56 Up

56 Up was interesting, but I wouldn't try to watch it all in one sitting, and they should've delineated the classes more clearly.

For anyone who doesn't know, the premise of the "Up" documentaries is to take a bunch of people, and interview them/put out a documentary every 7 years, starting at age 7. Initially I think it was supposed to show contrast in socioeconomic status, and I think they should've stuck with that. My biggest problem with it was it didn't delineate clearly enough between the rich kids and the poor kids. I really had no idea who was who, with the exception of the one rich girl who never had to get a job.

It was interesting to see what paths they all took. Some of them became lawyers; some of them were basically just homeless; the one guy worked in a warehouse his whole life, but also had 60+ foster children. It was kind of sad seeing all the people that life didn’t turn out well for. A lot of them got married, though; married young and then stayed together or remarried. It seemed like people who have kids young are better off there than here. They seem to have a really solid welfare system over there.

I watched it in bits and pieces, 10-40 minutes at a time. I probably would've gotten bored with it if I tried to watch the whole thing in one sitting. It was confusing when they showed the two lawyers at the same time. I couldn't keep straight who was who. I think I'd be able to relate to an American version better, and it would be more interesting. I wonder if the divorce rate is lower in Britain. They all seemed to kind of have a "once you get married you just stick it out" mentality, although a lot of them were remarried.