the good, incompetent, and bad Africans.
John Marshall representation of the !Kung culture in "N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman" is completely opposite of perfect. This documentary tells a story of marriage between young childeren, difficult hunting, sexaul conflicts, jealous, and death.
John Marshall's "N!ai, The Story of a !Kung Woman" appears to be a more realistic representation to the Western view of African culture.
The text states the stories Jamie Uys told reviewers varied and after being interviewed 10 years later, he was still unable to reveal the truth. Therefore John Marshall and N!xau were left to contradict his story.
So I'm unsure and confused as to which story is closer to reality?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment