Topic > Analysis of the documentary film God Grew Tired of Us

In the documentary “God Grew Tired of Us” directed by Christopher Dillon Quinn, the audience is presented with the story of three young men, often called “Lost Boys of Sudan”, and their transition from life in Kenya to life in the United States. Through the use of visual juxtaposition, interviews, narrative from the boys, and humor in the film, the documentary opens our eyes to culture shock through the lens of the few lost boys who moved to America. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay The documentary begins by showing the natural landscape in Africa along with how people live their daily lives in Sudan. The public encounters images of the Sudanese people, their homes and their food sources. The topic shifts to the background event surrounding the missing boys, war footage, large groups of children and the harsh environment of the Sahara desert are shown. Through close-ups, we can see the desperation of the children who suddenly have to live a very different lifestyle. The audience feels a sense of horror through these shots, and the film continues to build on this by including close-ups of the missing boys, their facial expressions, their bodily condition, and how many of them were the same way. Later, the tone lightens when we see images of the refugees smiling and laughing with each other before leaving for America. The images of the kids looking around curiously and surprised by the abrupt change in environment, as well as experiencing culture shock for the first time, arouse humor in the audience. We can obviously see the shock that kids experience without words as they learn how to interact with objects in a more urban lifestyle and how they look at other people in public areas. The interviews later in the film show the audience things that are not It is understood so easily just through the images, and this is the emotional reaction of the lost boys to the change. An example would be interviewing the boys while they were still traveling to America. Through the narration of one of the missing boys, the audience gains a sense of sympathy towards him for the different and bad taste of airline food compared to home-cooked foods. Additionally, we learn the difference between the cultures of North America versus those of Africa through John Bul's account of the celebration of Christmas. The audience also listens to John's questions about how Christmas is celebrated in America and we feel amused by those questions because they seem so simple and basic that anyone can answer, but we can't answer them ourselves. Additionally, the humor throughout the film ties into the kids' culture shock. An example would be when John and Andrew were walking outside and saw children ice skating. For most of us, ice skating doesn't seem like such a scary thing to do. However, the lost boys, some of whom have probably fought the lions before, are afraid of ice skating and look like a wounded soldier in war while skating. Also, Daniel talked about how in a conversation with the boys in the Kakuma camp, they asked if there was a parliament in the United States, and Daniel smiled that there was no time for that here. This suggests a sense of loneliness that is already part of American culture and which is not as evident to the public. This way we have a broader understanding of what it must be like for kids to live on the other side of the world without even their parents. Kids in America have to work very hard..