Enough, already!

They can refuse to participate. No one is forcing them to do this. I would also like to see how these individuals enter into late adulthood and old age so there is definitely more to be discovered.

I think this is a good time to stop-we've had 7 episodes in this series. Maybe Apted could do a Special Edition of 49 Up...i.e. get those who didn't appear in more recent episodes for a final conversation about things.
One more thing-the stated experiment of the first one was to see what would become of these kids by the year 2000. Question already answered.
With Tony, if he had become a successful jockey, he could have escaped the confines of his class.

Just remember you might be close to sucking your meal out of a straw by the time you watch that edition of the series. We are aging with them after all.

I would agree with Mia-38's comment if it wasn't for the fact that it is so compulsive. I haven't seen 49Up yet, but waiting for the US dvd to come out. I am an expat and I watched the first 3 as a university student in psychology class. My main complaint about the series (and I think 49up is the same from the trailer I've seen) is that in each of the series we have to endure the same clips over and over again...zzzzz. I understand that there might be new viewers who need updates, but they're all the same format. How many times do I want to see Symon saying, "I don't like greens!" Or the Yorkshire lad saying "I don't want to talk about that!"? Having said all that I am still going to buy the dvd becasue I'm hooked on knowing what happened to them. I really don't think Michael Apted should make another one. Really Mr Apted, let's leave them alone now! I should think it's more depressing for those in it than it is for us. We only have our memories to remind us of our embarrassments, our missed opportunities etc. and we can let the mists of time dim those memories. These subjects of the Up series can't. It's all there in black n'white, a sharp and brutal reminder of how things might have been and wasn't. They should quit and tell Mr Apted that they want to grow old in peace.

I think people who complain that "The experiment is over" are injecting a "purpose" into the films that was not there from the beginning. If you listen to Apted's commentary on "42 Up", you find that the first film was not meant to follow the kids from childhood to adulthood to see how the child is the father of the man; "7 Up" was meant to be a one-off film, just showing people what England of 2000 would look like by looking at the kids of today (then).

The "purpose" of the series has changed as the series itself progressed. Apted says that he worried that the series wouldn't be interesting after 21, as the people had more or less reached adulthood and wouldn't be physically different after that; yet now he thinks that the emotional development of the subjects is more interesting than the physical development.

If Apted wants to keep making the films, and the subjects agree to participate, what's the harm? They're all adults now, and they certainly can say "no" (as several have). Personally, I think 35 and 42 were not as interesting as the others, as the changes they're undergoing, as well as their desire to express themselves, diminishes (with certain exceptions). This could also be that they have reached my age now (as I'm 40), and the story appears to be "over" (after all, it's all about ME, isn't it :) ).

But in 42, Jackie comments that she thinks the story isn't over for her yet, and I think that's important. It's tempting to think of people's lives as "over" once they've had kids and they're out of the house, but who really knows. What makes the series compelling for me is precisely one of the criticisms against it - these kids had no choice in the matter. They weren't chosen at random, but at the same time, these are not the fame-hungry, prevaricating attention-whores you see on so-called "Reality TV" today. Where else can we find such a thorough public document of what would otherwise be anonymous people's lives?

200 years from now, people may look at the blockbusters, romantic comedies, dramas and the rest as a window into what the privileged felt the masses wanted to see (or wanted them to see), but the Up series is what they're going to watch when they want to find out what life was really like for the rest of the 98%.

-BbT

I totally disagree!! I can't wait for the next installment. (I also don't mind seeing the same clips. It helps remind me of who everyone is, since it's been awhile, and the familiarity is nice, like pictures in an album.) I think it's fascinating to see these people maturing. Many of them are much more interesting now (to me at least)than they were when they were younger. I think today's culture is youth-obsessed, and there is very little out there depicting the lives of older people. I applaud Apted for continuing, so we can see the changes that take place in a person over a lifetime.

I think these films should be made until everyone had died. Not for any voyeuristic sense but this series is about us, about human lives. Yes, the original premise has past but the series has grown out of that mold. Every time you watch one of these, you cant help but examine your own life at these periods. It has become much more than about child vs adult.

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