Tsotsi

Summary

Tsotsi is based on the rough life of the poor population in South Africa. The main character tsotsi, meaning thug in English, is brought up in the slums of Johannesburg . He had an abusive father and mother that died from aids. Because of the troubles he ran away when he was just a kid, but he was forced into a life of violence and gang activity. The only way for him to get by was to steal from the more fortunate. Tsotsi forms a gang with Aap, Butcher, and Boston. Even though those were the only people he had in his life they didn’t even know his real name. One day thotsi decides to rob this women’s car however once he got away shooting her in the leg, he found out that there was a baby in the car. Abandoning the car he takes the baby and decides to nurture it. He then forces Miriam a single mother in the neighborhood to feed the baby and help take care of it. This shows the bright side of tsotsi and that he’s not all bad after all. At the end he reunites the baby with the family, however he’s still emotionally attached to the baby. This showed that he actually cares about others and not just himself. 

Major theme

Poverty in South Africa is the main theme. Is Tsotsi really the evil cold blooded killer, or has he been forced into this kind of behavior because of the terrible living conditions he is put in and little opportunity into creating a better life. Not getting an education and just being around a troubled community gave Tsotsi no chance for a brighter future. Some of the other themes are gang violence, abusive family members, AIDS problem, animal abuse, etc. Tsotsi had a abusive father that he had no choice, but to run away from. This shows how your parents can have a negative or a positive effect on who you become. Also Tsotsi's mom died of AIDS that shows the impact of AIDS on the poor communities in Africa.  

Reaction

I really enjoyed the Film. It was very emotional; I didn't know how to feel about Tsotsi, Even though he took part in many criminal acts I feel like he didn't really have any other choices, because of the conditions he was put in.  I believe our environment shapes who we become. It's really sad to see that people really have to live in these conditions. The film captures the certain parts of Johannesburg really well. The picture on the right and below are actual pictures of that same City the movie was based in and the environment look about the same in the movie.