Hello everyone! I'm Xiao Wu, welcome back to brain hole utopia
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There is an old Chinese saying: "Three years old looks big, seven years old looks old." The older generation always said that from a 7-year-old child, you can see what he looks like when he grows up. Thinking back to when I was a child, the playmates who ran around the yard bare-buttocked with us, now everyone has their own life trajectory.
There is such a documentary in the UK, director Michael and Paul, which took 56 years to track the growth of 14 children from different classes and families, from the age of 7 to 63. At the beginning, the director just wanted to explore, to what extent will a person's origin determine his future? Is it true that "the poorer the poorer, the richer the richer?" But as the length of filming increased, the documentary revealed more of what we didn't expect. Today we will talk about, what determines your life?
The documentary was inspired by a Jesuit motto: Give me a boy and I'll give you back a man until I'm 7. This is actually similar to what we call "seven years old to see old". In 1964, director Paul Almond filmed the first "7ups" of the documentary "Seven Years of Life", which began to document the lives of 14 seven-year-old children in Britain. Since then, director Michael Apt has taken over the baton and visited the 14 children every 7 years to see their growth and changes in the past 7 years. As of 2019, "Seven Years of Life" has launched 9 episodes, and the 14 children at that time are already 63 years old, have lived most of their lives, and even some of them have passed away. So how have they changed over the past 56 years?
The first step of the documentary, 7up, begins with the following sentence: "We brought these kids together because we wanted to get a glimpse of what Britain was like in 2000." Union leaders and company executives in the UK in 2000 are now 7 years old. ”
The 14 protagonists in the film are:
Three boys in the elite, Andrew Brackfield, Charles Furneaux and John Brisby. Born into wealthy families, they attended aristocratic private schools, attended the Financial Times, The Observer, and The Times at the age of 7, planning to attend Trinity School at Cambridge University when they grew up. It is one of the largest, most financially and prestigious colleges in Cambridge, and the traditional strength is law. From the age of 7, John and Andrew had already made their life a clear goal to pursue a career in law.
Suzy Lusk, a wealthy family, had better family conditions than the three boys in the elite class. As soon as she appears, she is the image of a little princess dancing ballet. When the director asked 7-year-old Suzi what she wanted to do in the future, she said to go to a good boarding school, or to go to college?
Three boys from middle-class families, Peter Davies, Neil Hughes and Bruce Balden. Peter and Neil were childhood playmates, and the two grew up together on the outskirts of Liverpool. Neil's parents are middle school teachers, and when I was 7 years old, Little Neil said cutely to the camera, my dream in the future is to become an astronaut, if not, it is not bad to be a bus driver. At the age of 14, Neil hoped to enter Oxford University in the future, but ultimately failed.
Bruce comes from a Christian family, and when bruce's parents divorced at the age of 7, he was sent to boarding school, and Bruce's biggest dream at that time was to see his biological father often. Saying that when he grew up, he wanted to go to Africa as a missionary to help others, which also ran through Bruce's life.
Born into a peasant family, William Nicholas (Nick) has been an introvert from an early age but has a strong thirst for knowledge. At the age of 7, Nick Jr. said that he would like to study the moon when he grew up in the future.
Susan (Sue) Davis, Jackie Bassett and Lynn Johnson are three girls from an average working-class family in east London. Sue is the most cheerful and lively of the three girls. Lynn, who was 7, said her dream when she grew up was to work at a Walworth supermarket.
Tony was born into the lowest family in London's East End. Very naughty as a child. At the age of 7, Tony felt that fighting was the most important thing. Growing up, my dream was to become a jockey.
Paul and Simon are two children in a West End welfare home in London, with introverted personalities and a slight inferiority complex. After Paul's parents divorced, he was temporarily sent to a welfare home. At the age of 14, he was taken to Australia by his biological father and lived with his biological father and stepmother in the suburbs of Melbourne. Simon is the only black boy in the documentary. He was said to have been born illegitimate and had never met his biological father. Later, because she could not afford to live, her mother was forced to send Simon to a welfare home.
