Words: 1315
This documentary made me feel like I was experiencing life before my time and made me learn from the mistakes of past generations. After all, history does manage to repeat itself. Even though we all want to make our own mistakes and learn from them but what’s the harm in prior knowledge and advice? The first episode seemed a little boring or the most uninteresting but it amazed me how authentic and up front these seven year olds were. They were bursting with enthusiasm, dreams, and aspirations. The main theme in this series is definitely to make the most of what you have.
As one of the characters had said, “Only life can prepare you for life. ” An important factor in life is making the right decisions. Either way can change your life completely. Parents also have a big role in making decisions that can change our lives forever. But in the end those decisions are what makes us, us. What makes the seven up characters who they are? They came from different generations, backgrounds, and cultures. Compared to our generation, they grew up by doing everything the long and hard way. Or so we think.
But that doesn’t mean we can’t compare ourselves to them cause even though we might have different standards and different experiences, we can understand the growing up stage and the family issues. This series shows how people look at what they have and how they treat it through the years, whether they are thankful or not. The upper class kids had everything they could possibly imagine. But at the age of seven you can see that they kept wanting more, even if they had 20 times as much as someone who would be considered “poor”, they would still throw it away at the end.
The lower class kids who hardly had anything at the age of seven were the brightest and happiest kids on the program. Even if they were wearing hand me downs and eating not as great food, it was what they were used to. So if we all had only what we needed, would the world be a better place? Although in my opinion, all the characters from the series had boring lives. They were all in the same format. “The prep-school to the Marlborough High School to the Sobering University and etc. Conveyor belt. ” The same story line in every life, but what happens in between the lines is what made the series intriguing and unique.
However, in the end it all came down to one thing, happiness. The most import lesson in the series is that sometimes you have to step off the path of what you know to find out what is right. I learned a lot life lessons that I could apply to my life throughout watching this series. Even though the characters weren’t perfect and didn’t always pick the right choices but it was interesting to see how those decision reflected the rest of their lives, and their happiness. It made me think about my own life and how Just a matter of one decision could completely change my life.
It taught me to choose wisely whether it be my future partner or my future career. All the characters that married had changed for better or for worst. This made me think about how a lot of people these days and in past generations take that subject so lightly when they shouldn’t. The character I related to least was Nicholas because he grew up very isolated from society, which made him kind of awkward and shy. But one thing I admire about him is his intelligence. I also admire that even though his project and plans failed he didn’t give up. He kept trying and made something out of his intellect that he loved.
Similarly, Neil separated himself from society but he seemed like a great guy. However, I felt that while he was trying to find himself he lost his ways and bubbly personality. Even though Neil was homeless and was depressed most of his life, he still seemed to find live in a way, through becoming a Christian and believing in God. I was happy for him when he moved back to London and grew in more of a community, I could tell how much it had affected him for the better. I learned from tot of them that no matter how hard life kicks you in the a**, you should always pick yourself back up and keep trying.
In the series 7 Up, John is an upper class boy who acts way too sophisticated for his age. He has an opinion on everything, including why people should pay for school. He also reads the paper, which is not common for a seven year old. He was very driven even as a young man, who seemed like he would become something big in life. He didn’t seem like he was the relationship type and I thought it would be hard for him to have a happy marriage by the way he spoke about girls. However, as the series continued I thought he was a bit misinterpreted.
He was depicted as rich, upper class, and rather spoiled but as he grew, even though he was missing in a couple of the episodes, he seemed to become more genuine and mannered. I was surprised when I found out he got married and dedicated much of his time and energy to charities in Bulgaria. His selflessness and generosity is what makes him my favorite character in the series. It was also surprising to find out that his father died when he was 9 and his mother had to work hard to put him through private school ND that he attended Oxford on a scholarship.
I don’t think I would’ve ever predicted that about him by the way he was portrayed as a little boy. Jackie is a lower-class gaudy and bubbly seven year old and the “leader” of the trio, including Lynn and Sue. She seemed like a caring and sweet little girl who didn’t have much herself yet was talking about wanting to help people who have less than her. To me, she seemed like a normal fourteen year old. Yet, she mentioned that she was too selfish to have children because she couldn’t give up her social life to live with a baby.
At that point, I knew that her life was going to get complicated where she won’t be able to handle things very well. In 28 Up Jackie looked more like she was 50 rather than 28. I think she rushed into marriage at the age of 19 too quickly Just for the thrill of “being married” but relationships like that never last. I don’t think she felt very steady and confident in the marriage, which is why she clearly expresses her regret in getting married at 19. Though I don’t blame her because times have changed since then and women are more independent today than they ever were back then.
Women today also have a wider choice of career paths, which makes them even less dependent on men. Jackie seemed to love her child, but I still felt like she put herself before her child, like she mentioned in her younger years. As the years passed by and she grew older, she could no longer work since she has rheumatoid arthritis. I felt sorry for her but at the same time I kind of didn’t. In 49 Up, she started getting really and defensive, which isn’t a personality trait I like on people. Her personality made a 180 for the worst from being a caring girl to very snappy and catty.