Review of 56 Up (2012) by Jackie M — 31 Aug 2014

I was first introduced to this series in my early 20s with 28up. At the time I found the concept intriguing but lost track of the series after 35up. This weekend I spent time catching up going back to the beginning and watching it through to this latest instalment, 56up.

It's striking to me at this age that despite Michael Apted's goal to prove that class defines who and what we are that everyone, despite these things, is largely represented by one of these characters at one age or another.

I think that Michael thought that we would equate ourselves entirely to one or the other but I think that we are all each a bit of all of these people. It's like the breakfast club. We may have thought that we identified with either the geek, the jock, the basket case, etc.

, but ultimately we learn that we are all of these things (well except in my case not so much the jock, hahaha). Great series. If you have access to Netflix or can find it online, it's highly recommended.