Death of Nixau, star of THE GODS MUST BE CRAZY

[Steve Smith]

Title: Death of Nixau

Xposted From: Visual Communications Discussion [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Jay Ruby   Those of you familiar with John Marshall's film N!ai know about the racist and very popular film, The Gods must be Crazy.  If you do not know it, I recommend an essay in the book, Image Ethics that I edited with Larry Gross and John Katz which details the digusting behavior of the producer, Jamie Uys.  Today in the Chicago Tribune is an obituary for N!xau, the "star" of the Gods.  The writer of the obituary continues the ignorant tradition of talking about this man as if he was totally unaware of the "modern world."  Sad.   Jay Ruby N!XAU, 59 Bushman in film `The Gods Must Be Crazy' Advertisement  Associated Press July 6, 2003 WINDHOEK, Namibia -- N!xau, the diminutive bushman catapulted from the remote sandswept reaches of the Kalahari Desert to international stardom in the film "The Gods Must Be Crazy" has died, police said Saturday. He had suffered from tuberculosis in the past. His age was estimated at 59. Police in the remote area of Tsumkwe, in the Namibian part of the Kalahari where the bushman lived, did not have details of how or when he died. His name is a usual transliteration of his tribal language, which uses clicking noises that have no English translation. The "Gods Must Be Crazy" became a worldwide hit and a top-grossing foreign film after its release in 1980. Audiences swooned over N!xau's portrayal of an earnest bushman with a sheepish smile whose discovery of a Coca-Cola bottle sets off a comedy of errors. N!xau starred in several sequels before returning to life as a herdsman, raising cattle and vegetables. When the San bushman was discovered by the South African film director, Jamie Uys, he had minimal exposure to modern life before being cast. The San are indigenous hunter-gatherers who number about 100,000. Not knowing the value of paper money, he let his first wages, $300, blow away. Copyright © 2003, Chicago Tribune ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Improved archives! Searching Chicagotribune.com archives back to 1985 is cheaper and easier than ever. New prices for multiple articles can bring your cost as low as 30 cents an article: http://www.chicagotribune.com/archives -- **************************************************************************  JAY RUBY Temple University PO Box 128, Mifflintown, PA 17059 voice - 717-436-9502                       fax - 215-204-1410  My Web page is http://astro.temple.edu/~ruby/ruby/   --- You are currently subscribed to african-cinema-conference as: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To unsubscribe, forward this message to [EMAIL PROTECTED]