I want to tell all my friendsand family to give up about 14 hours of their time. I think that the "Up Series" is as important to watch as "Roots". There are 7 episodes in all. Just trust me. Director Michael Apted interviewed a handful of 7-year olds in England in 1963. Then he revisted them every seven years. Simple concept. "Give me the child until he is 7, I will show you the man." Kids from different socioeconomic backgrounds. They sampled children from elite private schools to orphanages. Originally, I think the plan was just to see if these kids were destined to stay in the class they were born into. OK. I don't want to give anything away, but I want to give people a reason to watch these movies.
I am obsessed with these people. The stardom-obsessed freaks on Fear Factor, Idol, Real World, and any other modern reality show have nothing on these extraordinarily ordinary people. I love little kids, so the first installment, "7-Up" was wonderful. I saw these little kids with hopes and dreams, and the world at their doorstep. They all had cute English accents and are dressed in tidy school uniforms. Irresistable.
Then, remembering the torture of adolescence, I was drawn to "14-Up". Knowing that childhood is the shortest part of life, I wanted to catch them before they looked like full-blown adults. I wanted to know if they were still hopeful, if they were gawky teens, sullen, etc. "21-Up" would surely show what these kids were shaping up to become as adults. And since I was around that age at the time I first saw the series, "28-Up" was important to me. By the time I got through all those years of history, I was hopelessly hooked.
After watching the Roger Ebert interview with Michael Apted, I learned that there is at least one person who watched all the movies in a 24-hour period. We came close. It probably took us two weeks. That was over a year ago, and the series only went up to age 42. We finally stumbled upon "49-Up" in Hollywood Video. It has been checked out for at least a month. I snatched it two days ago, and Marky and I dove in.
What is it about this series? I guess I find it interesting that every human has a story. No matter how dull a person's life may seem at first, there is a story there. And the idea of a self-fulfilling prophecy, for the good or the bad. Also, not to judge a book by its cover.
I guess I just needed to get my love for this series off my chest. I know everyone has a busy life, but if you are about to pop in "Tommy Boy" or "Zoolander" for the 13th time, give the "Up Series" some thought.
