A family of seals frolics on the Arctic ice caps, enjoying the safety of land where they will not be hunted. But sooner or later, Oprah tells us, they must venture into the water to eat, and that is where predators lurk. A lone seal makes his way into the freezing water to fish. But disaster strikes! A clan of killer whales is on the prowl, and seals are a delicacy. However, this seal is wily and agile: he twists and turns his body around a small ice flow, using it as a shield to keep just out of reach of the killer whales’ powerful jaws. He struggles mightily, but will it be enough?
I stare at the TV screen with my knees drawn to my chest, riveted by the unfolding drama. Thrash, seal, thrash! Fight with all your might! If the animated features of my youth have taught me anything, it’s that cute and cuddly creatures always win against things with sharp teeth. But this is no Disney movie; this is “Life,” and in life, sharp teeth are a powerful indication of predatory success. Not today though- the seal’s twists have tired the killer whales, and they move on in search of easier prey. I breathe a sigh of relief and turn back to my religion reading.
“Life,” which airs Sunday nights at 8:00 p.m. on the Discovery Channel and is narrated by none other than Oprah Winfrey, is equal parts high school biology video and melodrama. There’s intrigue, tension, gorgeous cinematography, and sex. Lots and lots of sex. It’s rare to see a TV show that, rather than focusing on a small aspect of the world, attempts to showcase the entirety of life on the planet. “Life” pulls off this epic feat in a miniseries that is both extremely entertaining and also (gasp!) educational.
Each episode (with the exception of the introductory one) focuses on a different group of animals: fish, reptiles, birds, insects, and so on and so forth. The viewer is then presented with a series of delightfully wacky anecdotes about some examples of each group. Oprah’s narration attempts to tie these often bizarre or touching vignettes into a larger theme pertaining to the particular animal population described (mammals form strong family bonds, birds’ flight poses both difficulties and advantages), but I disregard these messages for a more simplistic one: Life is freakin’ crazy, man! Over the course of the six episodes I’ve watched, I’ve observed inflatable eye stalks, fish climbing cliffs, frogs leaping hundreds of feet from tree branches only to land on their feet, and lizards walking on water. Many things walking on water, actually; Jesus apparently has a lot of company in that regard.
Perhaps not surprisingly, the most interesting segments in my opinion deal with mating rituals. And let me tell you, animals do some weird things to get laid. For example, did you know that runty male cuttlefish may pretend to be female cuttlefish in order to outwit their stronger competitors and sneak by them to the females? Or that a species of bird attempts to woo mates by lavishly decorating, as Oprah so charmingly put it, “seduction dens” with the most unique objects they can find? A personal favorite of mine was a Wisconsin bird that has yellow air sacs in its chest that it pumps up and releases air from to produce a beat that apparently attracts mates. Ah, romance.
I was surprised by how emotionally involved I became with the show’s subjects. As my introductory example shows, my heart always goes out to the more adorable creatures, preferably ones with whiskers and puppy dog eyes. As my roommate pointed out though, “Life” rarely presents a totally unbiased view of the events that unfold. The seal vs. whale showdown, for example, was accompanied by a sweeping orchestral score that swelled with the building tensions of the scene and included triumphant brasses when the seal escaped. And would I have so readily identified with the seal if Oprah had told me that the killer whale had hungry baby Shamus to feed at home? Still, the hunting scenes in “Life” make a conscious and successful attempt to pull at my heartstrings. I watched with bated breath as a baby ibex scrambled wildly up a cliff face to escape a fox and was filled with righteous indignation when a komodo dragon killed a water buffalo by injecting it with a slow-acting poison that infected it for weeks. Of course these animals need to survive, but couldn’t they pick something less majestic or adorable to chow on?
Any review of the show will tell you that visually, “Life” is astonishing. The dunes of the deserts, the empty expanses of ice in the Arctic, the African savannas, the colorful undersea world are all rendered in exquisite detail and make for some truly gorgeous shots. Of course, the often remote and inhospitable locations of these shoots beg the question, “how do they get those images?” Well, “Life” has an answer to that for any film or technology buffs that may be watching. Each episode also comes with a “The Making of ‘Life’” segment that provides a sneak peek into the often miraculous work that led to each episode, which somehow all seem to include an event that has never before been successfully filmed. One guy built himself a hut of branches to sit in for hours while he waited for birds to mate, another lowered himself into the freezing Arctic water through a hole in the ice to film very slow moving (and very boring) starfish eating a dead baby seal, while a third found himself up close and personal with a humpback whale calf while filming the mating run of its mother. It all ends well for these insane cinematographers, but I’m still waiting for there to be a “Making Of” that shows how a too-adventurous camera guy got himself eaten while attempting to film a lion hunt or something.
Like its real life counterpart, “Life” is dramatic, beautiful, harsh, and wild. It truly is a technological marvel that I can experience the majesty of nature without leaving the comfort of my dorm room. Sure, “Life” has a flair for exaggeration and anthropomorphism, but the real message is clear: as strange as they may outwardly appear, wild animals are actually a lot like us. “Life” will certainly leave you with a greater appreciation for the amazing world outside this college campus.
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