Summary In the film Babies there are four babies from four different cultural backgrounds, languages and socioeconomic statuses. While each babies’ development is different, they have one thing in common, they nurtured by those around them. The first baby is Ponijao who is the youngest of nine children from the village of Namibia, South Africa; baby Baya from Mongolia, East Asia; Hattie Bradshaw from San Francisco, California in the United States, and Mari from Tokyo, Japan. The director of this film shows how the babies develop from infancy to toddlerhood at different developmental stages. As you watch the film, you see the babies develop physically, socially and cognitively. Culture and socioeconomic status provided these families with the …show more content…
The way individuals raise their children determines on their culture and family dynamics. In the beginning, we meet Ponijao from Namibia, South Africa being raised by his mom and another woman in their village, there is no father in the picture. He grew around siblings, other children and animals in his village. It was normal for his mother’s bathe him with saliva like an animal. While that may strange to others, it is completely normal for Ponijao’s family. Ponijao family dynamic is not nuclear, which makes it complex. Complexity happens when the nuclear family is not present in the living arrangement or parenting style. Roles and relationships differ from the normal man and woman household or marriage structure (Carlson & Meyer, …show more content…
Many of us can relate to baby Hattie and baby Mari, being raised with developmentally appropriate resources. However, this film has shown me that all cultures and family dynamics are different and there is no wrong way or right way. All four babies received all basic needs and were nurtured by their parents, which made them all the same regardless of their culture or
... the United States, the simple and hard work of the midwife Monique sharply contrasts Holloway’s perspective. With the death of Bintou during childbirth, Holloway realizes the reality of the situations Monique and other midwives faced everyday (88). When complications emerge, midwives lack the equipment to help save the mother and child. In the United States, children are normally born in a hospital or within a drive away from a health center.
This film chose to focus on very young people struggling to survive in poverty. All three of the boys are younger than 18 years old and thus are in an important developmental stage. The film gives us a view into the effects of a disadvantaged upbringing on a child’s development. These three boys grew up in situations defined by poverty and familial dysfunction and for two of them, the after effects are clear. Harley has severe anger issues and is unable to function at school. Appachey lashes out uncontrollably and has multiple diagnosed behavioral disorders. Both boys have had run-ins with the law and dealings with the juvenile court system. This solidifies the argument espoused in Marmot’s The Health Gap that children from lower socioeconomic backgrounds face significant developmental challenges. The evidence suggests that children who grow up in poverty have cognitive and developmental delays and suffer from greater risk of mental and behavioral disorders. As shown in the film, Harley and Appachey both suffer from extreme behavioral and cognitive deficits and exhibit the corresponding poor scholastic and societal performance which will serve to further negatively affect their
Babies is a 2010 French film, by Thomas Balmes, that follows four babies from birth to their first steps around the world. Two of the babies are from rural areas: Panijao from Opuwo, Namibia, and Bayarjargal from Bayanchandmani, Mongolia. The other two babies are from urban areas: Mari from Tokyo, Japan, and Hattie from San Francisco, United States. This documentary is different because the whole film is from the babies perceptive. Everything that is shot is at the babies level. There is very little dialogue throughout this film. The focus is not on the parents at all. You will see the parent’s faces through out the film. But mostly all you see is nipples, arms, hands and their chest. You see the parts the baby tends to have the most interest
Babies is a documentary that centers around four diverse infants throughout their first year on Earth. These four babies are born in four different areas of the world. The film demonstrates how people from different parts of the world can grow up completely different than other parts, while still sharing many similarities. Ponijao is an African baby who is born in Opuwo, Namibia. Mari is a young Japanese girl who was born in Tokyo, Japan. Bayar is a baby who was born in Bayanchandmani, Mongolia. The fourth baby’s name is Hattie, born in San Francisco, California. While viewing the documentary, many theories and concepts in psychology are portrayed.
