"Worlds Apart" : A Great TV Series
Shown on National Geographic Channel

The results astounding and eye-opening, saying as much about American life as they do about the lives of the host people. I've seen about 5 episodes and loved every one. It is no problem for the host people of course, but is always a shocking uphill struggle for the Americans. The first impression one gets is of the utter weakness of the Americans and the strength and hardiness of the third world people. Transported to the third world one realizes how pampered and spoiled the Americans are. Their first shock is generally the problem of the bathroom, no toilet paper, dirty squat-type toilets or a mere hole in the ground. The second shock is the matter of food, no kitchens in the American sense, and strange food they are not used to. The third shock is discovering how much pure hard work the host people have to do everyday. And a fourth major shock in each of the shows I have seen has to do with the matter of killing the animals that are to be eaten.

In most of the episodes the first night is a shell-shocked horror. I can't help it, but this is very amusing to watch. In the lead-up portion, before they have left America, they are talking about how wonderful this experience is going to be and how lucky they are to have been chosen and how educational it will be for the children. But after a long tiring journey and having gotten the toilet shock, and having been fed some weird horrible food they don't like and finally retiring for the night to sleep on a hard surface they start to look as if they want to cry. A family gone to the high Andes in Peru was given their first dinner which consisted of guinea pigs. Then they went to bed on the ground in a room that was also, well, the home of the guinea pigs. A night tomorrow's dinner was scurrying around in their room. The wife hardly slept and was near despair in the morning. A black father from Detroit transplanted to Mongolia, literally in the middle of nowhere, sat in shock before bed saying gravely "I had no idea what we were getting ourselves in for."

But as the days go on the Americans pitch in and try to make the best of it. It takes a few days in all the episodes for the guests to convince themselves that they just maybe, might possibly, get through the experience without going insane. In all the episodes I saw it was hardest on the mothers. They could not believe to what a lowly status they had been reduced, because in nearly all these places the women do the majority of the work. They cook from morning to night with no conveniences over wood fires. They do the gardening and growing and harvesting of food. They do the washing of clothes, by hand of course. The men have their own duties, usually hunting, but those duties seem outweighed by those of the women. Each of the mothers breaks down at some point from all this and cries or confesses to total despair.

Meanwhile, of course, the hosts are going about all their business as usual. This is their way of life and they know nothing else and they are strong enough to do it. One keeps realizing that the relatively easy way of life in America has rendered Americans relatively weak. The host people are quite tender and understanding of this and try to comfort the Americans with a touch of sadness that this tough kind of life is all they have to offer. Their genuine concern is very touching and their humbleness rather tugs at the heart.

The wives are at a total loss as to how to prepare and cook food in these primitive conditions and more than one of them is brought to tears by this problem. The female children suffer along with this, but being totally unaccustomed to doing any kind of real work they generally give up and slack off. This brings big tension between mothers and daughters and tempers flare.

Then their is the problem of customs. Two sisters in a remote Trobriand Islands culture have to learn that by showing their legs with their short pants, or sitting with knees apart, they are viewed as wanton sluts by the locals. The host woman has to somehow convey this to the mother, and she has to make the daughters understand, and they put up a fuss and so on. Then the same sisters stretch out on a kind of public thatched gazebo-type structure only to learn that this structure is strictly for men only and that they have "contaminated" it by this so the men can't sit on it anymore. The sisters are disgusted at this "men only" concept but the father gives them a good talking to. They go off to sulk and wish they never came.

The fathers do very much better. Here they are suddenly kings in the culture. But they have to do certain things to prove themselves and their manliness. In the island culture the father has to build a special "yam house" to celebrate the harvesting of the yams. In another culture, Africa I think, the father has to go on a hunting trip. It's very hot, there's alot of climbing, and he gets about halfway to the hunting site and collapses and has to turn back. It's humiliating of course, but he was philosophical about it. He seemed to be processing the messages about the weakness of Americans. He was realizing that these poor people were strong and tough.

