Babies Movie Analysis

Babies

Babies, a popular 2006 indie-documentary, tells the story of four adorable infants as they progressed during their first year of life. Ponijao, from Namibia, Bayar, from Mongolia, Mari, from Tokyo, and Hattie from the U.S.A were the four children selected by filmmakers. Because each child chosen expressed a different cultural background, this allowed viewers to analyze on a broad scale the development of children and how it is relatively similar all over the world, with some minor disparities influenced by environment and parenting style. In this essay, I would like to compare and contrast each child using three major areas of psychological development as a point of reference; those being: the gross and fine motor skills, socio-emotional

development, and environmental influences.
Scientific research has revealed that babies typically reach motor-skill milestones around the same moment of time; for example—the pincer grasp, a fine skill, is very common to see at 9 months of age.

With that being said, it was unusual to see a child such as Bayar develop at a much slower rate than others. The fact he was delayed in walking (a gross motor skill), may have been attributed to the fact he didn’t have much social interaction. Fortunately, the other three children, whom were more lovingly nurtured, appeared to follow a more basic expectation of development. For instance, we can see at around 7-9 months, Mari is starting to firmly play with her toys using the pincer grasp. In like manner, we see a subsequent film shot of Hattie, also using the pincer grasp to eat a delicious banana. As for Ponijao, we saw her implementing the gross motor-skill of crawling, also at the 7-9 month mark; and by the end of her first year, she could walk on her

own.
As for socio-emotional development, the four infants each had their own unique personalities. As a result, we see that they had their own levels of temperament and attachment to parents. Ponijao, who received much love from her family, didn’t really show a fluctuation in attitude when she crawled away in seek of adventures, which would categorize her as an “easy” child of temperament. Similarly, Bayar didn’t cry when apart from his parents; but because he didn’t show much attachment to them when they were around, I would classify his type of attachment as “avoidant.” Mari, on the other hand, would get fussy in situations that she wasn’t comfortable in, revealing she would fall into the category of a “secure” kind of attachment.
Lastly, the environment plays a huge role in the development of babies.

There’s a noticeable difference between the children who were raised in a more privileged atmosphere versus those in abject poverty. I couldn’t help but notice that the children with more wealth, also had both parents present; whereas, both parents of Bayar were neglectful and although Ponijao had much love, it was only from women. Ironically, even though living conditions were more brutal (not to mention, the terrible hygiene!), I couldn’t help but notice how much more often Ponijao and Bayar would talk, laugh, dance, and appear overall happier. While money, good healthcare, and a more secured home might promise life longevity, I concluded from the documentary that: an environment that gives kids an opportunity to learn from independent experiences, appears to give social and emotional health to children, even if are in

poverty.
In conclusion, I thank the filmmakers of Babies for giving such a personal glimpse into the lives of these four infants. By comparing the gross and fine motor skills, socio-emotional development, and environmental influences, I was able to thoughtfully analyze and critique on a global level how different babies uniquely develop. I would like to implement some of the ideas and science I’ve learned from this documentary, so that I too one day can raise a healthy, happy baby!