On “Seven Up”

Seven Up presents how early socialization took place among children of diverse class, gender and race that had a single factor in common, age, and how such factors could shape their lives as they grew up.

At a first impression, I imagined the children as typical seven year-olds able to carry out simple tasks and recognize truths from lies; however, to my surprise, the children were quite different to my initial thoughts.  Whether by answering questions relating to politics, love, and society in a mature manner or expressing themselves articulately, the Seven Up children demonstrated levels of knowledge, consciousness and maturity beyond their age. Apted proves class influences these levels by depicting how children of lower class were less knowledgeable than others, as Paul, one of the orphans from the charity-based boarding school demonstrates, “What is a university?”

Each child was unique and had his pros and cons; hence, choosing both my favorite and least favorite child was not as easy as I expected. After examining the children’s personalities, answers and actions, I reached a decision. My least favorite child was Andrew, one of the three wealthy boys that attended the preparatory school at Kensington. Why he was my least favorite child is the same for many others, his condescending attitude. Andrew, in particular, felt the need to be the focus of attention, was constantly interrupting Charles and John to express his opinion and was not child-like because of his snobbish, which  he exemplified by stating he read The Financial Times except on Monday because stocks did not change. In contrast to Andrew, my favorite child was Bruce, who attended a prestigious boarding school and wanted to be a missionary. At the age of seven children tend to be less egocentric; however, they still focus on obtaining their wants.  This phase is known as the concrete operational stage. (Giddens 2012: 85) I chose Bruce because he was the exception to the rule. Unlike most of the Seven Up children, Bruce was concerned with solving Third World countries issues such as: poverty, hunger and education. Also, I found his love towards God and religion delightful. I imagine Bruce’s words giving Apted and the Seven Up team hope to that generation, especially, after the disastrous interviews with Andrew, Charles and John. Bruce was a seven year-old visionary. 

If deciding which was my favorite and least favorite child was a hard task, choosing the child that I could relate to the most was almost impossible. After analyzing the children and remembering myself at age 7, I decided that the child I related to the most was Jackie. We both have five siblings and our family lived in a working class neighborhood.   I recall having two best friends, Tara and Jennifer, and how we would always make fun of each other’s crushes. Regardless of similarity in background and friendship, the reason I relate to Jackie the most is because when I hear stories of me during this age, my relatives describe me as a charismatic and amiable little girl similar as Jackie depicted during the interviews.

  In general, I found Seven Up an excellent piece of both sociological and documentary work.

*Reference: Giddens, Anthony. Introduction to Sociology. 8th. W. W. Norton & Company, 2012. 85. Print.