XC - Quarter 4 - Babies

Babies, was about the first year of 4 babies life. One lived in Namibia, one lived in Japan, one lived in Mongolia and one lived in San Francisco. Of course there were major differences in how they lived and how they were raised. The one commonality between them all is that there was a mother who was almost completely responsible for raising the child. There was no one mother who was better then any of the others. They were all there for their children in one way or another. Each one of them had certain obstacles to overcome, some were just bigger then others. The Mongolian and the African mothers had already had children, but they were also the parents who didn't live in big cities and had fewer resources to help them. The parents from American and Japan were both inexperienced as parents and just from the movie it is easy to tell because they both went to classes with their children. None of the cultures had a "better" or "worse" way of parenting. For their own countries and societies the children were raised to be accustomed to what went on around them. Some did have it better then others though.

In Africa there was no electricity, no running water, no diapers. There wasn't much there, coming from an American's point of view. The child was often shown chewing on rocks or bones. There wasn't much of a sanitary situation going on there. In Mongolia it was a little better. The child was raised in a house, but the mother washed him but putting water in her mouth and spitting it out on him. In America and Japan, the mothers were in hospitals when they gave birth and had overall, very clean practices with their children. What looked universal throughout the film is that mothers are a huge part of the children's life. They are responsible for raising the children and being there for them when the children need them. The fathers are supposed to be there too, but it is mainly the mother's job. The children feel more connected to her, at least through out the film, that's how it looked.

All of the families and cultures are very different. There would be no way that one child could move to another culture, especially when they are so young. The Japanese or American child would never be used to the outdoors or the animals or the lack of common utilities in Mongolia and Africa, and the Mongolian or African child would never be used to the confinements of America or Japan and all of the new technologies that they have. They are all accustomed to their own environment and to change it would to flip their world upside down. These children aren't meant to experience other cultures just yet. They need to be able to grow up a little in their own first. It may be a bad way to look at something, but i think that developing roots is good because it gives you something to always go home to. They are only babies, but they will grow up eventually, and its the type of environment and parenting that they have that will make them who they are. That's what i think the entire point of the movie is.