[This is an 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.]