Seven Up/7 Plus Seven

I actually suffered through/watched My Generation last night and decided to clean my brain out by starting the Up series as part of my documentary watching project. I'm sure the creator of that terrible show was inspired by this groundbreaking series.

So far I've gotten through Seven Up and 7 Plus Seven. I can't find a trailer anywhere for this thing, which makes some sense because it began in 1964. The whole thing is basically interviewing a group of 14 7 year olds about what they think about politics, "colored" people, what their future holds, the class system of England, and other topics. The way they respond to these questions was surprisingly very honest. That was something that was very interesting to see, actually. I imagine that the 7 year olds would unknowingly just let a stranger into their lives, but the follow up with the 14 year old was the same. They seemed to be annoyed or shy about answering some of the questions, but they still seemed to answer truthfully.

The change in perspective from 7 to 14 years old, and even the change from kid to kid, class to class, was interesting. I remember being 14 and looking back on my thoughts and opinions as a 7 year old and thinking, how stupid. And unfortunately, their thoughts are captured on camera.

I'm excited to continue. This thing goes every 7 years until they're 42.