For my blog on cultural transitions I watched the
documentary God Grew Tired of Us.
This documentary was released in 2007 and tells the story of Sudanese refugees
who fled their native southern Sudan when civil war broke out in 1988. The
refugees came to be known as the lost boys and were forced to walk hundreds of
miles through the desert to Ethiopia. When Ethiopia’s government fell in 1991
the lost boys were forced to flee once again, this time back through south
Sudan to Kakuma refugee camp in northern Kenya. The film is set some years on
into the future and follows four boys on their journey to America.
The U-Curve theory is a theory of cultural adaptation
positing that migrants go through fairly predictable phases—excitement and
anticipation, shock and disorientation, followed by a period of adjustment—in
adapting to a new cultural situation. In the anticipation and excitement phase
the migrant might be excited to be in their new setting with only limited
apprehension. In the shock and disorientation phase the migrant will more than
likely experience something called culture shock. Culture shock is “a
relatively short-term feeling of disorientation and discomfort due to the lack
of familiar cues in the environment” (Martin & Nakayama, 2013, p. 338).
During this same phase the migrant might also experience a brief crisis of identity.
The third and final phase of the U-Curve theory is the adjustment phase. In
this phase the migrant grows comfortable with their surroundings and knows just
how much of themselves they need to change to adapt. One thing to note about
the U-Curve theory is that for long-term adaptation, the U-curve is often too
simplistic of a concept. The migrant often goes through a series of U-curves,
ups and downs; and this is the way that I will view the concept while
connecting it to the documentary.
 |
| A visual of the U-Curve Theory |
The U-Curve theory can be seen in action throughout the
movie. When the boys arrive at Kakuma one of them talks about how he does not
want others to see him cooking because it is viewed as a job that is not for a
man in their culture, jokingly pronouncing, “a woman will say, why marry a man
who can cook?” Then when the four boys are getting ready to go to America they
bristle at the prospects of apartments, showers, and electricity. One of them
announces, “I have never used electricity—so I imagine it is really very hard for
me to do that.” Then the day comes for them to leave for America and they all
look happy, excited, and confident. At this point they are at the top of the
U-curve. But little by you can see the looks on the boys’ faces become more and
more nervous as the journey goes on. One of them looks at himself in the mirror
in the bathroom at Brussels, where all of the lost boys had a great deal of
difficulty with the escalators, almost as if to assure himself, yes, you can do
this.
Upon arrival in America the boys are taken to their new
apartments; where they learn how to use things like lights, refrigerators,
toilets, showers, sinks, and even have to be told they are not to share beds.
After all of this the boys are taken to the grocery store where they are all blown
away with the variety and marvel of the American grocery store. At this point,
“they truly are surviving,” and are beginning to work themselves up off the
bottom of the U-curve. Seven days in the boys are very contemplative, perhaps
feeling guilty for leaving behind their fellow lost boys, “if I am in a good
place, why not them?” One of them ponders.
At this point the boys are very nearly back to the top of
the curve. They are excited about the prospect of being able to work in America
while at the same time retaining their native culture because “a person without
culture is like a human being without land”. Right after this it is Christmas
time in America and the lost boys are curious as to what exactly the point or
meaning behind American Christmas is. “They have many questions, but few people
to ask”.
Very shortly after Christmas the boys begin working new
jobs. They rarely see each other due to the strange work schedules they all
have. This puts them back into a state of culture shock and back at the bottom
of the U-curve. They wonder why it is so difficult for family to be together in
the States. They also wonder why people are so unfriendly here. One year into
their American experience and the lost boys are feeling lonely; mostly because
they do not get to spend time together anymore but also because they miss the
comforts and cultural norms of the refugee camp.
Their spirits do begin to be lifted though as they start
to make money and go to school. This is a major milestone for them because it
is the reason they came to America in the first place. Now they are able to buy
things for themselves and send extra money home to Africa. Shortly after this,
one of the lost boys, John, gets a letter from his family in Africa; it turns
out they are all alive for the most part and are living in a refugee camp in
Uganda. This is a game changer for John, the unofficial leader of the lost boys
in the film. He is forced to go back to work and drop out of school in order to
send money home for his family. This proves to be another turning point for the
lost boys and not a turn for the better. One of the lost boys suffers a mental
breakdown and several of them begin to let go of their native culture in favor
of the fast, easy lifestyle of America.
In the end the boys come back from the brink of yet again
another cultural shock wave and begin to adapt to the new setting for good,
realizing that while there will be struggles along the way, there is much more
good than bad about their situation. They work to spread awareness about the
state of affairs in Sudan. This proves to be very fulfilling for the lost boys
and I will not go into further detail because I prefer not to give away the
movies ending.
Works
Cited:
Martin,
J.N., & Nakayama, T.K. (2013). Intercultural Communication in Contexts (6th
ed.) New York, NY: McGraw Hill.
God
Grew Tired of Us. Dir. Christopher D. Quinn and Tommy
Walker. Perf. Panther Bior, John Bul Dau, and Nicole Kidman. National
Geographic Films, 2006. DVD.
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