You’ve got to wonder about people who post a number of comments to a blog in a short space of time, making some argument for a politician you’ve said something negative about, and in those comments they use a different name and email address, but each comment is branded by the same IP address. Were Bob, Sally, Dick and Jane all huddled around the same computer waiting to get their piece in? I somehow don’t think so. If you’re wondering where your comments have gone to, I flushed them. I’ve no use for trolls at all.
Yesterday, for us, started with idioms and ended with the the first part of the BBC docmentary “Walking with Cavemen” (British version, not the American with some cuts and Alec Baldwin narrating, which I read is disappointing), our current Netflix pic.
I’m lovin’ it.
I don’t care what may be wrong about it. Don’t much care how some of the depictions of Homo Sapien Sapiens’ ancestors and rivals may not be quite right, prosthetics and make-up only able to do so much, and don’t care about all the speculation or what’s left out. Don’t care what may have been learned in the past few years that will catapult some anthropologists to gang heads and howl in despair over the witlessness of people such as me who say, “I don’t care, I love it.” What they’ve actually accomplished best in this show is relating, “Things change, in small ways and big ways, and everything that changes then causes something else to change.” Sometimes in a matter of a few seconds they must communicate the above and beautifully manage it through a series of fast forwards showing changes in climate and environments then narrowing down to particulars, and the combination of artistry and writing makes it work, makes it real, lifts the usually trudging facts off textbook pages and converts them into a suspenseful story. No, I don’t need to be spoonfed but it’s nice to have as a supplement, especially with a child for whom it can be a good encouragement for learning more. The drama of they’ve managed to invest in thesfast forwards that slam dunk into different stages in the evolutionary process helps with comprehending time, time, time and the complexity of the process.
I’ve read complaints that the show is too adult for children as it doesn’t leave out sexuality and there’s oh yeah nudity and violence. If those complaints apply to Episdoe 1 of the DVD, they amount to, “Look, mom nurses infant! Look, biped romance with grooming rituals! Very hairy bipeds embracing and nuzzling!” What’s traumatic and disturbing about it? And, yes, our ancestors are shown nude walking about the savannah but it works, folks, it works. These people did a great job of stepping around modern barriers that would make it not work.
At one point where they were talking about dominant males and females and groupings and regroupings and demonstrating them via a story line, and weren’t ignoring the subject of sex, H.o.p. said, “I don’t get what they’re talking about, this isn’t making sense to me.” So the DVD was put on pause and some rephrasing of things was in order.
“Look, a cute baby!” H.o.p. said of the nursing infant child, until he got a closer look and had to think about it again, just how cute the infant may or may not be. “They look perferctly normal to each other,” I told him and that took care of that.
When the impulsive wannabe leader of a troupe made off with said baby, dangling it by its leg, I tucked my head between my arms and said, “Oh, no! I hope it’s going to be all right!” To which H.o.p. replied, “Mom, they’re just actors with a doll.”
When the mighty croc drug a leader of a troupe under the water, blood staining the screen, there’s really no gore, nothing much is show, it’s left to the imagination. H.o.p., aghast, said, “Why did it do that? What’s happening?” I explained that this is what crocs will do. “But they don’t mean to do it, do they?” H.o.p. said. “They don’t really mean to attack people do they? It’s an accident and they’re looking for something else?” And we had a talk about that.
So impressed was he with some scenes that he rewound several times to review.
I thought the acting was great. I think the cinematography and editing is great. If it’s considered dumbing down the subject, I appear to fit the target audience.
Actually, I’m impressed that though I’m aware much is pure speculation, I think the show is great. My eyebrows were raised several times as to depictions of appearance (most frequently with the seeming eventual preponderance of caucasoids), and raised several times more (most frequently in connection with Homo habilis’ impeccably styled, muttonchop sideburns) but the acting was so good and the prosthetics and mechanicals so good that the raised eyebrow didn’t intrude much. Because we’ve got real actors (I read highly trained actors, and it shows) there are some problems with body proportions but the quality of the acting overweighs the problem at least for me.
I’d say that I was probably more impressed than H.o.p., except he stayed stuck to the futon throughout and kept up a running stream of questions and comments.
Anyway, here we are again today watching “Walking with Cavemen” after some strenuous reading and discussion on trying to distinguish between fact and opinion and working with expanded number forms (which we’ve been doing all week). Much fun. Lots to talk about. H.o.p. likes! This Netflix subscription was a great idea.
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