Age 28: Up Series ((John, Andrew and Charles), Tony, and Simon)

We also watched another group of students at the age of 28 on Tuesday. Once again, they showed how the children had evolved into young adults, some with very interesting results. We watched the group of boys (John, Andrew and Charles), Tony and Simon.

First were the group of boys named John, Andrew and Charles. These three were part of the upper class. When they were 7, they made fun of poor people, as they saw them as dirty. Charles knew that he wanted to go to a series of prep schools and then to Trinity Hall and John had a very similar answer. When Andrew was asked, he was able to remember a few schools, but was unable to remember them all. Charles didn’t end up going to Oxford, but was still happy with where he was in life. He broke away from his class. Two of the three refused to do the Up 28 documentary. Andrew decided that he did not what to be a part of it because he created documentaries and he felt that they did not represent people properly. This also says something about the effects of documentaries on people and their representation. He feels guilty that he had advantages in life.

Second was Tony. He was from the inner city and the lower working class. When he was younger, he said that he wanted to be a jockey. He left school at the age of 15 and tried to become a jockey. He had three races, and wasn’t placed, so he decided to give up. Instead, he became a taxi driver. He claims that he felt he was better than anyone on film. His ambitions are completed and he is happy with the way his life turned out.

Last is Simon. He was an orphanage who attended a Charity Boarding School. He thinks that all that rich people do is get those who don’t have money to do things for them. He said that he would just “walk around” when he grew up. He ended up having 5 kids. He claims that he encourages and praises education in his children’s lives.

Compared to the last set of kids that we watched, these kids were less predictable. It wasn’t as obvious what they were doing. It was still very interesting to watch the way that their lives panned out and how there life as a child affected their life as an adult.