These 14 children, from the rich family, to the elite family, to the middle class, to the commoners and orphans, can be said to include all classes of British society at that time. Although the children are still young, they can already see the difference in family backgrounds from their speech and behavior and future ideals.
So decades later, has it been as the director expected, and birth determines the class?
Let's start with the answer, in short, yes. But one of the 14 children broke through his inherent class and entered the elite society. You may wish to pause for a moment and guess who this child really is.
The parents of the rich family Qianjin Suzi divorced her at the age of 14, after which Suzi began to become confused and rebellious. In an interview at the age of 21, Su Zi blonde hair and blue eyes, dressed fashionably, but holding a cigarette in her hand, swallowing the clouds and spitting out the mist one by one. She dropped out of school at the age of 16 and went to Paris to study for a few years. Probably affected by her parents' divorce, Suzi is full of disdain and suspicion about family and marriage, and has no intention of starting a family and having children. At this time, Su Zi is a state of how I want to be, the whole world has nothing to do with me, anyway, I don't have to worry about eating and wearing. However, after that, a man completely changed Suzi, he was Rupert, Suzi's husband.
Rupert is a little accomplished lawyer who melts Suzi with love. After the marriage, the two had two sons and a daughter, and Suzi became a full-time housewife, and her personality became more gentle and optimistic. The 56-year-old Suzi lived a very comfortable life, the decadence and confusion of her youth completely disappeared, her eyes became incomparably clear and bright, and her marriage with Rupert was always happy.
Andrew, one of the three handsome men in the elite family, was admitted to Trinity Academy, Cambridge University, as he expected. He later became a lawyer. Marrying a wife and having children, a smooth life, doing everything you want, and getting what you want. The personality is also peaceful and docile. In his old age, Andrew admitted that the gift of birth had benefited him for a lifetime, that class existed and would always exist now and in the future.
In the episode 28up, Andrew says something very memorable, education is very important. If you can't leave anything substantive for your child, at least one thing can confirm that a good education is irreplaceable.
Charles, one of the three handsome men in an elite family, went all the way from Oxford Long Primary School, to Charterhouse College, to Durham University. He later became a producer and director of BBC television, directly into the rear of the enemy, but has not participated in the recording of the show since the age of 21.
John was admitted to Cambridge University and became a royal lawyer. Married at the age of 35, married to the daughter of a former Bulgarian ambassador. John's family has deep ties to Bulgaria, his great-grandfather was a former Prime Minister of Bulgaria, and John himself has three-quarters Bulgarian ancestry. In his later years, John's children had grown up and he and his wife had been doing charity work to help needy children in Bulgaria. In the 56up issue, John leaked a shocking piece of news. He said he really didn't want the director to classify him as a rich man from an elite family. Because in fact, at the age of 9, after the death of his father, the family fell into financial crisis. The mother had to go out to work to support the family's expenses. John later enrolled on a full scholarship to Oxford University. The director may have wanted to make a story of rich teenagers continuing to make the family glory, but he did not expect to become an inspirational script for the noble prince's family to fall in the middle of the road and rise again with strength. So john's starting point is high, but the decisive factors that keep him in the elite class are his tenacious character and good educational background.
Peter, from a middle-class family, did not have many ups and downs in his life, and became a teacher at the age of 28. He later became a civil servant. Later in life he formed his own band and won the British Country Music Award.
