Culture and Traditions
Today as I got home from the hospital, I turned on Discovery Channel since there was nothing interesting on and they had a programme on about a tribe in the Amazon. The ‘XinYu’ tribe in the heart of a Amazon protection area in Brazil.
They had many wierd customs and most of their body was bare, instead they were painted with many different colours on their backs and bodies. Bright yellows, whites, reds. Maybe the temperature plays a part in how much they wear =P.
Their customs and traditions were very… unusual. Such as wrestling and scraping their skin with wood (medicinal properties) even though it was painful. Which made me think how cool the human race is and what traditions we have depending on were we live.
However we want them to keep their traditions and so we keep them isolated from the outside world and don’t teach them new stuff. Don’t give them things such as television and refridgerators or hardly any electrical equipment to help them with their lives. Isn’t that just selfish and cruel? We are allowed to go in with our new drycleaned shirts and cameras and expect to film them and keep things the way they are. BUT THEY ARE PEOPLE TOO! They aren’t animals or savages. They are just like you and me. What makes them not privilaged to have these things, what we call necessities?
At the end of the documentary, the person says something about trying to keep their culture and traditions. Bullshit. Just mind your own business and stop filming them to make them seem like idiots. Sure. They are interesting but they deserve a life. They deserve to be educated and go into the world. You and me go on that vacation trip or a drive to the city and think it’s simple and easy when they have to do things manually. No electricity, no clean water, no needs of easy communication.
Sometimes it makes me think that humans are something thinking they are doing something really nice and good but in fact are being really cruel. I mean if you really are going to be nice, leave them alone in the first place and stop going into their lives with the technology and fancy clothes. I mean wouldn’t it make them think that they are like animals or something?
Just a thought.
If people actually read this. Flame away.
I can’t afford the Discovery Channel…