So I went with several friends to see this movie the night it opened and it is indeed very good. It shows the 4 babies throughout their first year and really brings home that despite very different circumstances family is the same worldwide. The movie is stunning and well done and for the most part thoroughly enjoyable. And the babies are freakin' adorable and rather funny. Surprisingly, the movie is not narrated which is in some ways unfortunate because without narration sometimes it is hard to know the cultural "whys" of what is happening (for example, how much time does Bayar really spend alone with his brother) On the flip side, the narration would likely need subtitled which would have distracted from the cuteness.
And seriously, how can you not love a movie about Babies?
But....
I also have to say there were parts that bothered me. (and yes, this is the part where some of you will say I am over-analyzer. So be it. It's my blog and I'll over-analyze if I want to)
I am a parent of a child born in Africa- specifically Ethiopia (Ponijao the baby in the movie was born in Namibia) and I know what the average American believes about Africa. I know what they believe because people say stuff to me about KW or Africa and sometimes I wish they wouldn't say stuff to me because when they do I see how far we still have to go in matters of race and equity and peace. I know because people say things like "She isn't dark like some of those people over there" or the slightly more 'pc' version -"she doesn't look African".
Most Americans (even if they KNOW it isn't) view Africa as a country with no regard to the varied and diverse cultures that live on the CONTINENT. But more so than that, many (even maybe most) Americans believe that the Africans featured on the pages of National Geographic represent the way ALL Africans live- naked, dusty and primitively. And unfortunately the producers chose to use a tribal family as their representation of Africa, which for many will only confirm that belief. The families are all portrayed very respectfully but there are several juxtapositions that continue to perpetuate the belief that Africans are less civilized and Africa is savage and primitive. There were 3 that stood out the most.
1. 2 of the families are urban, and 2 are rural/traditional. The Mongolian family appeared to be somewhat nomadic (although without narration it was hard to be totally sure) and certainly lived in the countryside of Mongolia with their cattle. But they had a electricity and a satellite dish. The Namibian family had no modern anything.
2. In each family there were at least a few scenes of dad's interacting with the babies/family. Each family EXCEPT the Namibian family. The only time the men were seen at all, they were riding on horses/donkeys past the women as they walked. Not hard to see how that would translate into what many already believe about African American dads in this country
3. And in the most notable example- there was this series of scenes: USA baby interacting with the pet cat, Japanese baby interacting with the pet cat, Mongolian baby interacting with the pet cat, and finally the Namibian baby interacting with the...... flies. Seriously? What message does that send? Later on in the movie there are several scenes of Ponijao playing with the pet dogs- those certainly could have been cut into the "pet" scenes for a more balanced presentation.
Now I recognize that none of these things are particularly horrible in and of themselves. And for those Americans who actually have an accurate world view they are likely harmless- but for how many people do these scenes continue to reinforce the notion that Africans are barely more than animals, living naked, chewing on the bones found on the ground (which Ponijao also does in several scenes) And long term, if we as a society believe these images are representative of Africa, then it is any wonder our policies and practices continue to harm the continent and why we as a society don't feel the same compulsion to get involved in the issues that effect Africa and her people. For many people, these images are too different, too disconnected from our beliefs and understanding and for them, bridging the differences in order to see our shared humanity is too far to go and we are left divided.
I was reading an interview with the director and he said this (which is fairly disturbing in it's own right) "There is something universal in the American way of raising children. What you do here today, we'll be doing in the rest of the world tomorrow." Wow if that isn't a scary view of the world's future. And in all seriousness, the babies that seemed the happiest and most content were the babies who had none (or few) of the things that American parents seem to believe that our children MUST have.
There's probably a lesson in there somewhere.
