The Journey of Man
When Spencer Wells' began his narration of "The Journey of Man", my first instinct was to laugh; however, after he began his initial voyage into Africa, I began to understand that he was making an important scientific discovery.
It was somewhat hard for me to believe that the Bush People were the descendants of humankind, but surprisingly, when the camera focused on all the different faces of the people, you could see the physical characteristics of ethnic and racial groups across the globe-- from skin tones to cheek bones.
One interesting point about the film thus far is Wells' diction. At certain points, he is clear to say that all humans are part of one family, stemming from relatives of these Bush People in Africa. Then at other points, he tells the Bush People that they are the thick base of the family tree of humankind, while his own family is a branch wayyyy at the top. By asserting this second idea, Wells is basically saying that the Bush People are the closest descendants to apes (if we follow evolution), while his family is a much more evolved form of humans. Never mind the actual intentions behind Wells' statement (since we don't know them), can we conclude that this is a safe assertion to make? Are the descendants of the Bush People the first real human beings?
The idea of blood as a time machine is also another interesting idea that we find out in the beginning of the film. Taking blood samples from humans all across the globe, Luca was able to create a somewhat hazy version of the family tree that connects all human beings to one another. Wells' fascination with Luca's work was the impetus for his journey, which has been quite humorous thus far-- I look forward to seeing more of "The Journey of Man" in class on Friday....
It was somewhat hard for me to believe that the Bush People were the descendants of humankind, but surprisingly, when the camera focused on all the different faces of the people, you could see the physical characteristics of ethnic and racial groups across the globe-- from skin tones to cheek bones.
One interesting point about the film thus far is Wells' diction. At certain points, he is clear to say that all humans are part of one family, stemming from relatives of these Bush People in Africa. Then at other points, he tells the Bush People that they are the thick base of the family tree of humankind, while his own family is a branch wayyyy at the top. By asserting this second idea, Wells is basically saying that the Bush People are the closest descendants to apes (if we follow evolution), while his family is a much more evolved form of humans. Never mind the actual intentions behind Wells' statement (since we don't know them), can we conclude that this is a safe assertion to make? Are the descendants of the Bush People the first real human beings?
The idea of blood as a time machine is also another interesting idea that we find out in the beginning of the film. Taking blood samples from humans all across the globe, Luca was able to create a somewhat hazy version of the family tree that connects all human beings to one another. Wells' fascination with Luca's work was the impetus for his journey, which has been quite humorous thus far-- I look forward to seeing more of "The Journey of Man" in class on Friday....
posted by maxine at 6:17 PM
3 Comments:
I also am enjoying watching this documentary. I read a book for my biology class called "The Seven Daughters of Eve" by Bryan Sykes. Basically Sykes did the same type of reconstructive research as Wells except he used mitochondrial DNA instead of the y chromosome to trace heritage. As each child gets their mitochondrial DNA from their mother, its sequence can be used to reconstruct the female lineage. Sykes used blood samples to come to the conclusion that 95% of Europeans are descendant from one of seven ancient women (hence the book name: The seven daughters of eve). I think this is pretty cool.
I also found that kind of interesting that you could see some of the various racial features in the faces as they panned through. However, I feel like if you picked any race you could produce the same effect--basically if you look for it you'll find it somehow. One issue that I did have with this documentary so far is the idea that he plans to make the trip that our descendants would have had to take (something he labels impossible). I'm not quite sure what retracing this journey will illuminate (the only thing I see important is getting the blood samples of these various isolated tribes), especially as I saw him put on a large Northface jacket and other protective gear. I guess I'll see where he takes us tomorrow in class with this idea of retracing...
I have actually seen the movie previously and really enjoyed it. A part we have not gotten to yet (and may not get to at all) that I found interesting occured in the Kazakh region. One small tribe has genetic markers the were passed on to nearly all of Europe, Russia, and even the Native Americans. I agree with Amit that you can see characteristics of all human variety in any race. Native Americans have many resemblances to East Asians. Indians can have light skin and blue eyes. Europeans can have dark skin (Greeks) or pale skin (Norse).
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