Bruce, a little angel missionary, was admitted to Oxford University after graduating from high school to study mathematics. But after graduation, I went to work as a teacher at an ordinary public school. He believes that improving the level of education in public schools will benefit society as a whole. Later, Bruce also went to Bangladesh to teach. All his life he has been thinking about how to give himself and give back to society. At the age of 42, bruce, who is not good at words, met true love. After marriage, he and his wife almost never quarreled. Bruce, who is a child in his later years, regards his family as more important than anything else. Perhaps because his parents divorced and lacked paternal love when he was a child, Bruce would spend a lot of time playing various sports with his two sons, saying that "this is what Dad should do, he can't be absent." ”
Neil, a middle-class family, had a life full of ups and downs, which we'll talk about later. First of all, let's talk about the only child in the play who successfully counterattacked and crossed the class into elite society, he is Nick from a peasant family. When he first appeared, little Nick was a typical country boy, who had to walk 3 miles to school every day, and was very shy as a child because of his lack of interaction with the society around him. But Nick has been hungry for knowledge since he was a child, and does not want to be like his ancestors, hiding on the farm all his life. At the age of 14, Nick left the countryside to attend boarding school, and since then has developed a keen interest in physics and chemistry.
At the age of 21, Nick was admitted to Oxford University. At the age of 28, he went to the University of Wisconsin in the United States to do nuclear fusion research. In the episode 28up, Nick confidently tells the director about the principles of nuclear power. Nick's first wife was a classmate of his at Oxford University, and the two married and had a son. At the age of 35, Nick became an associate professor. He became a full professor at the age of 42. Later, Nick divorced his first wife and remarried, and the second wife was beautiful and elegant.
The entire documentary bears witness to Nick's transformation from a shy country boy to a knowledgeable, confident, and spring-like college professor. Seeing this, we can draw the first conclusion: you may not be able to choose your origin, but education is still the most cost-effective and feasible way to break down class barriers. When a person has knowledge, his vision becomes broader, and at the same time he has more opportunities, and with each step forward, the sky is wider above his head.
But life is not only about career and achievements, but also about life and family. Just as important as education is the development of personality. Let's move on.
Remember Sue of the three sisters of the working class? Like her two other friends, Jackie and Lynn, she unsurprisingly encountered all kinds of unhappiness as adults. Divorce, poverty, raising children alone, etc. But unlike other girls with sad faces and even often complaining, Sue always faces life with an optimistic attitude and constantly looks for opportunities to improve herself. At the age of 21, Sue worked in a travel agency. At the age of 24, Sue married her first husband, Billy, and had two children. At the age of 35, Sue divorced Billy and began living alone with two children. Began to re-embark on the social part-time work to earn money. But Sue wasn't discouraged by the unsatisfactory circumstances in her life. At the age of 42, she regained her full-time job at the University of London assisting in course management. That same year, she also met true love again, her second partner, Greene. The two have been living together for over 20 years now, but have never been married. Sue said it's not that she doesn't think about getting married, but that she feels in good shape right now, and that she and Green have been deeply in love with each other for more than 20 years. At the age of 49, Sue was already the principal administrator of the law school's graduate program and enjoyed her work. In her spare time, she joined a small local drama troupe and resumed her hobbies of stage play and singing. From the interview, it can be seen that Su's life is more and more transparent, and Su's face in her later years is always full of smiles, and from the look in her eyes, you can see her love for life. When the director asked if she thought class still existed, Sue said, of course, but she never wanted to enter the upper class, and there was nothing wrong with the working class.
Tony, a boy from the commoner class like Sue, was the one who impressed me the most in the whole film. At the age of 7, Tony Jr. wandered the streets of London's East End and believed that the most important thing in life was to fight with people.
If you follow the traditional thinking of the older generation, you must think that Tony's boy will grow up to be a problem teenager in the future. As a child, Tony said that he wanted to become a jockey when he grew up, and at the age of 14, Tony did become an apprentice at the racecourse. His best horse racing result was 4th place. In episode 21up, When talking about the horse racing experience, Tony's face is filled with excitement, joy and pride. In his conception, the jockey is definitely synonymous with nobility and glory. This is inseparable from the environment in which he grew up. From an early age, Tony often followed his father to and from the racecourse, and when his father died, the burial items were poker and dice. This is where Tony's ideals of life take root. However, Tony also admitted that he was not good enough at horse racing and began to pursue a second ideal and become a taxi driver.
