BBC; How Art Made the World: More Human than Human

We watch all sorts of films; from horror to comedy and documentaries to chick flicks.
Some of these videos change our perspective on things, some contributes to our dreams but
concentrating on documentaries, we find them somehow illuminating. As said on the
documentary itself, More Human than Human changes the way I look not only on art but on the
artists themselves. It did not change my perspective on a bad note; it made things clearer and
better. Thinking that I now understand why it is and why it is not.
I see plenty of things everyday especially being in UP living in campus, I see all kinds
of art. Theres sculptures, digital art, paintings, murals, etc. With all these, I would want to
evaluate what I just have learned from the film to what there is today. Being a TV series buff, I
would direct my attention on visual arts specifically those seen on TV. All sorts of genre can be
found on my laptop, from zombies, to geeks, to supernatural. Although I like watching humans
act the characters out, theres also a place for a little cartoons and anime. Lets see how what I
see on tv series relates to what Dr. Spivey saw on ancient art.
First, what really makes us exaggerate our art, our society? The doctor says that we
exaggerate to go further. We are never content of what we have today; we always want more of
everything. We get bored on doing the same things over and over so we want to innovate. We
invent different kinds of stuffs; we study and imagine what we could do more. The reality is,
we humans dont like reality, said Dr. Spivey. This statement is all we need to explain what we
do today. We dont like the reality that we are never fully free or the reality that we dont know
everything, more the reality that what we see is just what we can get.
We can never get the body of a god, the fact is, and we dont know what the body of a
god is. We can never have the image of an anime character, ever. I think this hatred of reality

explains cosplayers too. Since we strive for what we cant have, they imitate it so as to somehow
satisfy the hunger. I see exaggeration on anime, so much exaggeration. I watch Yakitate Japan
and Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge; they both illustrate the hyperbole on expressions. The
series clearly shows nosebleed when they say nosebleed; when they say, it feels like heaven
they show the character in heaven. I watch these shows not only because of the stories but
because of these reactions and interpretations. I find their reactions as interesting ways to show
emotions. They clearly make it easier for me to describe what I feel at certain events. The
hyperboles compensates my need of explaining myself; I find it hard to express with just the
normal emotions of happy, sad, lonely, glee, etc.

(Yakitate Japan and Yamato Nadeshiko Shichi Henge: The grandfather from Yakitate Japan
tastes a bread and liked it so much; Sunako nosebleeds after seeing something so beautiful)
Most of the time, these TV series creates an illusion that certain things can happen, happy
endings as they say. Embellishments on how people live are always seen on TV series. They
create an impression to idolize the characters in the series because they seem to be the perfect
man, or the perfect woman, ones who has all the characteristics they crave for. We sometimes
imitate what we watch because we think they are the further we seek for ourselves.
The film discussed the reasons we are attracted to hyperbole; it included what we can do
to avoid this kind of admiration. Culture has the whole deal handled; it is what we need to solve

this issue. Filipinos are now addicted to different kinds of international shows (anime, cartoons,
American tv series, etc.); how can we let our cultural influence overcome the desire if we are so
busy watching, entertaining ourselves. I remember my high school papers being about how to
preserve culture because we have a problem on the aspect; that was when I was in high school.
Did we change? Did it change? Looking at the present status of the country, I might conclude
not. It is depressing to see that we cannot cultivate our own. The documentary made me realize
once more that I, we, need to start the change we need.
As a conclusion, our minds are filled with an exaggeration of the human being, which
may have been caused by what we see and watch on our TV screens. We have to return to our
customs as Filipinos and live the reality of life.