COMMENTARY: The wonder and glory of `Life’

(RNS) I wish the millions of viewers who plunked down $15 and slapped on a pair of silly 3-D glasses to watch the spectacle that was “Avatar” also find themselves in front of the TV to soak up the wonder that is “Life”, the 11-part Discovery Channel series that debuted on March 21, the first […]

(RNS) I wish the millions of viewers who plunked down $15 and slapped on a pair of silly 3-D glasses to watch the spectacle that was “Avatar” also find themselves in front of the TV to soak up the wonder that is “Life”, the 11-part Discovery Channel series that debuted on March 21, the first full day of spring.

“Life,” which airs in two, one-hour episodes each Sunday night for five weeks, is a joint project of Discovery and the BBC; it’s the follow-up to the much-heralded, truly epic series “Planet Earth.”

When our 10-year-old son, Vasco, arrived from Malawi last April with only a few English words in his vocabulary, the “Planet Earth” DVD was one of the first things we watched with him. Even though he understood virtually nothing that narrator Sigourney Weaver said, the sheer wonder evoked by the stunning visuals kept him (and us) riveted for many hours.


“Life” is narrated by the familiar voice of Oprah Winfrey — the ersatz guru to millions of men and women around the globe whom some have dubbed “America’s pastor.” Visually, “Life” is as striking as “Planet Earth,” taking viewers into an even closer look at plants, animals, fish, reptiles, birds and amphibians than its predecessor.

Like “Planet Earth,” “Life” was an epic endeavor four years in the making, with more than 3,000 days of filming on every continent on Earth. Photographers in the air, under water, and wielding equipment from the biggest telephoto lens imaginable to the tiniest camera captured breathtaking footage, including hyper-close-up footage of a Venus fly trap digesting a fly or the teensy stalk-eyed fly literally blowing up its own head like a balloon. Much of what they captured has never been seen before by most humans.

The inaugural episode, “Challenges of Life,” did not begin with heartwarming images of sweet baby mammals or soaring vistas of the Himalayas. Instead, the episode began with three beautiful leopards stalking and killing — rather brutally — a female ostrich while her mate stood by wailing.

Life is as difficult and horrifying as it is beautiful, the filmmakers seemed to be saying.

Life is also complicated. Another scene — unbelievable footage taken in the mountains high above the Dead Sea in Israel — tracked a 10-day-old ibex kid as it fled from a red fox. It would have been hard to keep watching with high-spirited enthusiasm if the ibex baby had become lunch for the fox. Thankfully, he didn’t.

On the flip side, in the second episode, “Reptiles and Amphibians,” we sat gape-mouthed and wincing as a water buffalo died a slow, horrible death over a three-week period, slowly poisoned by the bite of a Komodo dragon. As the water buffalo writhed in pain, more and more dragons gathered, nipping at its hooves like demons. When the buffalo finally gives up the ghost, 10 Komodos strip its carcass clean in just a few hours.


This is not a Disney-fied version of nature. “Life” presents the natural world as complex and troubling as it really is. Therein, I believe, lies the peculiar power of this particular series.

Thankfully, there is a healthy dose of whimsy and delight in nature and in “Life.” I could have stared for hours at the riotous colors of the panther chameleon with its sticky lasso-like tongue that can capture a grasshopper more than a foot away. And I have a new appreciation for frogs after watching the inch-long strawberry frog load one tadpole at a time onto its back and haul them hundreds of feet up a rainforest tree, safely out of harm’s way.

We giggled joyously as we watched a “Jesus Christ lizard” skittle upright across the surface of the water to escape a praying raptor, and marveled as baby brown-tufted capuchins learned — by trial and error — how to use just the right rock to crack open a palm nut.

“Life,” like life itself, is extraordinary. It’s full of colors and creatures and stories that are better (and truer) than anything James Cameron could have dreamed up on his fictitious Pandora.

As my Jewish friends might say, L’Chaim! To “Life!”

(Cathleen Falsani is the author of “Sin Boldly: A Field Guide for Grace” and the new book, “The Dude Abides: The Gospel According to the Coen Brothers.”)

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