Tony, 21, rode a motorcycle through the streets to familiarize himself with the roads, preparing for taxis, while wandering around the dog racing field on the other hand, helping gamblers make money by betting. Tony said: "When you always see Dad gambling money, you also want to try your luck. The director even secretly predicted in 21up that if this continues, maybe Tony will go to jail sooner or later. But the next plot development made the director punch in the face. At the age of 28, Tony already had his own taxi and was able to fend for himself and support his family. He has tried to start a business many times, but has failed repeatedly. In his later years, the rise of ride-hailing apps like Uber greatly affected the income of traditional taxi drivers, and Tony's family moved to Essex, bought a house in the countryside, and raised a few horses. In his spare time, Tony reported acting training classes and went to the crew to make a cameo in supporting roles.
Live at ease. Tony always believed that "what you like must be tried, whether it is successful or not, at least you have tried". He is like a best example of "life has abused me a thousand times, I treat life like a first love". Because of participating in the recording of the "Seven Years of Life" program, Tony also became a little famous. Once, he took a taxi to his hotel to pick up Buzz Aldrin, the second man to land on the moon. Just as he was in front of the hotel, another taxi suddenly stopped next to him, and the driver asked Tony: Can I ask for an autograph? Tony thought he wanted Aldrin's autograph, so he turned to Aldrin and asked him. Unexpectedly, the driver said: No, I don't want his signature, I want your signature! Tony said he still couldn't believe that he was more famous than the second person to land on the moon. In talking about the experience, Tony was happy to be like a big boy.
Simon, who grew up in a welfare home, has been working very hard to be a good father because he did not have the love of his father since he was a child. At the age of 28, he married his first wife and had 5 children. The two divorced, Simon remarried, and had another child with his second wife. In his 40s, Simon began planning to open a small foster home on his own. Because the welfare home he stayed in when he was a child was so bad, the children just had a place to eat and sleep, and they didn't feel a little love. Simon wanted to drive a different one.
By the age of 63, Simon had adopted 130 children in foster care. For most parents, coping with a child's childhood is a headache enough. Simon was responsible for the childhood of 130 children. The reward of this adventure is the children's love for Simon. Many children call or come back to see Simon from time to time, even after they leave. This was more gratifying to Simon than any form of monetary revenge.
Finally, let's talk about Neil, who came from a family of teachers. Unlike Nick, who made the class leap, Neil's life almost fell to the bottom. When he was 7 years old, Little Neil was innocent and lively, saying that his dream of the future was to become an astronaut. Born in the middle class and receiving a relatively good education, his normal life trajectory may be to have a decent job, marry and have children, and have children and grandchildren. At the age of 21, Neil was unable to get into the university of his dreams and began to become depressed. He went to a university that neither he nor his parents looked up to, dropped out after a year, and began working on construction sites, living in relief houses. As an adult, Neil completely lost the aura of his childhood. Every time I appear on camera, I become more and more cramped and uneasy. When talking, he never looks directly at the director, and his eyes are dodgy. Sometimes even nervously dangling around, nervously repeating a word many times.
At the age of 28, Neil was homeless and completely transformed into a tramp. It took the director a lot of effort to find him in a small remote village, when he was living in a caravan. At the age of 35, Neil was still on the run, living on government relief payments. When the director asked him about his thoughts on the future, Neil said: "It's a terrible question. The most likely answer is that I would be wandering the streets of London. Neil has no hope for the future and life. For a long time, he was emotionally and mentally tortured, and would feel depressed for no reason, but even so, he was still reluctant to receive psychotherapy. He said he hadn't considered marriage, much less children, because even if his wife was full of energy and positive energy, children would still inherit something bad from him.
