…he made $80,000 in his second film in 1989
N Xau, a local who played in the film “The Gods Must Be Crazy,” earned $300 in the first film. He was 36 years old when he first encountered money. He didn’t know how to spend it. Coming from a culture that didn’t value material things, he didn’t have the skills to manage his income, although he used the money he earned to build his family a brick house with water and electricity.
He earned $80,000 in the second film, released in 1989. He quickly learned about money and capitalist life. With the fame that followed, he traveled all over the world and acted in other films.
He went to America, Paris, and Japan. He became a figure used by the white man. He became addicted to alcohol and cigarettes. His money ran out. After 1997, he returned to the Kalahari desert with his wife Kora, four daughters, and two sons.
He lived a modest life here with his tribe and family, farming until 2003. In July 2003, Xau left his house to collect firewood and didn’t return for three days. His family searched for him for days. On the 4th day of the search, he was found dead in a field. The police still have not announced the cause of Xau’s death.
The leading actor of the movie that we watched and laughed at dozens of times actually had a sad story. In fact, it was not his fault. The people of a geography where there was no material wealth and only a struggle for survival were introduced to the capitalist order, money and other pleasures, and perhaps the gods must have gone crazy.
©copied