
Michael Apted's “Seven Up” series is reaching its conclusion - pseudolus
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/27/magazine/63-up-michael-apted.html
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Cougher
This is a unique and very well-done take on Seven Up. It has the added
dimension of how much of a learning process this was for Apted (the director),
as well as other aspects that I hadn't picked up from other sources.

I first discovered this series a few weeks ago. I found the idea fascinating
and I expected to be keen to dig into it. So I read some of the pieces that I
found online and I stopped. My expectation of wanting to dive into this living
soap opera turned into a feeling of bleak depression. Part of it has something
to do with the blandness of even the happiest of near-endings, and part of it
has something to do with the sadness of seeing a seven year old quickly
progress in age to that point in life when we're sort of forced to evaluate
who and where we are. It was far too quick of a journey for me. Their lives
are presented like a history book, that places an emphasis on wars and other
human struggles. It's also similar to a newscast: the bad news overwhelms and
the good news is boring, so it doesn't get much attention. It's a CV that
demands to know "what have you done with your life?" in a series of bullet
points that skews toward points of merit.

I suppose that part of my feeling has to do with the fact that I'm at that
point in life myself. Family and peers are getting sick and dying. I'll be
doing the same. A lot of us aren't mentally prepared for what it's really like
to be here. I think I've been working my way through it pretty well, but it
takes a lot of emotional and philosophical work that we may not have a lot of
experience with.

For me, Seven Up pokes and prods at life's battle wounds without enough
attention to the boring bits that may actually dominate a life, which might be
where our focus needs to be if we're to attain the contentment that should
perhaps be our goal, whatever our class.

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alphadevx
Wonderful post, I wish you well on your journey friend. As a father of a seven
year old boy who is already being buffeted by life's challenges, I also find
this topic somewhat depressing but you expressed it more eloquently than I
ever could.

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Cougher
Thank you! Pardon me for passing on a couple of unsolicited thoughts . . . I
probably don't have to tell you, but these moments with your son are better
than most of the bullet points that suffice for life accomplishments. Seize as
many of them as you can. Your presence is every bit as important as the
activities that may make up a list; arguably more. Validate his struggles
because they're huge to a young person with such brief life experience. It's
practice for the stuggles to come. Provide context and perspective. Speak a
bit beyond his understanding. The point isn't that he gets it right away; it's
to teach him how to approach life philosophically; how to resolve difficulties
through communication; and that one way of expressing love is to listen and
understand. The aim is that when your son grows up and faces difficulty, he'll
pause and say to himself, "I remember when Dad used to say . . ."

~~~
alphadevx
Thank you kindly, profound advice for any father! I do my best to advocate for
him every day, and I have made some mistakes along the way, but will never
waiver my commitment.

~~~
disqard
This thread was a nugget of gold. Thank you both, for sharing this wonderful
discussion!

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swampers
I caught wind of the series a few months back, and hunted the episodes down as
well as I could. I'm up to 56 Up and I've found it really interesting
especially given the timeline on camera is roughly in line with my father's
(before he passed away a few years ago.)

The biggest takeaway for me was that, while you can't necessarily 'see the
man' in a seven year old, you can most certainly see the seven year olds in
the adults. Everyone's just trying to get along; but we're all still just kids
inside, a little scared and a little uncertain about how to deal with the
world at large.

~~~
randomsearch
Adults are children in bigger clothes.

~~~
sgt101
My first born cured me of childish ways.

~~~
JamesSwift
My experience with having kids was that it taught me that adults/parents are
mostly getting through life by guessing. You don't figure life out at some
point, you just pick up small things along the way and get better at rolling
with the ups-and-downs.

~~~
randomsearch
Indeed, this was my point.

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throwaway8291
Archived: [http://archive.is/p3ZK7](http://archive.is/p3ZK7)

~~~
kauffj
Thank you for providing this.

Please avoid clicking the OP link and giving traffic to a company that engages
in gray/black web and SEO patterns.