Of the 14 children, Neil's fate is the most heart-wrenching for the audience. Before each broadcast, there will be speculation, what happened to Neil? Is he alive? Neil's life was like a free fall, a good card, and he beat it badly. But by the time he was 42 years old, Neil's life took a big turn.
He came to London, no longer as a tramp, but as an adviser to the local council. When he first came to London, the angelic missionary Bruce provided Neil with a free place to live, encouraged him, and helped him lift his spirits. Neil's life gradually got back on track. His previous wandering experience gave Neil a very good understanding of the situation in the british underclass, and he also traveled to many regions, which was of great help to the profession of parliamentary consultant. In the film, Watching Neil ride his bicycle and go door to door to solicit tickets, it is as if he sees the 7-year-old teenager from him again. He had a purpose in life again.
At the age of 63, Neil is in good health. Using her mother's legacy, she bought a house in the French countryside, farmed and raised cattle, and lived a peaceful and beautiful life. In his 50s, Neil had a marriage, but after 4 years of marriage with his wife, she chose to separate from Neil because she could not bear Neil's emotional ups and downs.
From a secular point of view, Neil may not be as successful as Peter and Bruce, two children who are also middle-class families, but fortunately, he has not completely given up on himself and has fallen to the end. Instead, he chose to reconcile with his heart and completed his self-redemption.
In fact, the lives of our ordinary people are more like Sue, Tony, Neil and Simon, who were not born with a golden spoon, and their lives are unsatisfactory everywhere, and a sound personality is the best antidote to the suffering of the world. A little more optimism, life may be a little more sunny.
Watching the whole documentary, perhaps one of your strongest feelings is that the real-world tortoise and rabbit race, the real reason why the rabbit can't win the turtle is that the turtle is born on the finish line.
Children of wealthy families are born with better material conditions, attend aristocratic primary schools, private high schools, enter prestigious universities, become lawyers, and do charity. Their lives don't need to run for their livelihoods. But ordinary children, want to get into the same university may have to pay dozens of times the effort. But hard work has the potential to succeed, like Nick. If you don't work hard, you will never have a chance to turn the tables. The real rabbit may not be able to determine its starting line, but it can decide whether to run or not to run.
In the documentary, the director asks everyone a question, do you think class exists? The answer given by everyone was yes. Someone might say. Class existence everyone knows ah, need the director to spend decades to make a documentary to tell us? In fact, this film wants to express much more than that.
Let's look at Nick who fought back successfully. In 63up, he was diagnosed with laryngeal cancer. In his later years, he had been battling disease, and imagine if Nick hadn't been in the United States to study nuclear energy, wouldn't have been exposed to potentially radioactive substances, but had stayed in the countryside to breathe fresh air every day, wouldn't he have cancer? But since childhood, he has loved science and wants to leave the farm to see Nick of the outside world and let him nest in the farm for the rest of his life, will he be happy?
When the director asked Nick what the happiest moment of his life was, Nick replied without hesitation that it was the moment his son was born. When he held the little one in his hand, he felt pure joy like never before.
Tony, who was born in the lowest class, has been a taxi driver all his life, and from a secular point of view, his life must not be as good as that of the three rich and handsome people born in an elite family.
But every time Tony appeared, he was enthusiastic and had a smile on his face, which no other child had. Looking at Tony, you will be infected by his optimism, can you say that Tony's life is unsuccessful and unhappy?
The director also asked John from an elite family a question, 63 years old you look back on your life, what do you think is the most important thing for you?
John's answer was not career or achievement, nor money, but wife, children, family, friends, and, if he could choose more than the same, and his animals.
Bruce, who is kind as an angel, also said that children will grow up one day, will leave the side of their parents, and when your children are still willing to hold you, hug them more and leave more good memories, so that they will not regret it when they are old.
Life is like an equation full of too many variables, and everyone's definition of happiness and success is different. As long as you don't regret it when you are dying of old age, your life is a wonderful and happy life.