Figure 1.--
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Figure 1.-- |
We worked up a paragraph on "Seven Up", but somehow managed to delete it. I'll try to recreate what I had as it is a very important British televion program. Granada Television in 1964 broadcast "Seven Up". The premise of the program was that a person's character was set at age 7. The producers interviewed 14 London 7-years olds at age 7. The children included both boys and girls from a range of social backgrounds. The interviews in themselves were fascinating. The children were ernest and honest. There was none of the humor associated with Art Linkletter or Bill Cosby's interviews of children. These interviews were very serious. All the boys wore short pants and kneesocks, including three very proper boys in a prep or pre-prep school. It was only later that Granada conceived of following up on the children every 7 years to test the premise.
Granada Television in 1964 broadcast "Seven Up". it was produced by British filmmaker Michael Apted. It was only later that Granada conceived of following up on the children every 7 years to test the premise. The first rebroadcast was called "7 Plus 7". Granada has since revisited the subjects every seven years. The series is certainly one of the most remarable documentaries of 1960s television. It was an original idea a very well executed.
The premise of the program was that a person's character was set at age 7. The producer used as a premise the Jesuit theory, "Give me a child until he is seven, and I will show you the man." The producers interviewed 14 London 7-years olds at age 7. The subsequent interviews allow us to watch the children grow up before our eyes. It is fascinating to see what each of the children do with their lives.
The children included both boys and girls from a range of social backgrounds. There were 10 boys and four girls. I'm not sure why they chose more boys. One boy was of West Indian extraction. Another boy was orphaned. The thrre most interesting were three boys at a posh pre-prep schools. They described how it was important to keep the poor children out of their school. One of the boys described how he read the Times. Their prigish attitudes affected how they viewed the program and participation in it at the 7-year updates. They explained in great detail how they planned to go on to different schools, their lives all carefully planned out. This contrasted so sharply from the children that came fom less affluent circumstances.
The interviews in themselves were fascinating. The children were ernest and honest. There was none of the humor associated with Art Linkletter or Bill Cosby's interviews of children. These interviews were very serious. By the first reinterviews at age 14, the young teenagers are already much more circumspect. Eventually some of the individuals decide not to participate. The prep-school boys in particular are reluctant, realizing how they appeared as 7-years old.
All the boys wore hort pants and kneesocks, including three very proper boys in a prep or pre-prep school. When the children were re-interviewed again at age 14 in 1971 they were all wearing long trousers.
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