Without a doubt the male children do the best. After all, this is basically camping and most boys intrinsically love camping. They enjoy the elevated status of males, yet not too much is expected of them. They have little trials to go through, like throwing a spear to hit a target, climb a coconut palm tree and retrieve a coconut, and in one case, kill a chicken for dinner. The latter boy was pretty disturbed by this but managed to get through it with honor and a few tears.

One boy, I forget in which culture, I think Africa, was given a piglet to take care of. He has to keep it tied up, feed it, wash it, everything. This is a serious responsibility in that village and every boy there must do this to prove his worthiness to the community. At first the boy is horrified calling the pig "disgusting" and "a nasty old thing." He can't bear to be the "owner" of it. The father tries to counsel him in how important it is and that it is an honor signifying a step toward manhood. He will have none of it. But a few days later we see he has softened to the idea and is rubbing the piglet's tummy and saying "You know, I'm getting to like him." Then a few days later a crisis develops. The pig has gotten loose and is nowhere to be found. With only minor reminders from his father that this is very serious and that he is responsible the poor boy starts going into despair. Night is coming on and with his flashlight he goes out looking everywhere for his lost piglet. Tension builds and so does his despair, but at last he finds the piglet running around with the string still tied around its neck. He relief and happiness are palpable. What a transformation he has been through in less than a week with regard to originally dreaded pig!

The two male black brothers in Mongolia must perform the work appropriate to their age... picking up all the yak dung over the area and collecting it for fuel. They utterly can't believe they have to work at picking up feces. At first they refuse to touch and try different methods to avoid touching it, but finally, observing the nonchalance of the local boys, overcome their repulsion and adopt the simple local method of just picking it up.

Despite the initial culture shock, after a week most of the families are behaving bravely and doing their best. Of course this is partly due the fact that they are now counting fewer days left until they can get out of there. That helps greatly to bolster their bravery. By now we are fully convinced that if they had to stay in the third world conditions for a long time they would all go insane.

But, to return to my starting point in this review, the very major trauma the fathers must face is the slaughter of an animal for the evening meal. In several of the cultures, being honored guests, a precious animal was sacrificed for a celebratory feast. A pig usually, or a goat. And it turns out that the custom was for the honored guest to have the honor (duty) of killing the animal. This was a real crisis for nearly all the fathers, and for all the families, who had to witness this ancient deed. One father appeared about to vomit. Another began, then with knife in hand backed off and said he just couldn't do it, a few minutes later gathering his courage and guts and somehow making it through the slaughter. Some of the female children were weeping in horror as they had to watch this. It frightened a couple of the boys, but couple other boys took in in stride or with that young male fascination with death.

This killing of the evening meal was an intensely traumatic event for all the families, none which, by the way, was vegetarian. The lesson portrayed was wordless and clear. These were Americans who had absolutely no problem passing down the meat aisle in the supermarket tossing neatly wrapped clean cuts of meat into their shopping baskets, but who were propelled into horror when faced with "the deed" itself. One had to be impressed with the honesty of the host culture about what meat IS is how it is obtained, and the dishonesty and coverup of the supermarket method. It was clear that for some of the Americans eating the celebratory feast had some somber moments.

One thing in all episodes came through very clearly. Even in the short time period a bond of love developed between guests and hosts and this seems to be the overriding message of the series. There were tears in every case on the day of parting and this seemed to soften them message about who was "stronger" and who was "weaker." That lesson was there, no doubt, but the deeper lesson was that despite the fact that these people were "Worlds Apart" a genuine and innocent affection developed in a very short time and seeing this illustrated brought a few tears to my eyes.

First world or third world, deep down we are not that different. We are simply human beings and the experience of being human is a singularity at its core.

I love this series and urge everyone who can get this channel to watch it, especially young people. It is programs like this that help tie people together instead of splitting them apart, and promote understanding of our widely varied cultures and the common thread that runs through them.

It is shown every Monday night on the National Geographic Channel.