~~~
sanj
Are you referring to The NY Times? I typically want to send traffic to the
original content providers and creators.

~~~
necovek
I think it's a tough balance: I personally want to support original content
creators but to discourage anti-patterns like showing different versions to
different consumers (other than for usability purposes): that helps make
search less useful. Eg. there might be better content from a smaller producer,
but a big one like NY Times will shadow it.

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pmoriarty
Anyone interested in this would probably enjoy the 7-Up in the Soviet Union
series titled "Born in the USSR", which provides a fascinating contrast to the
UK series along with a glimpse in to a world that has since been transformed
almost beyond recognition.

14 Up -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_YY7xxyp_M](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_YY7xxyp_M)

21 Up (Part 1) -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=391ljmNeLMQ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=391ljmNeLMQ)

21 Up (Part 2) -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Hr1rO8ncA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2Hr1rO8ncA)

28 Up (Part 1) - [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyra0MgJ-
Xs](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zyra0MgJ-Xs)

28 Up (Part 2) -
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqvk0Zd9Q9k](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mqvk0Zd9Q9k)

These are the only videos in the series that I can find, but it seems that at
least the first video in the series (7-Up itself) is missing. If anyone can
find a link to that, I would be grateful.

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ilamont
This is a great program. A few of the stories stick with the viewer ... for
me, the man who had mental illness but by 35 or 42 seemed to recover somewhat.
I am not sure what happened to him.

I also wondered a lot about the people who dropped out at a relatively young
age.

Wasn't there an American version started at one point? I remember seeing the
first episode when the kids were 7 (probably in the early 2000s) but I don't
know if it was ever continued.

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fortran77
I've seen all the episodes of the "Up" series. And I think it's affected the
way I approach and talk to people at my high school reunions. 30th and 40th
were the most interesting -- seeing people at their peak maturity (in the
30th) and starting to decline (at their 40th)

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wolco
I remember a simpsons parodity. Does anyone elsw share this memory?

I remember watching this at 35up and lower as a kid.

~~~
tw1010
Do you remember which episode that was? Or do you remember anything else that
could make the search easier? Tried to google but couldn't find the parody

~~~
sightedz
Springfield Up:
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_Up](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Springfield_Up)

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Rapzid
In 21 and up something very interesting to me comes from the introspection of
the prep school boys. The one who obviously has somewhat conservative
viewpoints(for the UK I suppose) believes that USA business influence is
corrupting the ethics of UK business dealings. He also believes in a "moral
obligation" for those who have been more fortunate to stay and put back into
the system in the UK. The guy that is attending Durham, who doesn't seem to
agree with a lot of the other guys more conservative points even in 7 up, also
finds a common ground in this.

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kiernanmcgowan
I took some classes taught by Nick Hitchon at UW-Madison a little before 56 Up
was released. Nice guy who really focused on the conceptual understanding of
electrostatic / electrodynamics instead of just teaching equations and how to
solve them.

It’s really... odd that I’m going to be able to just check in on how he’s
doing in 63 Up.

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runjake
From my own viewpoint: yes.

This despite several different eras of life involving quite different
standards of living and careers.

I am still that 7 year old, just older and grayer.

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fouc
This possibly can help people understand themselves and their trajectory in
life, and also be better parents if they have children.

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siegeofcondor
I was a huge fan of the Seven Up series when I was introduced to it in the mid
2000s and watched the latest 63 Up. However, with the advent of social media,
his series seems like a dinosaur. The public can directly follow people on a
day to day basis and there really is no place or need for his documentary. The
subjects themselves can now reach the public directly if they want to.

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v77
Get frustrated with the Times a lot with their tech bashing and political
homomgeneity but pieces like this are worth the price of a year's subscription
alone. Wonderfully written and a clear subtle mirroring of Apsted's biography
using the framing device of his series.

~~~
siegeofcondor
I disagree completely. I got introduced to the Seven Up series on social media
( digg or reddit? ). The discussions there are far better than an article like
this. But even if you think the writing is great, it doesn't excuse supporting
a morally bankrupt enterprise like the times. Millions of innocent people lost
their lives from wars peddled by the times and no moral human being would
support such a company financially or otherwise. Just my opinion.

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classified
Can we please stop posting those pointless paywall articles here? Thank you.

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tim333
It's not terribly hard to get around the paywall if you want to.

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collyw
reader mode in firefox works and has the advantage of getting rid of lots of
other crap as well. (Its the little "page" icon at the right of the address
bar).

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mcguire
The first law of genetics: who you are at birth is who you are when you die.
So, yes, 7 and 63 are a sub-range.

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AnimalMuppet
That assumes that "who you are" = "your genes", though. That's... let's just
call it "not proven".

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mcguire
[http://humancond.org/papers/turkheimer00_three_laws_behavior...](http://humancond.org/papers/turkheimer00_three_laws_behavior_genetics)

[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635473/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4635473/)

Don't look at me, I'm just quoting received wisdom from HN.

~~~
vasilipupkin
If you read the link that you yourself posted carefully, you would have
noticed "A typical human behavioral trait is associated with". Associated with
!= determined by. Of course, genetics influence our behavior. Which is a
completely different claim from "genetics determine our behavior".

