• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Annemarie Shrouder International

  • Home
  • About
    • About ASI
    • ASI: Meet the team
    • Book
    • Media
    • Signature Methodology
  • Services
    • Speaking
    • Leadership
    • Education
    • The EDI Journey
  • Blog
  • Contact

Babies – the movie

May 9, 2010 by Annemarie Shrouder Leave a Comment

I recently saw the movie Babies.

It’s a beautiful movie that follows the first year in the life of 4 babies from 4 different parts of the world: Namibia, Tokyo, Mongolia and San Francisco. There is no narration, the clips show similar experiences, and we are left to make our own conclusions about any message. Well done!

I can’t help but wonder about the choices of these 4 babies, and what it says about our “default” and the messages we internalize over time.

The Black baby is from Namibia. They live in a hut. It’s pretty rudimentary.

The White baby is from San Francisco. Goes to play group, and lives in a nice house.

Hmmm….

Then, 3 of the babies have 2 parents. Mom and Dad. The exception is the Namibian baby who lives with at least 2 women and a bunch of kids. So far as we can see in the film there are no men present.  But we don’t know why.

Call me crazy, but maybe they could have found a gay couple in San Fransisco with a baby to film? Just a thought.

I’m not suggesting that any of this is intentional (which makes it even more fascinating – and frightening). But it’s interesting to notice the choices we make, often unconsciously, and the messages and beliefs these perpetuate.  Because of this, over time we accept things as they are presented: Black kids are poor; White kids are privileged; And all babies have 2 parents – a mom & dad.

We need to ask more questions….

Annemarie Shrouder

Thought Provoker

© Copyright  Annemarie Shrouder 2010

Filed Under: Uncategorized

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Primary Sidebar

Get blog posts in your inbox!

  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Home
  • About
  • Speaking
  • Education
  • Leadership
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy

© Copyright 2023 Annemarie Shrouder

This site has been designed and developed in accordance with
international accessibility standards by Cactus Creative