Seven Up! Give Me a Child Until He Is Seven and I Will Show You the Man

I rented the BBC documentary 7 Up last week. The Up! Series, as it's called, is a program which has followed the same group of 14 British children every seven years since 1964, the year they were seven. The kids were selected based on their economic level in Britain's regimented class-based society, so the study could have a representative from richest to poorest and follow how this status affected their lives and futures for better or worse.

It is fascinating.

I already have my favorite kids and my least favorite kids. Whether or not Michael Apted's thesis is that essentially one's future is predetermined by the class in which he was born, I'll say after watching this, my interpretation of "Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man" is more like, "It is possible to be born an asshole." Apparently the series wasn't meant to be anything but a one-off, but then the idea of a follow up ensued, and so on, and so on. Each seven years, Michael Apted approaches the 14 to participate in the next filming. Some decline.

I haven't seen anything so interesting in a very long time. Highly recommended. Apparently 49 Up was released a few years ago in the States. Netflix this stuff. I'm only on 14 Up. Waiting on 21 Up in the mail, so no spoilers please!