State of the Arts Blog

Mixed feelings about “Babies”

The trailer for the upcoming doc "Babies" has been floating around the internet for a few months now, but after watching it a few times today, I am curious how it makes people feel.

The premise of the movie is simple - and smart: Send crews out to follow the first year in the lives of four babies living in very different parts of the world, and then compare and contrast. Thus we meet Ponijao in Namibia, Bayarjargal in Mongolia, Mari in Tokyo, and Hattie, who lives in San Francisco.

Can there be a more important issue than the way children are raised? Possibly not. I am keen to see the film, but I have to admit my heart-strings were being yanked pretty hard by this trailer, almost to the point where it feels like manipulation.

Of course, that's the whole point of a trailer: manipulate your interest so you'll go see the film. But for some reason this feels different.