Response

documentary “Babies” took four babies from different ethnic and cultural backgrounds from different parts of the world; Ponijao in Namibia; Bayarjargal in Mongolia; Mari in Tokyo, and Hattie in San Francisco, and followed them from birth until their first birthday. Though there were no narration from the film maker, it was clear as to what the story was telling. These babies were giving us a view of their lives side-by-side, showing us ways in which they are the same, even across culturally, despite the way they were nurtured. Likewise, how different they’ve evolved based different selection pressures in their culture. Though these babies, through their culture, have developed into their own identities, there are moments in which they show how similar they are, nonetheless. What these babies all have in common regardless of where they are in the world is their developmental stages. All four babies reached a milestone in their lives at roughly the same time. They rolled, crawled and walked all around the same age. They, laughed, cried, pooped and played in the same ways. They show similarities in their development of play; you see their playful interactions with others around them, whether it’s their parents or other children around them or when they are left to play by themselves. We watched Mari getting frustrated as she tries to put a spindle through the hole of a disc; watched Bayar attempt at getting a hold of a roll of toilet paper that he manages to unravel, once he got a hold of it, he began taking bites out of it and seem to be having fun doing so. We watched as these babies show their curiosity for the things around them and even the curiosity of self-discovery. We watched as Ponijao looks underneath her loincloth to s...

... middle of paper ...

...be common practice in Ponijao’s and Bayar’s culture. But if we would look beyond all of those aspects of their lives, we will see the happiness and contentment on the faces of those babies. We see the expression of love and affection from mother towards baby. We see that the mothers are very nurturing to their babies; they sang to them, talked to them and held them close. Other ways in which the babies show the impact of cultural selection pressures are the ways in which they interact with the animals around them. While Bayar shows no fear sitting between two goats and patting then on their backs, nor when he was surrounded by the herd of cows. But Mari, in contrast, seem terrified of the caged gorilla and started to cry when her mother took her to see the gorilla while at the zoo. Family closeness and gatherings were also one of the difference in cultures.