Monday, April 17, 2017
Curate Yourself: Documentary HUMANS + Blog: Humans of New York
An important media series that everybody should watch is the documentary "HUMAN." It is movie documenting of first person interview of over 2000 people in 60 counties. Individuals are asked the same set of 40 questions covering topics such as, " marriage, poverty, and sexuality." Unlike Humans of New York, names and locations are not disclosed, providing, minimizing cultural bias as the project seeks to highlight our similarities rather than our differences. It is a brutally honest glimpse of the living conditions and the struggle of people around the world The series is free on youtube and is translated in 11 different languages, allowing easy access to it's content. I first saw this series at a special screening at Ringing's academic center auditorium last year. It is tear jerker so prepare the tissues but it is crucial that we for people watch the series. In a world divided by "boarders" and governments and groups eager to divide and manipulate us for personal gain, empathy is easily forgotten and this series helps us bring us back together.
A nice work that others could read as well is Humans of NewYork. New York is international melting pot where cultures and people of all walks of life can be found. It is an ongoing blog told by "us", people. Brandon Stanton, the owner of the blog combines street photogpraghy and interviews of random people he meets, giving us a glimpse of the diversity of people.
It is important to note that because it is curated by a single person, Humans of New York is inevitable bias towards the author's views. Also one may argue that "New York" culture may also homogenize the the views and statements of the people. Stanton may also gravitate towards a genre of people or people themselves may recognize him and curate their answers to be idealist then realistic but the concept is still genuine. His work has inspired many to start up their own "Humans" series allowing us to have a better understanding of people who are different from us. It is so easy to alienate and separate ourselves from others, and the human project reminds us to be emphatic to our fellow humans.
documentary HUMANS (part 1) : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdb4XGVTHkE
Humans of NewYork Blog: https://www.facebook.com/humansofnewyork/
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Great pitch! It definitely seems like something everyone should watch.
ReplyDeleteAs a writer, the human condition is something that's always fascinates me, so it'd definitely be beneficial as a reference.
As a person who has read Humans of New York, I am actually very excited to learn there is a documentary which follows a similar narrative style people telling their own stories. It is very likely that after learning about this I will go home and watch it before the day is over. What sounds the most intriguing is the fact that the locations of these people are kept a secret, playing into the fact that we as a species really like to speculate about each other based on location or appearances. What it also ensures is that we have to take these stories at face value, with nothing motivating us to doubt them. I look forward to watching this film.
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