Consumerism, Americanised Compared to the Gods Must Be Crazy

Consumerism is the parephrenalia that is known to some and unknown to others. No matter what cultural background we come from every person has consumed in one form or another. Its how people deal with the products which bring individuals into the cycle of consumerism. The americanised consuming environment, and the way humans are components of a destructive consumerist. Bruce Dawes poems show that that is the way of consumerism and it will never change, whereas The Gods Must Be Crazy emphasises that we don’t need consumption in our lives to survive, that it only brings anger and jealousy to those family members and friends around us. So to what length can we really resist the force of consumerism, individuals have to become dissatisfied with consumerism before it draws a person to far in.

No matter who we are, conumerism will always be alongside us for the entire journey of life. Individuals need the simple necessities to survive, Its how people percieve the temptation of consumerism and how they might be able to withstand it. In Bruce Dawes peom Americanised, the mother (consumerism) is stating that the world outside of where she controls is dangerous, ‘she loves him… but will not allow him out’ in this line the hyperbole is stating the fact that the whole world is outside in the street, and that little boy that she has trapped in her arms cannot get outside. The boy cannot resist the temptation so he is trapped! In the gods must be Crazy the kids are free to do what they like, they make games from what they find from nature at th very beginning of the movie, it is the smplest yet healthiest of lifestyles. When they see the plane flying through the sky, the use of narrative perspective tells the audience that its a strange object even though the audience knows of that technology.

Consumerism is addictive once you’ve had a taste, its hard not to have another,. The line “she loves him…’ from the poem Americanised, is repeated numerous times, because she is in control of the realationship that he has with comsumerism (her). The whole world is just made up of things, most with meaning to people but in the end theyre just materialistic objects forced on us by society. When the coke bottle first appeared in the Gods Must Be Crazy it made the viewers question how weird it really was because In the line “it looked like water, but it was harder than anything else in the world”, makes the use of narrative perspective by people seeing the world of the bushmen through the bushmens eyes. The coke bottle was useful, but it brought anger and jealousy to the tribe so they couldn’t keep it, ithis was the first sign of withstanding the plight of consumerism.

Everyday there is a new traggic story that is broadcast all over television. Because we hear of tragedies so often we care less and less about them , we are desensitised from the reality of what is really happening with the wordl. The Not-So-Good-Earth is a clear example of desensitisation. The line ’25-inch screen’, is stating the reality that is the chinese peoples lives, there small and on tv no one cares about them. The technique black humour gets you to agree with the person who doesn’t care about the chinese men, showing emotional detatchment from reality.

The Not-So-Good-Earth distances people from the real problems. In the film ‘The Gods Must Be Crazy’ when its decided that the coke bottle is some form of evil, it is decided that it needs to go back to the gods. They had realised that keeping it was harmful and it would only bring unhappiness to the tribe. Their lives are made humerous because of the documentary style, with voiceovers, the montage of clips of the natural world depict the coke bottle into an unconsumerised environment. The long shot places them in context of the African environment. When the coke bottle first appeared on screen, sound was used to exaggerate how strange it was to them but to us as well, using narrative perspective by making us see the coke boottle through the bushmans eyes “ it looked like water, but it was harder than anything else in the world.”

‘Today,’ she tells him, putting on her hat (shes off to nurse and invalid called the world) ‘Today ill let you play with mummys things.’ This line of Americanised

Humans get desensitised from the things that they watch on television, The Not-So-Good-Earth is a clear example of that.

Bruce dawes poems Americanised and The Not-So-Good-Earth express that we are to advanced in technology that there will always be an urge within us to consume, thus the gods must be crazy