Movie-ish thingie, recommended

Girls, the next time Dad is out tending his flocks by night, consider eating your stash of Lonely Time chocolates while viewing Babies, a newish short film which documents the babyhoods of four children from different parts of the world. I watched this thing days ago and I can’t stop thinking about it.

Relatively free of socio-political commentary and completely sans stuffy British narrative, Babies presents a stark (albeit obviously edited) look into the parenting practices of people with whom I (and, presumably, many of our gentle readers) have little in common. And yet, while the subject matter is familiar, scant attention is given the annoying Pitocin drip of PSYCHOLOGY! we Americans have grown so used to enduring. Viewers aren’t subjected to lengthy interviews about the supposed benefits of tandem breastfeeding or boring discussions about a child’s cerebral responses to overstimulation. Rather, Babies is all about the babies—who naively become the consequences of their parents’ actions—and each viewer is given the freedom to formulate her own opinions on what’s working, what isn’t, and what, ultimately, doesn’t even matter.

So, while this film is heavy on the details, I won’t go into any and spoil the whole thing for you. Check it out, if you’re feeling like it (it’s available for instant play on Netflix, for those of you who subscribe). If nothing else, you’ll get to watch someone else deal with the poop for once.

N.B. As this movie is unabashed about letting all the poop, pee, breastfeeding, and baby parts hang out, I don’t think the dad/kid cordon will really get into it. I liked it because it talked my shop, you know? Poop. It’s on my business card.