In the video, each toddler is at a different stage of development and has achieved milestones associated with their age, such as –
The film Babies is a film that follows four babies from San Francisco, Tokyo, Mongolia, and Namibia through their first year of life. The film has no talking or narrative. In many scenes, you don’t even see adults. This helps you get to see a baby’s perspective on the world. This movie showed how different cultures are when it comes to raising children.
Mccarthy, Laura F. "What Babies Learn In the Womb." Parenting. Meredith Corporation, 2014. Web. 23 Apr. 2014.
In having the BabyThinkItOver simulator baby for a weekend I have learned so much about what it takes to raise and care for an infant. The RealCare baby helped me realize how much it really takes to be a good parent, in addition to bringing to light how many resources a real baby would consume.
One fact I learned from the film is that our human bodies want to make babies even if we do not. Our bodies work to achieve this every day. In today’s technology the doctors as well as other people studying childbirth can take a closer look inside the body to see what is really going on and how it is happening. The new life begins when two people or two animals come together to create life. It starts with the DNA and this is what makes everyone different and not the same, this also help with the immune systems.
“Babies”. Is a documentary made by the Thomas Balmés. It offers a window on the lives of four infants in four completely different cultures. This is not a usual kind of documentary; there are no narration, no subtitles and actual dialogue was very minimal. The film explores childhood rituals, enculturation, socialization and parenthood. I will try to explore each of these themes and try to make the case that behaviors, values and fears are learned not something congenital. It has, in my opinion, comparative perspectives and different methods in rearing children in different societies. It achieves this by cutting the scenes in certain ways to show the differences between these different children. For example, in one part of the film, both Bayarjargal (the Mongolian child) and Mari (the Japanese child) were playing with their pet cats and then the two scenes were edited to a shot of Ponijo (the Namibian child) looking interested in flies. The four children developed in somewhat similar ways. However, there are differences in their behaviors due to the enculturation by seeing their parents or siblings who were doing what they thought to be the norms and the obvious landscape in which they are brought up. Two of the kids were born in rural areas (Namibia and Mongolia) and two were born in urban areas (the United States and Japan). The mothers of these infants were interviewed and chosen to be in the film
In the film The Others by Alejandro Amenabar, the children play different roles that causes their mother to reach a breaking point. Throughout the film the children mention that mother did something horrible, but it is unclear what she did till the end. The mother ended up killing her two children then pointing the gun on herself. There are many different reasons why a person may kill someone and themselves. In her case there were many factors that played into her actions. Her children were the main factor of her decision to perform this act. They slowly drained her, and made her reach a breaking point she could not come back from. Their sun allergy causing them to live in darkness and isolation played a big role in this occuring. Having to care for them by herself, and their actions and attitudes were also big factors that affected her mental health greatly.
The French documentary Babies shows the first year of development of four different babies who live in four completely different environments. The film follows Ponijao, a little girl from Namibia, Bayar, a little boy from Mongolia, Mari, a girl from Tokyo, and Hattie, a girl from San Francisco. Even though the babies live in very dissimilar parts of the world, their physical, cognitive, and social development seem to all follow a set pattern. On the other hand, the babies learn to do some activities distinctive to their environment by watching their parents and siblings. Therefore, Babies provides evidence to support both the nature and nurture sides of the debate.
The documentary looks at all these skills and qualities that are being built every day as a child grows, family influences and character difference within the different age groups and having a better understanding to how children develop in different situations.
I found the video “Inside the Womb” to be a really great documentary on the journey of conception to birth. Being a mother, and currently expecting another, I am very familiar with fetal development, but I found this video to be extremely informative and especially great for those who haven’t experienced it first hand or know much about it. What I find truly amazing is just how much crucial development the fetus will undergo during the embryonic period, which is within the first eight weeks of pregnancy. Some women may not even realize that they are pregnant until around that time. Especially if they find themselves in a situation where the pregnancy was unplanned. This shows why it is a good idea to prepare for a pregnancy ahead of time. It
1.) The shows I chose to watch are shows that children usually don't grow out of or are attracted to at a younger and older age.