I went with my sister and watched the movie Babies this weekend. The trailer was so cute, and so was the movie!
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVYszQrKo9g[/youtube]
The movie follows a year or so of development in the life of 4 babies, one in Namibia, one in Mongolia, one in Tokyo, and one in San Francisco.
It is astounding to watch the Namibian baby, Ponijao, and his mother. This family literally has nothing, but he does the exact same things as babies around the world. Playing with stuff he finds on the floor. Blowing raspberries. Laughing with his mama. Pulling the dog’s tail.
What I loved about this movie is that it celebrated the universal personhood and humanity of babies in so many diverse cultures, but at the same time gave us a fascinating glimpse into motherhood in other lands. And a window into how mothers do anything to care for their babies.
The Namibian mother had to wipe baby poop off herself. The Mongolian mother cleaned her baby up with Magic Mommy Spit.
Another thing that struck me was the noise level of the babies in the more developed countries. There was a beautiful silence in the lives of the Banyar and Ponijao, the Mongolian and Namibian babies. The soundtrack of their lives was the sound of their mothers, the birds, the wind in the trees, water in a stream. The soundtrack of the Western, developed country babies- Japanese Mari and American Hattie – was so very mechanically loud. Cars, machinery, canned recorded music. It has made me think of making an effort to create a culture of silence, even if only for an hour or two, in our own home.
If you go, be aware that even though the movie is officially rated PG it should be rated NG for National Geographic-type topless images. There’s lots of extended breastfeeding and lots of extended breasts!
Firedup (2)
Aurora (1)
derpaderp (1)
Kaira (1)
Kathy (1)
Sarah (1)
Vickie (1)
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I almost went and saw this movie last Friday but I read a review that one of the babies strangled a cat with string and that the director left this in the film. That scared me a little. Is this true? I wanted to wait and ask someone who saw it before I went.
In one scene, the older sibling of the Mongolian baby is pulling the pet cat on a leash. The cat doesn’t want to go so he is pulling him, but the cat shows up in later scenes playing with children and is apparently unharmed. Other scenes the baby tugs on the cats ear, too.
Also, you might want to be aware that the Mongolians are farmers of some kind and the parents do farm work, including dressing a goat, while the baby plays nearby.
Anyone who has ever tried to leash-train a cat (*raises hand*) knows that the most typical response on the part of the cat is passive resistance: going completely limp. That’s what happened in Mongolia. I’m surprised anybody thought the cat was hurt.
Be warned also, when deciding whether to take kids, there is a scene in which two baby boys… well, let’s say they are discovering their bodies. ALL of their bodies. Most people who have little boys know what I’m talking about, am I right?
I was struck by the difference in dirtiness between the more-developed and less-developed cultures. Poni crawls through dust, which covers his whole body, and chews on bones he finds lying outside on the ground. Bayar crawls, nude from the waist down, through the same field that the goats graze and poop in. Mari and Hattie are in immaculate surroundings, mostly indoors. In one absurd scene, Hattie’s dad even uses a lint roller to neaten up her pajamas. Yet Poni and Bayar seemed healthy (at least no evidence of illness is shown on screen), and it’s worth noting that allergies are not a problem in Namibia or Mongolia.
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Thanks. That doesn’t disturb me. The review I read made it seem like a child maliciously strangled the cat. Thank you for clearing that up.
Wow. Sounds interesting indeed.
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I can hardly wait this movie. #BabyBliss
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