'The Up Series' an Epically Simple Masterpiece

The series was started in 1964. A diverse group of 7 year olds were chosen with the implicit argument that those born from families of status and money will have more options then those born from less privileged backgrounds. Though this focus may have been moved more to the background since the interviewees entered adulthood, it is always present. As can be imagined with such a small sample group, the conclusion is not so cut and dry. Each individual has a different story much more complex than the simple stereotypical idea we have of where the under and upper classes end up.

However, in terms of the likelihood one has to go to university, the series clearly shows that if you come from a home with educated parents where a university education is expected, you are much more likely to go yourself. If I am correct, only Michael of the original 7 went to university when his parents had not, and only one child of the original 7 year olds, in this case the daughter of Paul, received higher education and became the first person in her family to do so.

Aside from the political argument, the series is particularly powerful in the way it shows the children grow up, especially in the episodes that show the children from ages 7 to 28. It is remarkable to see how their faces and bodies drastically change every 7 years, and how they slowly settle into domestic adulthood, many married and with or expecting children of their own.

To me the most drastic changes are seen in Michael, a shy mumbling teenager from the Yorkshire countryside who is suddenly seen grown up, confident, and handsome, studying at Oxford and eventually working as a professor at an American university. Suzy is a girl who came from a privileged family whose parents divorce. At 21 she is nervous, neurotic, and chain smoking, and suddenly at 28 seems to have found the man of her dreams and is living a life of seeming domestic bliss in the countryside. And the most famous of the children must be Neil. He was a 7 year old full of life who did not make it into Oxford and ended up living as a squatter at 21 and was homeless at 28.

Much obvious comparison has been made to Richard Linklater’s Before Trilogy and Boyhood which show their fictionalized protagonists age in real time. Perhaps it is not fair to compare them, but Apted’s series seems to take these ideas to the next level. Though the show is edited, and the people’s role in the program has influenced their life in a way that is impossible to determine, Apted’s show seems to be as close to a poignet peeping tom’s view into people’s lives that we can get.

While comparable to modern reality television like Big Brother, there is a scope and seriousness that is severely lacking in other programs. The intentions could not be more different. Whereas commercial reality television seeks purely to entertain, to shock, and to numb any genuine emotional or intellectual connection with its viewers, The Up series does just the opposite. It is equally shocking and entertaining at times, but this comes from natural occurrences that happen throughout a life, not from unnatural forces put in by the producers of the show to spice up the content. While Big Brother could be described as a crazy what-if spectacle of nonsense, The Up series is a patient and slow introspective observation of genuine people we all recognize. It is a living, breathing document whose contents reveal the smallest of accounts of the exceptionally unexceptional people who live, work, laugh, cry, and eventually die all around us.

Though the show remains fascinating, in the past few episodes perhaps the questions have become less direct and political, and more about kids, grandkids, and family. Perhaps it lacks a bit of the punch it once had. The documentarian has naturally become extremely close with his subjects after working so many years with them, and sometimes it feels like more of a happy reunion of old friends that it once did.

Even though it is impossible to know how honest the interviewees are being, or how well they are able to step out of their skin and analyze their lives, it is stunning how brutally honest they seem to be in moments, some answers are devastatingly moving, embarrassing, and awkward, and it is incredible that Apted has been able to create an environment where his subjects reveal these very personal moments and thoughts for all the world to see.

Other times it seems frustrating the inability to accept or the lack of desire to analyze one’s background and opportunities. Some seem more content accepting what they have and getting on with it, often times insisting their happiness despite the difficulties they face. Whether they are trying to convince themselves of this fact or whether it is really true is hard to tell, but it seems to be a testament to the human spirit to look at the good side of things and move on no matter their present situation.

Despite whatever flaws the show has, the way the interviewees use it to publicize themselves, the cutting down of what surely are very long interviews, Apted’s own editing and manipulation of the interviews, and the subjects own one sided views of their lives, it seems to be as close to reality that television has, or perhaps ever will come.

It may now be impossible to replicate or improve on this experiment. This portrait of what is my parents generation is probably impossible to capture with my generation or those to come. With people becoming instafamous and youtubers, it is unlikely that a show would be able to capture these people’s lives without changing them completely. The possibilities that social media offers would likely make any participant too famous. The Up series came just at the right time, and will remain forever as a brilliant look into the lives of a generation of normal British citizens.